The Brigantes were a Celtic people living in an area of Northern England centered on what is now Yorkshire , and were territorially the biggest tribe in Britain. Granddaughter of King Bellnorix, Cartimandua came to power around the time of the Roman invasion and conquest. Most of what we know about her comes from the Roman historian Tacitus, from whose writings it appears she was a very strong and influential leader.
Like many of the Celtic aristocracy and in order to retain her throne, Cartimandua and her husband Venutius were pro-Rome and made several deals and pacts with the Romans. The British king Caratacus , leader of the Catuvellauni tribe, had been leading the Celtic resistance against the Romans. After successfully launching guerrilla attacks against the Romans in Wales , he was finally defeated by Ostorius Scapula and sought sanctuary, along with his family, with Cartimandua and the Brigantes.
Instead of sheltering him, Cartimandua had him put in chains and handed him over to the Romans who rewarded her with great wealth and favours. But trouble was on the horizon. As noted above, the surviving sources which describe the events involving Cartimandua, come from the two historical works by the famous Roman author, Tacitus: Histories and Annals. The main passages which refer to Cartimandua are: Histories, 3.
From these we hear of the events surrounding Cartimandua after the Caratacus affair and which revolve around two figures - Venutius and Vellocatus. From Tacitus we learn that one Venutius was married to Cartimandua for some time prior to the Caractacus event.
Tacitus says Cartimandua captured some of Venutius family Annals Cartimandua then appealed to the Romans. It is probable that Cartimandua's handing over of Caratacus to the Romans was unpopular among some of the tribes and her own people.
So the rejected Venutius no doubt used this anti-Roman sentiment to incite rebellion against her. He set about building alliances with other tribes, ready to invade Brigantia, but the Romans sent cohorts to defend their client queen. Cartimandua was lucky and narrowly escaped being captured by the rebels, thanks to the intervention of the Roman soldiers. After this Venutius bided his time until 69AD when the death of Nero resulted in a period of great political instability in Rome.
Venutius seized the opportunity to launch another attack on Brigantia. This time when Cartimandua appealed for help from the Romans, they were only able to send auxiliary troops Histories 3.
Tacitus was a very good orator and wrote several historical works, including the Agricola which was a panegyric a work of praise to his father-in-law, who was governor of Britannia province Britain from AD, and expanded Roman territory northwards and into Scotland. Tacitus most famous works are:. It is uncertain how many books there were making up Tacitus' Histories but it is likely to have been fourteen; four survive entirely and a part of the fifth, and these cover January AD69 to August AD The Histories was probably published in parts over time from AD onwards.
The Annals comprises of sixteen books in total, but not all of them have survived. They were published between AD and AD Inspired by these differences between the Roman forces and by the many rumours of civil war that reached them, the Britons plucked up courage under the leadership of Venutius, who, in addition to his natural spirit and hatred of the Roman name, was fired by his personal resentment toward Queen Cartimandua.
She was ruler over the Brigantes, having the influence that belongs to high birth, and she had later strengthened her power when she was credited with having captured King Caratacus by treachery and so furnished an adornment for the triumph of Claudius Caesar. She grew to despise her husband Venutius, and took as her consort his squire Vellocatus, whom she admitted to share the throne with her.
Her house was at once shaken by this scandalous act. Her husband was favoured by the sentiments of all the citizens; the adulterer was supported by the queen's passion for him and by her savage spirit. So Venutius, calling in aid from outside and, at the same time, assisted by a revolt of the Brigantes themselves, put Cartimandua into an extremely dangerous position.
The Romans sent cohorts to defend their client queen. Cartimandua, who had narrowly escaped capture due to the intervention of a unit of Roman soldiers, retained her throne. In 69, Ventius took advantage of Roman political instability during what was known as the year of four emperors, when Emperor Nero had died and a struggle broke out in Rome to decide who would be his successor. Venutius and his allies launched a further revolt in Brigantia.
Cartimandua appealed to the Romans for troops, who were, however, only able to send auxiliaries. Cartimandua was evacuated to the newly constructed Roman fort at Deva Chester , leaving Venutius in control of a kingdom at war with Rome. Venutius ruled Brigantia as an independent kingdom briefly. Cartimandua disappears from the pages of history at this point.
Eventually, the Romans defeated Venutius, after which they ruled the Brigantes directly.
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