The Angrivarii (or Angrivari ) were a Germanic people of the early Roman Empire , who lived in what is now northwest Germany near the middle of the Weser river . They were mentioned by the Roman authors Tacitus and Ptolemy .
82-794: They were part of the Germanic alliance of Arminius and his defeat of the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in the 9th year of the common era. The Angrivarii lived in an area which was later called Angria ( Modern German " Engern ") in the Middle Ages , which was a major part of the Carolingian Duchy of Saxony . Both names probably derive from geographical terminology. In his Germania Tacitus described
164-463: A defender of the liberty of his people. Based on these records, the story of Arminius was revived in the 16th century with the recovery of the histories of Tacitus, who wrote in his Annales II, 88 : Arminius, without doubt Germania's liberator, who challenged the Roman people not in its beginnings like other kings and leaders, but in the peak of its empire; in battles with changing success, undefeated in
246-719: A major tourist attraction ever since, as has the Hermann Heights Monument , a similar statue erected in New Ulm, Minnesota , in the United States in 1897. The Hermann Heights monument was erected by the Sons of Hermann , a fraternal organization formed in New York City by German Americans as a means of self protection against anti-German sentiment and discrimination in 1840; and that flourished during
328-454: A narrow road through a dense forest. Recent archaeological finds show the long-debated location of the three-day battle was almost certainly near Kalkriese Hill, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of present-day Osnabrück . When defeat was certain, Varus committed suicide by falling upon his sword. The battle was one of the most devastating defeats Rome suffered in its history. Arminius' success in destroying three entire legions and driving
410-525: A region bordering the northern bank of the mouth of River Elbe in what is now Western Holstein . As land became scarce, the Saxon population began to expand southward where it absorbed indigenous populations such as Cherusci , Chamavi and Chatti , and remaining portions of the Langobardi ( Lombards ) and Suebi . This broader domain is called "Old Saxony". The Chauci , according to Tacitus, also lived in
492-650: A sense of guilt and shame, rooted in both the Holocaust and Nazi war crimes , related to any form of German nationalism . There was, however, a radically different practice in East Germany . Particularly during the Cold War , Arminius and his warriors were anachronistically reinterpreted quite similarly to the slave revolt led by Spartacus in the Marxist-Leninist official history promoted by
574-428: A son named Thumelicus who grew up in Roman captivity. Tacitus describes him as having an unusual story, which he promises to tell in his later writings, but these writings have never been found. Between 14 and 16, Germanicus led punitive operations into Germany, fighting Arminius to a draw in the Battle at Pontes Longi and twice defeating him (according to Tacitus): first in the Battle of Idistaviso and later at
656-572: A triumph for his two victories. The third Roman eagle was recovered in 41 by Publius Gabinius, under the emperor Claudius . Arminius also faced opposition from his father-in-law and other pro-Roman Germanic leaders. His brother Flavus, who had been raised alongside him in Rome, remained loyal to the Roman Empire and fought under Germanicus against Arminius at the Battle of Idistaviso. With the end of
738-627: A triumph for his victory over lower Germany and his uncle sent him off to the east. Arminius died and the Angrivarii, the other west Germans and their successor tribes continued friendly towards Rome, providing it with elite troops and urban and palace police. Together with the Cherusci and the Chatti , the Angrivari belong to the three tribes that Tacitus particularly emphasizes in his account of
820-585: Is a general consensus that it cannot be derived from the PIE root *wih x rós , "man", surviving in English " were -wolf". Their geographical-based name is associated with the 8th century region called Angria (Angaria, Angeriensis, Aggerimensis and Engaria), which was one of four subdivisions of Old Saxony (the others were Westfalahi and Ostfalahi and Nordalbingia ). This region is now referred to in modern German as Engern, and it corresponds reasonably well with
902-599: Is recorded that at this time Old Saxony was divided into the ancient dioceses of Münster , Osnabrück , and Paderborn . However, by 695 the pagan Saxons had become extremely hostile to the Christian priests and missionaries in their midst and began to realize that their aim was to convert their overlord and destroy their temples and religion. Ewald the Fair was quickly murdered, but Ewald the Black they subjected to torture, and he
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#1732765136552984-778: The Balkan peninsula . He returned to northern Germania in AD 7 or 8, where the Roman Empire had established secure control of the territories just east of the Rhine , along the Lippe and Main rivers, and was now seeking to extend its hegemony eastward to the Weser and Elbe rivers, under Publius Quinctilius Varus , a high-ranking administrative official appointed by Augustus as governor. Arminius began plotting to unite various Germanic tribes in order to thwart Roman efforts to incorporate their lands into
1066-525: The Battle of the Angrivarian Wall . In 15, Roman troops managed to recapture one of the three legionary eagles lost in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In 16, a second eagle was retrieved. Tiberius denied the request of Germanicus to launch an additional campaign for 17, however, having decided the frontier with Germania would stand at the Rhine river. Instead, he offered Germanicus the honor of
1148-629: The Chamavi , the Angrivarii had invaded the lands formerly held by the Bructeri to their south, the Bructeri having been expelled and utterly destroyed by an alliance of neighboring peoples... . The Bructeri had lived near the Ems and Lippe rivers, between the Rhine and Weser. This occurred after the battle of the Teutoburg Forest . Nevertheless, in the second century AD the geographer Ptolemy reported
1230-539: The Early Middle Ages . It corresponds roughly to the modern German states of Lower Saxony , eastern part of modern North Rhine-Westphalia state ( Westphalia ), Nordalbingia ( Holstein , southern part of Schleswig-Holstein ) and western Saxony-Anhalt ( Eastphalia ), which all lie in northwestern Germany. It had four provinces: Nordalbingia , Eastphalia , Westphalia and Angria (or Angaria), these provinces, in turn, were divided into smaller territories,
1312-676: The Elbe . North of all these peoples lived the Chauci , living along the North Sea coast in what is now Germany. Among the more detailed mentions of the Angrivarii which Tacitus makes in his Annals , he describes them also as neighbours to the powerful Cherusci people, of Arminius , who apparently lived east of them. They had built a dike to mark the boundary and this was west of the Weser. Tacitus also notes in his Germania that together with
1394-584: The Ems river, which flowed from the heart of the country occupied by the tribes that became the Franks . These were still under Arminius , who had led the German confederation to the victory in 9. Unlike Arminius' native tribe, the Cherusci , the loyalty of the other tribes in the confederation was at best equivocal. The Angrivarii's defection or revolt ( defectio ) in the middle of Arminius's renewed operations against
1476-521: The Merovingian kingdom of Franks , but practically remained independent and maintained their old pagan religion . The Saxon pagan religion appears to have focused on the worship of the Irminsul or "great pillar"; a divine tree that connected Heaven and Earth and is thought to have existed at a site close to modern Obermarsberg . For the most part, the Saxon lands were a broad plain, save on
1558-604: The Rhine , it has also been considered one of the most decisive battles in history and a turning point in human history . Born a prince of the Cherusci tribe, Arminius was part of the Roman-friendly faction of the tribe. He learned Latin and served in the Roman military, which gained him Roman citizenship , and the rank of eques . After serving with distinction in the Great Illyrian Revolt , he
1640-564: The Rhine . News of the will was welcomed by the Germans, thinking it gave them a free hand in the region. Germanicus found it necessary to pacify the border, which he did by a combination of scorched earth raids and offers of alliance with Rome - in short, stick and carrot. These raids also kept the army of the lower Rhine distracted from the possibility of mutiny, which had broken out on Augustus's death and only been quelled by concessions and executions. For punitive expeditions Germanicus used
1722-819: The Roman Catholic Church . During the military occupation of the German States, first by the French Revolutionary Army and then by the French Imperial Army of Napoleon Bonaparte , Hermann der Cheruskerfürst once again became a national icon and a martyr within both German Romanticism and the anti-Colonialist romantic nationalism fueled by the Napoleonic Wars , which are still termed in Germany
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#17327651365521804-706: The Wars of Liberation . This may particularly be seen as in Caspar David Friedrich 's 1812 painting The Tombs of the Old Heroes . During the unification of Germany in the 19th century, Arminius was hailed as a symbol of German unity and liberation. In 1808, Heinrich von Kleist wrote the play Die Hermannsschlacht , but with Napoleon's victory at Wagram it remained in manuscript, being published in 1821 and not staged until 1860. The play has been revived repeatedly at moments of national crisis and
1886-477: The gaue , which are equivalent to modern Districts of Germany ( Kreise ), and were equivalent to the English shires (modern counties ). It should not be confused with the modern German state of Saxony , which is in eastern Germany, adjoining the northwest border of the Czech Republic . Ptolemy 's Geographia , written in the 2nd century, is sometimes considered to contain the first mentioning of
1968-696: The name Hermann dates from the 16th century, possibly first by Martin Luther . In German, Arminius was traditionally distinguished as Hermann der Cherusker ("Hermann the Cheruscan") or Hermann der Cheruskerfürst ("Hermann the Cheruscan Prince"). Hermann etymologically means "Man of War", coming from the Old High German heri meaning "war" and man meaning "person" or "man". This has also led to his English nickname "Herman
2050-600: The 19th century in American cities and rural areas with large populations speaking the German language in the United States . Hermann, Missouri , a town on the Missouri River founded in the 1830s and incorporated in 1845, was also named for Arminius. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, Arminius became lesser-known among West Germans and the educational system shied away from teaching about his life due to
2132-459: The 8th century as the early Germans described by Tacitus in Germania had lived. The long warfare with the Franks largely reduced but did not wholly obliterate their distinct cultural identity. Adam of Bremen , writing in the 11th century, compared the shape of Old Saxony to a triangle, and estimated from angle to angle the distance was eight days journey. In area Old Saxony was the greatest of
2214-689: The Angrivarii and their western neighbours the Chamavi living east of the Frisii who lived towards the Rhine river which was the official border of the Roman Empire , and behind them, further from the Romans, were "the Dulgubini and Chasuarii , and other tribes not equally famous". The Chasuarii probably lived near the Hase river, north of them, and the Dulgubini probably lived further east towards
2296-629: The Angrivarii he positions the Langobardi , and then the Dulgubnii. Unfortunately, Ptolemy's positioning of these peoples is confused in various places. The name appears earliest in the Annales and Germania of Tacitus as Angrivarii. In Greek, Ptolemy called them the Angriouarroi ( Ancient Greek : Ἀνγριουάρροι ), which transliterates into Latin Angrivari. In post-classical history
2378-538: The Bructeri still living in the same approximate area, with a lesser Bructeri group living near the mouth of the Rhine near the Frisii, and a larger group just south of the coastal Chauci who lived between the Ems and Weser rivers. He places the Chamavi (Chamai) south of these Bructeri. He reports the Angrivarii east of the Weser river, just south of the "greater" Chauci who lived on the coast between Weser and Elbe. South of
2460-600: The Frankish king, died and the Saxons used this opportunity for war. The Saxons were defeated by Chlothar I , Theudebald's successor. Some of their Frankish successors fought against the Saxons, while others were allied with them; Chlothar II won a decisive victory against the Saxons. In 690, two priests called Ewald the Black and Ewald the Fair set out from Northumbria to convert the Old Saxons to Christianity . It
2542-520: The German tribal duchies . It included the entire territory between the lower Elbe and Saale rivers almost to the Rhine. Between the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser it bordered the North Sea . The only parts of the territory which lay across the Elbe were the counties of Holstein and Ditmarsch . The tribal lands were roughly divided into four kindred groups: the Angrians , along the right bank of
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2624-478: The German." Born in 18 or 17 BC in Germania , Arminius was the son of the Cheruscan chief Segimerus (German: Segimer ; Proto-Germanic: Sigimariz ; Old English: Sigemær ), who was allied with Rome. Arminius learned to speak Latin and joined the Roman military with his younger brother Flavus . He served in the Roman army between AD 1 and 6, and received a military education as well as Roman citizenship and
2706-518: The Germanic leader into a reimagining of the twelfth chapter of Lucian 's satirical Dialogues of the Dead ; a debate between Alexander the Great , Hannibal , and Scipio Africanus before the underworld judgment seat of Minos over who most deserves the position of history's greatest general and military strategist. Arminius argues his own claim and calls upon Tacitus to bear witness, and ultimately wins
2788-540: The Gnitaheidr—today the suburb Knetterheide of the city of Bad Salzuflen , located at a strategic site on the Werre river which could very well have been the point of departure of Varus' legions on their way to their doom in the Teutoburg Forest. One of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century, Guðbrandur Vigfússon , identified Sigurd as Arminius. This educated guess was also picked up by Otto Höfler , who
2870-645: The Rhine could be supplied from the Mediterranean Sea via the Rhône , Saône , and Mosel , with only a brief area of portage. Armies on the Elbe, however, would have to have been supplied by extensive overland routes or by ships travelling the hazardous Atlantic. Economically, the Rhine already had towns and sizable villages at the time of the Gallic conquest. The Rhine was significantly more accessible from Rome and better equipped to supply sizable garrisons than
2952-401: The Roman Empire to a standstill at the peak of its power. During the unification of Germany in the 19th century, Arminius was hailed by German nationalists as a symbol of German unity and freedom. Following World War II , however, Arminius' significance diminished in Germany due to the rise of anti-militarism , pacifism , and anti-nationalism ; the 2,000th anniversary of his victory at
3034-474: The Roman Empire. The Romans made no further concerted efforts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the Rhine and the Agri Decumates . Numerous modern historians have regarded Arminius' victory as one of the most decisive battles in history, with some calling it "Rome's greatest defeat". In the accounts of his Roman enemies, Arminius is highly regarded for his military leadership and as
3116-592: The Roman threat, a war broke out between Arminius and Marbod , king of the Marcomanni . It ended with Marbod fleeing to Ravenna and Roman protection, but Arminius failed to break into the "natural fortification" of Bohemia , and the war ended in stalemate. In 19, Germanicus died in Antioch under circumstances which led many to believe he had been poisoned by his opponents. Arminius died two years later in 21, murdered by opponents within his own tribe who felt that he
3198-464: The Romans out of Germany marked a high point of Germanic power for centuries. Roman attempts to reconquer Germania failed, although they did eventually manage to break Arminius' carefully coordinated alliance. After the battle, the Germans quickly annihilated every trace of Roman presence east of the Rhine. Roman settlements such as the Waldgirmes Forum were abandoned. The vastly outnumbered Roman garrison of Aliso (present-day Haltern am See ), under
3280-415: The Saxons. Some copies of this text mention a tribe called Saxones in the area to the north of the lower River Elbe , thought to derive from the word Sax or stone knife. However, other copies call the same tribe Axones , and it is considered likely that it is a misspelling of the tribe that Tacitus in his Germania called Aviones . These earliest known tribal Saxons inhabited " Northern Albingia ",
3362-441: The State; as an early socialist revolution and as revolutionary terror against the "Roman slaveholder society"( Sklavenhaltergesellschaft ). The legacy of Arminius and his followers was further reinterpreted as symbolic of the allegedly "peace-loving" Warsaw Pact countries, while Imperial Rome was made into a symbol of the capitalist and allegedly Fascistic United States and the NATO military alliance , which were cast as
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3444-431: The Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, in which three Roman legions under the command of general and governor Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed. His victory at Teutoburg Forest precipitated the Roman Empire 's permanent strategic withdrawal and the decolonisation of Germania Magna , and modern historians regard it as one of Imperial Rome's greatest defeats. As it prevented the Romanization of Germanic peoples east of
3526-418: The Teutoburg Forest must have been secured in advance by Germanicus. Even if it was not, a cavalry attack soon brought the Angrivarii's capitulation. Soon afterwards, however, they are back in alliance with the Cherusci and opposition to the Romans, setting an ambush at the Cheruscan border, which was a high dirt embankment. They hid their cavalry in the woods and stationed their infantry on the reverse slope of
3608-440: The Teutoburg Forest was only lightly commemorated in Germany. The etymology of the Latin name Arminius is unknown, and confusion is further created by recent scholars who alternately referred to him as Armenus . In his History , Marcus Velleius Paterculus calls him "Arminius, the son of Sigimer, a prince of the nation" and states he "attained the dignity of equestrian rank ". Due to Roman naming conventions of
3690-407: The Weser river, between the towns of Kalefeld and Bad Gandersheim . In the early 19th century, attempts were made to show that the story of Arminius and his victory may have lived on in the Old Norse sagas , in the form of the dragon slayer Sigurd of the Völsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied (Under his Germanic name Siegfried). An Icelandic account states that Sigurd "slew the dragon" in
3772-440: The Weser; the Westphalians , along the Ems and the Lippe; the Eastphalians , on the left bank of the Weser; and the Nordalbingians , in modern Holstein . But not even with these four tribal groups was the term of tribal division reached. For the Saxon “nation” was really a loose collection of clans of kindred stock. For example, the Nordalbingians alone were divided into lesser groups: Holsteiners , Sturmarii , Bardi , and
3854-482: The area where the Angrivarii lived, comprising most of the country surrounding the middle Weser, including both flat land, as around Minden , and low hills ( Holzminden ). Although the Angrivarii receive brief mention in Ptolemy (2.10) and the Germania of Tacitus (33), they appear mainly at several locations in Annales . They were involved marginally in the wars fought by the talented Germanicus Caesar on behalf of his uncle Tiberius , emperor of Rome, against
3936-444: The bank. The Romans had intelligence of the plan beforehand. They assaulted the embankment, preceding their assault with volleys from slings and spears thrown by machines. Driving the Angrivarii from the bank, they went on to pursue the cavalry in the woods. Once again the Angrivarii were totally routed. Once the Cherusci had been dealt with, Germanicus turned his attention to the Angrivarii. They, however, surrendered unconditionally to
4018-401: The battles of Pontes Longi , Idistaviso , and the Angrivarian Wall , and deposed a rival, the Marcomanni king Maroboduus . Germanic nobles, afraid of Arminius's growing power, assassinated him in 21. He was remembered in Germanic legends for generations afterwards. The Roman historian Tacitus designated Arminius as the liberator of the Germanic tribes and commended him for having fought
4100-488: The capture of Thusnelda and did not marry again. Tacitus recorded that Arminius was "driven to frenzy" by the loss of his beloved wife. Tacitus states in the Annals : Arminius, with his naturally furious temper, was driven to frenzy by the seizure of his wife and the foredooming to slavery of his wife's unborn child. He flew hither and thither among the Cherusci, demanding "war against Segestes, war against Cæsar." And he refrained not from taunts. Thusnelda gave birth to
4182-399: The case and the eloquent praise of Minos. This version influenced later adaptations of the story, and reflected a wide interest in Arminius during the years of the German Reformation ; the name Arminius was interpreted as reflecting the name Hermann by Martin Luther , who saw Arminius as a symbol of his religious followers among the German people and their resistance to the Papacy and
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#17327651365524264-455: The command of Lucius Nonius Asprenas , were stationed in Moguntiacum . Arminius saw this as the perfect opportunity to defeat Varus. In the autumn of AD 9, the 25-year-old Arminius brought to Varus a false report of rebellion in northern Germany. He persuaded Varus to divert the three legions under his command (composed of the 17th , 18th , and 19th legions , plus three cavalry detachments and six cohorts of auxiliaries), which were at
4346-419: The command of the prefect Lucius Cedicius, inflicted heavy losses on the Germans before retreating into Gaul , resisting long enough for Lucius Nonius Asprenas to organize the Roman defense on the Rhine and Tiberius to arrive with a new army. This prevented Arminius from crossing the Rhine and invading Gaul. At some point after the battle, Arminius married a Germanic princess named Thusnelda . Her father
4428-411: The creation of various Saxon kingdoms in England including that of the South Saxons ( Sussex ), the West Saxons ( Wessex ) and the East Saxons ( Essex ) alongside others established by the Angles and the Jutes and are the foundations of the modern English nation. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century the Old Saxons who remained in Germania were loosely associated with
4510-425: The eastern seaboard of Britain from here during the 3rd and 4th centuries (prompting the construction of maritime defences in eastern Britain called the Saxon Shore ) and it is thought that following the collapse of the Roman defences on the Rhine in 407 pressure from population movements in the east forced the Saxons and their neighbouring tribes the Angles and the Jutes to migrate westwards by sea and invade
4592-442: The empire. This proved a difficult task, as the tribes were strongly independent and many were traditionally enemies of each other. Between AD 6 and 9, the Romans were forced to move eight of the eleven legions present in Germania east of the Rhine to crush a rebellion in the Balkans , leaving Varus with only three legions to face the Germans, which was still 18,000 troops, or 6,000 men per legion. An additional two legions, under
4674-515: The fertile lowland areas of Britain. The traditional date for this invasion is 449 and is known as the Adventus Saxonum . However, there is little archaeological evidence of any subsequent long-term conflict, and the evidence for large-scale Germanic migration into Britain is equally scant. It is possible that the level of migration was relatively minimal and that the ethnic makeup of the post-Roman population in Britain remained largely unchanged. The cultural and linguistic changes were stark and led to
4756-480: The first element from an Indo-European root *ang-, "to bend, bow." From this root are also derived German Anger , English dialect ing , Danish eng , Swedish äng , Dutch eng / enk , and many other forms in Germanic languages, all meaning "meadow, pasture." Cf. the similar element Angeln . The second element -varii is most prolific among Germanic tribal names, commonly taken to mean "inhabitants of", "dwellers in". Its precise etymology remains unclear, but there
4838-529: The general area later known as Old Saxony and were highly respected among Germanic tribes. He describes them as peaceful, calm, and levelheaded. At some point they may have merged with, or were perhaps synonymous to, the Saxons. It has been claimed that the Old Saxons were composed of an aristocracy of nobles, a free warrior class of distinction and renown, leading freemen united and controlled by ancient custom of kindred and clan. "Social differences were jealously guarded by social prescription. The death penalty
4920-405: The general sent by Germanicus and placed themselves in the status of suppliants, begging for mercy, which Germanicus granted. This later reaped dividends for the Angrivarii played a major role in securing the return of ships and men lost in a North Sea storm which scattered the Roman fleet upon the shore of hostile or neutral Germanic tribes. Finally, on May 26 of the year 17, Germanicus celebrated
5002-405: The name of the people had a number of different spellings in addition to the ones just mentioned. The name Angrivarii can be segmented Angri-varii meaning "the men of Engern", parallel to Ampsi-varii , "the men of the Ems". Engern, their region, is related to a word for meadows, as in modern German " Anger " , and appears as a component in placenames around Germany. Julius Pokorny derives
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#17327651365525084-406: The new evil empire needing to be resisted. According to journalist David Crossland: "The old nationalism has been replaced by an easy-going patriotism that mainly manifests itself at sporting events like the soccer World Cup ." The German Bundesliga football club DSC Arminia Bielefeld is named after Arminius. In the German diaspora , on the other hand, the 2,000-year anniversary of the battle
5166-407: The perpetrators of the massacre of three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest , the year 9. The wars began in the last years of the reign of Augustus , first emperor of Rome. Augustus died an old but respected man in the year 14 and was celebrated with much pomp and splendor. He left a document to be read to the senate posthumously, expressly forbidding extension of the empire beyond
5248-404: The powerful Suebi , etc. Only when indirect methods proved insufficient to control the Germanic tribes beyond the Rhine, did Roman emperors occasionally lead devastating punitive campaigns deep into Germania. One of them, led by the Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax , resulted in a Roman victory in 235 at the Battle at the Harzhorn Hill , located in the modern German state of Lower Saxony , east of
5330-422: The powerful king of the Franks and later emperor. After a bloody and highly attritious thirty-year campaign between 772–804 the Old Saxons led by Widukind were eventually subdued by Charlemagne and ultimately forced to convert to Christianity. The bonds of kindred and clan were particularly strong among the Saxons, and in spite of many divisions the Saxons were an unusually homogeneous nation living as late as
5412-406: The regions beyond. Rome chose no longer to rule directly in Germania east of the Rhine and north of the Danube , instead preferring to exert indirect influence through the tactics of using divide and rule and the appointing of client kings , which were cheaper than military campaigns. Italicus , nephew of Arminius, was appointed king of the Cherusci; Vangio and Sido became vassal princes of
5494-465: The south, where they rose into hills and the low mountainous country of the Harz and Hesse . This low divide was all that separated the country of the Saxons from their ancient enemies and ultimate conquerors, the Franks . The lack of clear physical definition along this border, from time immemorial, had been the cause of incessant tribal conflict between them. Saxons as inhabitants of present-day Northern Germany are mentioned in 555, when Theudebald ,
5576-404: The status of equite before returning to Germania. These experiences gave him knowledge of Roman politics and military tactics, which allowed him to successfully anticipate enemy battle maneuvers during his later campaigns against the Roman army. Around the year AD 4, Arminius assumed command of a Cheruscan detachment of Roman auxiliary forces, probably while fighting in the Pannonian wars on
5658-422: The time marching to winter quarters, to suppress the rebellion. Varus and his legions marched right into the trap that Arminius had set for them near Kalkriese . Arminius' tribe, the Cherusci , and their allies the Marsi , Chatti , Bructeri , Chauci , and Sicambri (five out of at least fifty Germanic tribes at the time) ambushed and annihilated Varus' entire army, totaling over 20,000 men, as it marched along
5740-405: The time, it is likely Arminius is an adopted name granted to him upon citizenship or in any case not his Germanic name . The name instead appears to ultimately be of Etruscan origin, appearing as armne and armni on inscriptions found at Volaterrae . According to another theory, that name was given to Arminius for his service in Armenia. The German translation of Arminius as
5822-407: The triumphal march of Germanicus in 17 AD: "Germanicus Caesar, celebrated his triumph over the Cherusci, Chatti, and Angrivarii, and the other tribes which extend as far as the Elbe." Arminius Arminius ( / ɑːr ˈ m ɪ n i ə s / ; 18/17 BC–AD 21) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of
5904-447: The war. Arminius was not the only reason for Rome's change of policy towards Germania. Politics also played a factor; emperors found they could rarely trust a large army to a potential rival, though Augustus had enough loyal family members to wage his wars. Also, Augustus, in his 40-year reign, had annexed many territories still at the beginning of the process of Romanization. Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus in AD 14, decided that Germania
5986-628: The world's first superpowers. Indeed, learning of his victory over the Roman army was especially important to German Renaissance humanists , as the Renaissance only reached the Holy Roman Empire much later than southern Europe and German humanists were widely looked down upon by their Italian colleagues. The first literary adaptation of the Arminius story came in 1520 with Ulrich von Hutten 's Latin dialogue Arminius , which inserts
6068-473: Was a far less developed land, possessing few villages and only a small food surplus, and therefore was not currently important to Rome. Conquering Germania would require a commitment too burdensome for the imperial finances and an excessive expenditure of military force. Modern scholars have pointed out that the Rhine was a more practical boundary for the Roman Empire than any other river in Germania. Armies on
6150-539: Was a prominent Nazi academic during World War II . After Tacitus' Annals were rediscovered by Renaissance humanists and first published during the Gutenberg Revolution of the 15th century, Arminius became an important symbol of German national identity , as a figure who successfully opposed colonialism and prevented the Romanization of his people by outgeneraling and defeating one of
6232-404: Was becoming too powerful. Tiberius allegedly had refused an earlier offer from a Chatti nobleman to poison Arminius: "It was not by secret treachery but openly and by arms that the people of Rome avenged themselves on their enemies." Arminius' victory against the Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest had a far-reaching effect on the subsequent history of both the ancient Germanic peoples and on
6314-465: Was celebrated in New Ulm, Minnesota , proudly and without restraint. There were mock battles between Romans and club-wielding barbarians and also a lecture series in an auditorium. Fictionalized versions of Arminius or commentary upon his legacy appear in: The Football (Soccer) Team „DSC Arminia Bielefeld“ is named After Arminius Old Saxony Old Saxony was the homeland of the Saxons during
6396-675: Was especially used as propaganda in Nazi Germany . In 1838, construction was started on a massive statue of Arminius, known as the Hermannsdenkmal , on a hill near Detmold in the Teutoburg Forest; it was finally completed and dedicated during the early years of the Second German Empire in the wake of the German victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The monument has been
6478-537: Was imposed on any man who married above his rank; the marriage of a man below his station was severely condemned; bastardy was not tolerated; intermarriage between Saxons and other Germans was frowned upon; and strangers were hated. So tenaciously did the Saxons cling to their ancient customary law that clear traces of these social survivals persisted in Saxony down through the Middle Ages." Saxons had been raiding
6560-423: Was sent to Germania to aid the local governor Publius Quinctilius Varus in completing the Roman conquest of the Germanic tribes. While in this capacity, Arminius secretly plotted a Germanic revolt against Roman rule, which culminated in the ambush and destruction of three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. In the aftermath of the battle, Arminius fought retaliatory invasions by the Roman general Germanicus in
6642-425: Was the Cheruscan prince Segestes , who was pro-Roman. But Arminius abducted and then impregnated Thusnelda circa AD 14. This elopement was likely a result of a dispute between Arminius and Segestes who was against their relationship. In May of 15 the Roman general Germanicus captured Thusnelda. At the point of her capture she was pregnant and living with her father, who had taken her back. Arminius deeply grieved
6724-518: Was torn limb from limb. Afterwards the two bodies were cast into the Rhine. This is understood to have happened on 3 October 695 at a place called Aplerbeck , near Dortmund , where a chapel still stands. The two Ewalds are now celebrated in Westphalia as saints. The Saxons' reluctance to accept the new Christian religion and propensity to mount destructive raids on their neighbours would eventually bring them into direct conflict with Charlemagne ,
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