20 Facts About Arminius

1.

Arminius was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of general Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed.

2.

Arminius learned Latin and served in the Roman military, which gained him Roman citizenship and the rank of eques.

3.

Germanic nobles, afraid of Arminius' growing power, assassinated him in 21 AD.

4.

In German, Arminius was traditionally distinguished as or.

5.

Arminius learned to speak Latin and joined the Roman military alongside his younger brother Flavus.

6.

Arminius served in the Roman army between 1 and 6 AD, and received a military education as well as Roman citizenship and the status of equite before returning to Germania.

7.

Around the year 4 AD, Arminius assumed command of a Cheruscan detachment of Roman auxiliary forces, probably while fighting in the Pannonian wars on the Balkan peninsula.

8.

Arminius began plotting to unite various Germanic tribes in order to thwart Roman efforts to incorporate their lands into the empire.

9.

Arminius saw this as the perfect opportunity to defeat Varus.

10.

Roman attempts to reconquer Germania failed, although they did eventually manage to break Arminius' carefully coordinated alliance.

11.

Arminius faced opposition from his father-in-law and other pro-Roman Germanic leaders.

12.

Arminius died two years later, in 21 AD, murdered by opponents within his own tribe who felt that he was becoming too powerful.

13.

Arminius's father was the Cheruscan prince Segestes, who was pro-Roman.

14.

Arminius deeply grieved the capture of Thusnelda and did not marry again.

15.

Tacitus recorded that Arminius was "driven to frenzy" by the loss of his beloved wife.

16.

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.

17.

Arminius was not the only reason for Rome's change of policy towards Germania.

18.

Italicus, nephew of Arminius, was appointed king of the Cherusci; Vangio and Sido became vassal princes of the powerful Suebi, etc.

19.

In Germany, the name Arminius was interpreted as reflecting the name Hermann by Martin Luther, who saw Arminius as a symbol of the German people and their fight against Rome.

20.

In East Germany, Arminius, based on a Marxist reading of history, came to be seen as a revolutionary figure of sorts, leading German tribes in a fight against the Roman slaveholder society.