ENEMIES OF ROME 6.3 - ARMINIUS - The Plot Thickens

herverisson (70)in #history • 7 years ago

After years in Rome as an hostage and the chief of an auxiliary force, Arminius comes back to Rome, just when the acculturation program of Rome starts to kick in.

VARUS

In 7AD, after another round of pacification campaign under the eye of the future emperor Tiberius, Augustus appoints Publius Quinctilius Varus (born 46 BC - see the coin above) as governor. He is a member of the inner circle of the Princeps, but by no mean a novice: he has already ruled in the name of Rome over the province of Africa and then over Syria, with severity and efficiency, filling the state coffers as well as his own pockets in the process.

Roman tax collectors at work [Source]

So, in 7AD, Varus arrived in his headquarters in the new province and began to set up the legislative infrastructure for all the lands beyond the Rhine. He started to raise taxes, make a census, renders the justice according the Roman laws, raise militias and generally conducts himself as a conqueror, without paying any attention to the murmurs, complaints, and dissents from the tribes - alarmed to see their laws and traditions brushed aside so quickly after more lenient years:

Besides issuing orders to them as if they were actually slaves of the Romans, he exacted money as he would from subject nations. To this they were in no mood to submit, for the leaders longed for their former ascendancy and the masses preferred their accustomed condition to foreign domination.

Maybe Varus thought that he could mold his subjects as he saw fit, just like he did in Africa and Syria, where the people had seen countless conquerors pass and try to make their mark over them, shrugging those calamities as another bad day. But for the Germans, they had never been conquered before. And they started to realize that, maybe, they had made a big mistake.

All in all, with the exactions of Varus, his cold efficiency, his inhumane approach, all the German tribes needed to raise in revolt was a leader, someone who would unify them and show them the way:

Thereupon appeared a young man of noble birth, brave in action and alert in mind, possessing an intelligence quite beyond the ordinary barbarian; he was, namely, Arminius, the son of Sigimer, a prince of that nation, and he showed in his countenance and in his eyes the fire of the mind within.

ARMINIUS IS BACK

Arminius came back in Germany around the same time as Varus arrived, and he was able to see by himself the impact of the Roman policies - and did not like it one bit. But before to become a rebellion leader, Arminius found time to fall in love with the daughter of a Cheruscan chieftain called Segestes.

The girl was called Thusnelda. She was already betrothed to someone else, but that did not stop Arminius from claiming and absconding with her, for the bitter disappointment of Segestes - who swore to avenge the affront.

Segestes was actually a close ally of the Romans, and this is a prime example of how history can turn the tables on all our expectations: even if it was Arminius who had been enrolled and taught in the Roman ways, Segestes was the real ally of the Romans. As for Arminius, returning to Germany, rather than praising Rome, we can imagine that he painted a sordid picture of the Eternal City and its inhabitants to his people - to gain their trust, their favour and their allegiance - and stoking unrest by appealing to their long lost honour.

SEGESTES BETRAYS

Segestes detected early that his new son-in-law was not only a scoundrel, but also a potential liability for the Romans. Resolved to kill two birds with the same stone, he personally denounced the intents of Arminius to Varus:

he urged Varus to arrest himself and Arminius and all the other chiefs, assuring him that the people would attempt nothing if the leading men were removed, and that he would then have an opportunity of sifting accusations and distinguishing the innocent.

[Source]

Varus laughed it off. First of all, Arminius was probably able to pass it as the desire of revenge from a father whose daughter had been ravished. Second, it means also that Arminius had won so much the trust of the Roman elite of the province that he was considered even more loyal than his father-in-law. Third, Varus felt overconfident, refusing to see in his “subjects” nothing more than an enslaved people unable, completely deprived of the ability or will to rise against Rome. He could not be more wrong.

THE DIE IS CAST

Arminius managed to organize a great revolt without arousing the suspicion of the Romans. He was probably well helped by the vast expanse of Germany. Clustered around their forts, the Romans would not venture out of it without protection. For intelligence, they relied on the locals - who were less and less inclined to share any information with their new masters.

In 9AD, when everything was ready, Arminius informed Varus about a rebellion, near the Weser river. Relying completely on the intelligence from his young ally, Varus took his three legions, and several auxiliary force of Gauls, and, crucially, a contingent of Cherusci who were charged with the scouting.