#cherusci

Cherusci

 The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe from modern day northwestern Germany, around the northern Rhine valley. They are perhaps the best known tribe of all the Germanic tribes thanks to the famous battle of Teutoburgerwald and their leader Arminius. To the west they were neighboured by the Bructeri and Chattuarii, to the east by the Semnones, to the south by the Chatti and to the north by the Angrivarii and the Chauci.

The meaning of their name is still somewhat unclear. There are in fact two possible theories: the first suggests that their name is derived from the Proto-Germanic word ‘Herut’ which means hart or deer. The other theory suggests that the name comes from the name Germani, given to the Germanic people by the Romans who in turn based this word on the words they heard the Germanic people using to describe themselves, its meaning is spearmen. The Cherusci might very well be named after ‘Herman’, German/Germani.  

The first mention of this tribe comes from Julius Caesar in 53BC in his work ‘De Bello Gallico’. Caesar crossed the Rhine in order to punish the Suebi for aiding the Celtic tribes in Belgae, this is when he encountered the Cherusci tribe for the first time. Interestingly, Caesar noted that the Cherusci were not part of the Suebi and are separated from them by the Bacenis forest, a dense wood that was near impenetrable.

I have mentioned the expeditions of Nero Drusus Germanicus before in several other posts. His campaigns into Germania, between 12BC-9BC, were incredibly succesfull. He sugjugated tribes such as the Batavi, Frisii, Marsi, Chauci, Mattiaci, Marcomanni, Usipetes and the Cherusci. He was well under way in conquering all of Germania for the Roman empire, just like how Gaul became a Roman province. He would have suceeded if a fall from his horse in 9BC didn’t kill him.

A few years later around 7AD-8AD, the now famous Arminius returned to Germania after having led a Cherusci regiment of auxiliary cavalry during the Pannonian wars in the modern day Balkan region. Arminius himself was the son of the Cherusci chief who was made a hostage of Rome after the succesfull campaigns of Drusus Germanicus. He grew up in Rome and even became a Roman citizen. He returned to Germania to aid the local governour, Publius Quinctilius Varus in conquering the rest of the Germanic tribes. It was during this period that Arminius secretly switched sides and plotted the unification of several Germanic tribes in order to thwart Rome’s plans for an expansion into Germania.

This would have been one hell of a task since the Germanic tribes were constantly at war with each other throughout history. Uniting them would take a lot of patience and a skilled charismatic leader, fortunately for Arminius he was the right kind of leader and he managed the impossible, the military unification of several Germanic tribes. Arminius decided to wait for the perfect moment to strike at the Romans. This perfect moment arrived in 9AD when most of the stationed legions, 8 out of the 11, were sent away to crush a rebellion in the Balkans. Varus was now left with only three legions.

Arminius set up a trap for Varus and his men by sending him false reports of a non-existing rebellion in the north. Varus apparently trusted Arminius and sent his three legions plus auxiliary detachments up north near modern day Kalkriese, Germany. When they arrived there, they were attacked by Arminius and his allied tribes, which was the start of the famous Teutoburgerwald battle. The Romans were completely surprised by the attack and Varus’ three legions were completely annihilated, about 20,000 Roman soldiers were slaughtered and Varus himself committed suicide.

This battle was the biggest defeat in Roman military history. Several Roman fortifications along the Rhine were abandoned after the battle, its people fleeing back to Gaul out of fear for more Germanic attacks. The Romans were absolutely shocked to the core at the loss of three of their prized legions and quickly called for revenge. Never before had Rome been bested on such a large scale by mere ‘barbarians’. The loss was especially hard on the Roman emperor of that time, Augustus. It is said by Roman historian Suetonius that Augustus refused to cut his hair or beard for months after hearing the news, a sign of mourning. He also spoke the legendary sentence: “Quinctilius Varus!, give me back my legions!”.

Emperor Augustus died a few years later in 14AD and was succeeded by his adopted stepson, Tiberius who planned an expedition into Germania to punish the tribes who were involved in this legendary defeat. It was between the years 14AD-16AD that general Germanicus Julius Caesar led this punal campaign in order to punish the Germanic people and retrieve the three eagles which were lost during the battle. This campaign eventually led to three expeditions which were succesfull for Rome, they managed to retrieve two of the lost eagles and laid waste to several of the involved tribes. No mercy was shown by these Roman soldiers, they burned and killed everyone and everything on their path including women and children.

During this period, Arminius revived his military alliance and laid siege on Segestes, whose daughter was married to Ariminius. The Romans were however able to relieve Segestes and capture his pregnant daughter, Thusnelda. Arminius’ son was born in Rome and trained to be a gladiator, he unfortunately died in combat before the age of 20. The Germanic tribes were soundly defeated during this revenge campaign but emperor Tiberius had lost his ambitions for turning Germania into a Roman province, fearing more future rebellions. He eventually abandoned Germania and established permanent borders along the Rhine, he had his eyes now on a new land to conquer, a land, he hoped, that wouldn’t fight back so fiercely, Britannia.

This didn’t mean that peace returned to the Cherusci tribe. Arminius decided to attack Maroboduus, leader of the Marcomanni, for their refusal to fight against the Romans. This led to a two year war between 17AD-19AD which ended indecisively but the Marcomanni retreated back into territory that later became Bohemia. Arminius himself, who gained immense populairy and power after the victory of Teutoburgerwald, was assassinated by his own nobles in 21AD who felt that Arminius was getting too powerful.

Not much is known about the Cherusci after the events of the Teutoburgerwald battle and Arminius’ life. They continued waging war with neighbouring tribes, including the Chatti. This was of course not uncommon since the Germanic tribes were always at war with each other, they were only able to unite when they had a common foreign enemy. In 98AD Tacitus published his work Germania and added a description of the Cherusci:

"Dwelling on one side of the Chauci and Chatti, the Cherusci long cherished, unassailed, an excessive and enervating love of peace. This was more pleasant than safe, for to be peaceful is self-deception among lawless and powerful neighbours. Where the strong hand decides, moderation and justice are terms applied only to the more powerful, and so the Cherusci, ever reputed good and just, are now called cowards and fools, while in the case of the victorious Chatti success has been identified with prudence. The downfall of the Cherusci brought with it also that of the Fosi, a neighbouring tribe, which shared equally in their disasters, though they had been inferior to them in prosperous days." - Tacitus  (It sounds a bit salty in my opinion)

Eventually the Cherusci were absorbed into the Saxon and Frankish confederation by the third century AD, this is the moment when they disappeared from history as an identity. The Cherusci might have even played an important factor in the formation of the Saxons but how big this role exactly was, is unknown.  What is known is that the Cherusci left an important Germanic legacy behind, the battle of Teutoburg forest. Some historians call this the most important battle of Germanic/Roman history and the biggest military loss of the Roman empire. It had huge political consequences afterwards such as the permanent withdrawal of Romans in Germania and the abandoning of all plans to conquer the land for Rome.

Barbarians (2020): S2E6

Barbarians (2020)

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest - Varusschlacht (The Varus Battle)