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Arminius

The Latinized form of Hermann, “the chieftain.” Son of Sigimer, and chief of the tribe of the Cherusci, who inhabited the country to the north of the Hartz Mountains, now forming the south of Hanover and Brunswick. He was born in B.C. 18; and in his youth he led the Cherusci as auxiliaries of the Roman legions in Germany, where he learned the Roman language, was admitted to the freedom of the city, and enrolled among the equites. In A.D. 9, Arminius persuaded his countrymen to rise against the Romans, who were now masters of this part of Germany. His attempt was crowned with success. Quintilius Varus, who was stationed in the country with three legions, was destroyed, with almost all his troops (see Varus); and the Romans had to relinquish all their possessions beyond the Rhine. In A.D. 14, Arminius had to defend his country against Germanicus. At first he was successful, but Germanicus made good his retreat to the Rhine. It was in the course of this campaign that Thusnelda, the wife of Arminius, fell into the hands of the Romans. In A.D. 16, Arminius was defeated by Germanicus, and his country was probably only saved from subjection by the jealousy of Tiberius, who recalled Germanicus in the following year. At length Arminius aimed at absolute power, and was in consequence cut off by his own relations in the thirty-seventh year of his age, A.D. 19. A colossal statue of Arminius by Bandel was erected in August, 1875, near Detmold in Germany. See Böttger, Hermann der Cheruskerfürst (1874), and the article Germania.

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