Cherusci
Encyclopedia
The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany
, in the area between present-day Osnabrück
and Hanover
, during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. Subsequently they were absorbed into the tribal confederations of the Franks
and Saxons
.
origin of the name Cherusci is not known with certainty. According to the dominant opinion in scholarship, the name may derive from the ancient Germanic word *herut (Modern English hart, i.e. 'deer'). The tribe may have been named after the deer because it had a totem
istic significance in Germanic symbolism. A different hypothesis, proposed in the 19th century by Jacob Grimm
and others, derives the name from *heru-, a word for 'sword' (cf. Gothic
hairus, Old English heoru) Hans Kuhn has argued that the derivational suffix -sk-, involved in both explanations, is otherwise not common in Germanic. He suggested that the name may therefore be a compound of ultimately non-Germanic origin, connected to the hypothesized nordwestblock
.
's De Bello Gallico, which recounts events of 53 BC. Caesar relates that he crossed the Rhine again to punish the Suebi
for sending reinforcements to the Treveri
. He mentions that the Bacenis forest separated the territory of the Cherusci from that of the Suebi. In 12 BC, the Cherusci and other Germanic tribes were subjugated by the Romans.
As Rome
tried to expand in northern Europe beyond the Rhine, it exploited divisions within the Cherusci, and for some time the tribe was considered a Roman ally. At this time the tribe was split between Arminius
(known in modern German as "Hermann der Cherusker", although his actual Germanic name was more likely Erminaz ) and Segestes
. Arminius advocated breaking allegiance to Rome and declaring independence, while Segestes wanted to remain loyal. By about 8 AD, Arminius had gained the upper hand and began planning rebellion. Segestes repeatedly warned Publius Quinctilius Varus
, the governor of Gaul, that rebellion was being planned, but Varus declined to act until the rebellion had broken out.
In 9, in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
, an army of allied Germanic tribes under the command of Arminius (the Cherusci, Bructeri
, Marsi
, Sicambri
, Chauci
and Chatti
) annihilated three Roman legions
commanded by Varus. The legions' eagle standards, of great symbolic importance to the Romans, were lost. The numbers of these three legions, Legio XVII
, Legio XVIII
, and Legio XIX
, were never used again.
After the mutinies of the German legions in 14, Germanicus
decided, at the urging of his men, to march into Germany to restore their lost honor. In 15, after a quick raid on the Chatti, he began a campaign against the Cherusci. He received an appeal to rescue Segestes, who was besieged by Arminius. Segestes was rescued along with a group of relatives and dependents, including Thusnelda
, Segestes' daughter and the wife of Arminius. Germanicus spared them and gave them land in Gaul. He then found the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. His men buried the dead and built a funeral mound.
A series of battles followed. Inflicting heavy casualties on the Romans, Arminius seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Then, in 16, Germanicus defeated Arminius at Idistaviso
and in 18 at the Battle of the Angrivarian Walls, but Arminius was not captured by the Romans. In 19, Adgandestrius
, a chief of the Chatti
, asked Rome for poison to kill Arminius. Tacitus
claimed the request was refused on the "noble" grounds that (as related by Tacitus
) "Romans take vengeance on their enemies, not by underhanded tricks, but by open force of arms." Arminius increasingly became embroiled in tribal disputes; his opponents accused him of trying to make himself king. In 21 Arminius "succumbed to treachery from his relations" (Tacitus) and a client king was appointed on the Germans by Rome.
After Arminius' death, the Romans left the Cherusci more or less to their own devices. In 47 AD. the Cherusci asked Rome to send Italicus, the nephew of Arminius, to become king, as civil war had destroyed their nobility. He was initially well liked, but since he was raised in Rome as a Roman citizen he soon fell out of favor.
Under prudent Emperor Hadrian
, the Limes
fortification was built that closed the gap between the Rhine and Danube to prevent raids subsequent to uprisings in unstable Outer Germany.
Later history of the Cherusci is mostly unknown. In the 4th century AD they perhaps contributed to the formation of the Saxon
or the Frank
peoples.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, in the area between present-day Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
and Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. Subsequently they were absorbed into the tribal confederations of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
and Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
.
Etymology
The etymologicalEtymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
origin of the name Cherusci is not known with certainty. According to the dominant opinion in scholarship, the name may derive from the ancient Germanic word *herut (Modern English hart, i.e. 'deer'). The tribe may have been named after the deer because it had a totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
istic significance in Germanic symbolism. A different hypothesis, proposed in the 19th century by Jacob Grimm
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
and others, derives the name from *heru-, a word for 'sword' (cf. Gothic
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
hairus, Old English heoru) Hans Kuhn has argued that the derivational suffix -sk-, involved in both explanations, is otherwise not common in Germanic. He suggested that the name may therefore be a compound of ultimately non-Germanic origin, connected to the hypothesized nordwestblock
Nordwestblock
The Nordwestblock , is a hypothetical cultural region, that several 20th century scholars propose as a prehistoric culture, thought to be roughly bounded by the rivers Meuse, Elbe, Somme and Oise and possibly the eastern part of England during the Bronze and Iron Ages The Nordwestblock (English:...
.
History
The first historical mention of the Cherusci occurs in Book 6.10 of Julius CaesarJulius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's De Bello Gallico, which recounts events of 53 BC. Caesar relates that he crossed the Rhine again to punish the Suebi
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
for sending reinforcements to the Treveri
Treveri
The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...
. He mentions that the Bacenis forest separated the territory of the Cherusci from that of the Suebi. In 12 BC, the Cherusci and other Germanic tribes were subjugated by the Romans.
As Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
tried to expand in northern Europe beyond the Rhine, it exploited divisions within the Cherusci, and for some time the tribe was considered a Roman ally. At this time the tribe was split between Arminius
Arminius
Arminius , also known as Armin or Hermann was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest...
(known in modern German as "Hermann der Cherusker", although his actual Germanic name was more likely Erminaz ) and Segestes
Segestes
Segestes was a noble of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci involved in the events surrounding the Roman attempts to conquer northern Germany during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus....
. Arminius advocated breaking allegiance to Rome and declaring independence, while Segestes wanted to remain loyal. By about 8 AD, Arminius had gained the upper hand and began planning rebellion. Segestes repeatedly warned Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus was a Roman politician and general under Emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.-Life:His paternal grandfather was senator Sextus Quinctilius...
, the governor of Gaul, that rebellion was being planned, but Varus declined to act until the rebellion had broken out.
In 9, in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions, along with their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the...
, an army of allied Germanic tribes under the command of Arminius (the Cherusci, Bructeri
Bructeri
The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany , between the Lippe and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350 AD....
, Marsi
Marsi (Germanic)
The Marsi were a small Germanic tribe settled between the Rhine, Rur and Lippe rivers in northwest Germany.Tacitus mentions them repeatedly, in particular in the context of the wars of Germanicus. They had been part of the tribal coalition of the Cheruscian war leader Arminius that in 9 AD...
, Sicambri
Sicambri
The Sicambri were a Germanic people living on the right bank of the Rhine river, near where it passes out of Germany and enters what is now called the Netherlands at the turn of the first millennium....
, Chauci
Chauci
The Chauci were an ancient Germanic tribe living in the low-lying region between the Rivers Ems and Elbe, on both sides of the Weser and ranging as far inland as the upper Weser. Along the coast they lived on artificial hills called terpen, built high enough to remain dry during the highest tide...
and Chatti
Chatti
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
) annihilated three Roman legions
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
commanded by Varus. The legions' eagle standards, of great symbolic importance to the Romans, were lost. The numbers of these three legions, Legio XVII
Legio XVII
Legio septima decima was a Roman legion levied by Augustus around 41 BC. The legion was destroyed in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest...
, Legio XVIII
Legio XVIII
Legio duodevigesima was a Roman legion levied by the future Augustus around 41 BC. The legion was, along with two others, destroyed in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest...
, and Legio XIX
Legio XIX
Legio undevigesima was a Roman legion levied in 41 or 40 BC by Augustus. It was destroyed in 9 in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest...
, were never used again.
After the mutinies of the German legions in 14, Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
decided, at the urging of his men, to march into Germany to restore their lost honor. In 15, after a quick raid on the Chatti, he began a campaign against the Cherusci. He received an appeal to rescue Segestes, who was besieged by Arminius. Segestes was rescued along with a group of relatives and dependents, including Thusnelda
Thusnelda
Thusnelda was the daughter of the Cheruscan prince Segestes. Her father had intended her for someone else, but Arminius, who subsequently led a coalition of Germanic tribes to victory over Publius Quinctilius Varus and his legions in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, eloped with her and...
, Segestes' daughter and the wife of Arminius. Germanicus spared them and gave them land in Gaul. He then found the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. His men buried the dead and built a funeral mound.
A series of battles followed. Inflicting heavy casualties on the Romans, Arminius seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Then, in 16, Germanicus defeated Arminius at Idistaviso
Idistaviso
Idistaviso is the location on the Weser river where forces commanded by Arminius fought those commanded by Germanicus at the Battle of the Weser River in 16 CE, attested in chapter 16 of Tacitus' Annales II...
and in 18 at the Battle of the Angrivarian Walls, but Arminius was not captured by the Romans. In 19, Adgandestrius
Adgandestrius
Adgandestrius was a chief of the ancient Germanic tribe of the Chatti. He offered to kill Arminius if the Romans would send him poison for the purpose; but Tiberius declined the offer....
, a chief of the Chatti
Chatti
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
, asked Rome for poison to kill Arminius. Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
claimed the request was refused on the "noble" grounds that (as related by Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
) "Romans take vengeance on their enemies, not by underhanded tricks, but by open force of arms." Arminius increasingly became embroiled in tribal disputes; his opponents accused him of trying to make himself king. In 21 Arminius "succumbed to treachery from his relations" (Tacitus) and a client king was appointed on the Germans by Rome.
Under prudent Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
, the Limes
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
fortification was built that closed the gap between the Rhine and Danube to prevent raids subsequent to uprisings in unstable Outer Germany.
Later history of the Cherusci is mostly unknown. In the 4th century AD they perhaps contributed to the formation of the Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
or the Frank
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
peoples.
Sources
- Tacitus, Cornelius and Michael Grant, The Annals of Imperial Rome. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.
- Caesar, Julius et al. The Battle for Gaul. Boston: D. R. Godine, 1980.
- Wilhelm Zimmermann, A Popular History of Germany (New York, 1878) Vol. I
- Max Ihm, Cherusci. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE). volume III,2, Stuttgart 1899, Sp. 2270–2272.
- Ralf Günther Jahn, Der Römisch-Germanische Krieg (9–16 n. Chr.). Diss., Bonn 2001.
- Peter Kehne, Zur Lokalisierung, Organisation und Geschichte des Cheruskerstammes. In: Michael Zelle (Hrsg.), Terra incognita? Die nördlichen Mittelgebirge im Spannungsfeld römischer und germanischer Politik um Christi Geburt. Akten des Kolloquiums im Lippischen Landesmuseum Detmold vom 17. bis 19. Juni 2004. Philipp von Zabern Verlag, Mainz 2008, , pages 9–29.
- Gerhard Neumann, Reinhard Wenskus, Rafael von Uslar, Cherusker. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen AltertumskundeReallexikon der germanischen AltertumskundeThe Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde is an important German-language encyclopedia treating the history of the Germanic peoples from antiquity to the middle ages...
(RGA). 2. Auflage. volume 4, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin – New York 1981, pages 430–435. - Oberst Streccius, Cherusker. In: Bernhard von Poten (Hrsg.): Handwörterbuch der gesamten Militärwissenschaften. volume 2, Bielefeld/Leipzig 1877, page 235.