Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)

Background

In 27 BC, Augustus became princeps and sent Agrippa to suppress uprisings in Gaul. During these uprisings, weapons were smuggled into Gaul from Germania across the Rhine. At that time, Rome's military presence in the Rhineland was small, and operations there were limited to punitive expeditions. After Gaul was pacified, infrastructure improvements were made, including the Roman road network in 20 BC by Agrippa.

Rome increased its military presence along the Rhine, and several forts were built between 19 and 17 BC. Augustus believed the empire's future prosperity depended on border expansion, and Germania became the next target. In 17/16 BC, the tribes Sicambri, Usipetes, and Tencteri captured and executed Roman soldiers east of the Rhine, then crossed the river and attacked a Roman cavalry unit. They unexpectedly encountered the 5th Legion under Marcus Lollius, defeated it, and captured its eagle.

This defeat convinced Augustus to reorganize and improve the military presence in Gaul to prepare for campaigns across the Rhine. A subsequent attack by Lollius and Augustus forced the invaders to retreat and sue for peace. From 16 to 13 BC, Augustus was active in Gaul, establishing a mint at Lugdunum, organizing a census for tax collection, and coordinating the establishment of military bases on the west bank of the Rhine.

Campaigns before the Clades Variana

Nero Claudius Drusus, stepson of Augustus, was made governor of Gaul in 13 BC. The following year saw an uprising in Gaul in response to the Roman census and taxation policy. Drusus spent most of that year conducting reconnaissance and dealing with supply and communications, and had several forts built along the Rhine, including Argentoratum, Moguntiacum, and Castra Vetera. After repelling an incursion by the Sicambri and Usipetes into Gaul, he launched a retaliatory attack across the Rhine, marking the start of 28 years of Roman campaigns across the lower Rhine.

He invaded the land of the Usipetes, then marched north against the Sicambri and pillaged their lands. Traveling down the Rhine into what is now the Netherlands, he conquered the Frisians, who then served as allies, and attacked the Chauci. He recrossed the Rhine around winter and returned to Rome. The following spring, Drusus began his second campaign, subduing the Usipetes and marching east to the Visurgis.

He passed through Cherusci territory and pushed as far east as the Weser, the farthest east a Roman general had traveled in northern Europe. On the return trip, his legions were nearly destroyed at Arbalo by Cherusci warriors using the terrain to harass them. He was made consul, and the doors of the Temple of Janus were closed, signifying peace. In the spring of 10 BC, he campaigned again across the Rhine, spending most of the year attacking the Chatti, whom he conquered along with other German tribes, before returning to Rome.

Campaign of Varus

When Tiberius left for Illyricum, Augustus put Publius Quinctilius Varus in charge of Germania. Varus had plenty of experience as an officer, but he was not the kind of commander you would pick for a major crisis.

He started imposing Roman-style changes on the German tribes, such as collecting taxes, which was exactly what Augustus expected from a governor of a region that was supposed to be already pacified. In response, the German tribes began to unite behind a new leader, Arminius of the Cherusci. Rome considered Arminius an ally because he had served in the Roman army, and he stayed close to Varus while Varus was in Germania with the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Legions, trying to finish the conquest.

Very little is known about the campaign of AD 9 until the return march. Varus led his legions away from their camp on the Weser River, heading back toward Castra Vetera. Along the way, Arminius told Varus about a small rebellion west of the Roman camp, only about a two-day detour. Varus decided to go and put it down, trusting that Arminius would ride ahead to rally his own tribesmen to help the Romans.

In fact, Arminius was setting up an ambush. Varus did not take any extra precautions because he did not expect trouble. This revolt happened while most of Rome’s legions were busy fighting the Pannonian revolt in Illyricum, leaving Varus with just three legions isolated deep inside Germany. Local German scouts, who knew the terrain, were sent ahead and reported the route was safe.

Historians Wells and Abdale think those scouts probably tipped off the German forces, giving them time to get into position.

Campaigns after the Clades Variana

When news of Varus’s disaster reached Rome, Augustus sent Tiberius back to the Rhine frontier in AD 10. Tiberius strengthened the river’s defenses, shifted troops, tightened discipline, and launched small raids across the Rhine. The historian Velleius claimed these raids were hugely successful, but modern scholars Seager and Wells consider that claim exaggerated; Seager describes the operations as nothing more than punitive strikes. Tiberius advanced cautiously, avoiding heavy casualties, and his method was to burn crops, destroy homes, and scatter the local population.

According to Suetonius, Tiberius issued all orders in writing and required that any uncertain point be referred directly to him. In AD 11 and 12, his adoptive son Germanicus joined him. Together they crossed the Rhine and raided the Bructeri and Marsi tribes, seeking revenge for Varus, but these incursions achieved little. Still, the campaign—combined with Rome’s alliance with Marbod’s Marcomannic federation—kept Arminius’s coalition from crossing the Rhine into Gaul and Italy.

Tiberius and Germanicus returned to Rome in the winter of AD 12. The following year, Augustus put Germanicus in command of the Rhine forces. Augustus died in August AD 14, and the Senate confirmed Tiberius as princeps in September. Roman writers Tacitus and Cassius Dio mention that Augustus left a directive ordering an end to imperial expansion, though it is unclear whether he actually issued such an order or whether Tiberius himself decided to halt expansion because of its heavy financial and military costs.

After Tiberius’s redeployment, roughly one-third of Rome’s entire army—eight legions—was stationed on the Rhine. Four legions (the 5th and 21st at Xanten; the 1st and 20th near Cologne) were in lower Germany under Aulus Caecina, and four (the 2nd, 13th, 16th, and 14th) were in upper Germany under Gaius Silius.

Did You Know?

• Tiberius decided to suspend all military activities beyond the Rhine, leaving the German tribes to fight among themselves.
• A possible new attempt to invade Germania took place during the reign of Claudius with the expedition of Corbulo in 47, which was stopped after initial successes.
• New territories between the high valleys of the Rhine and the Danube were acquired under Domitian following campaigns between 83 and 85.