Germanic Wars of Augustus

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Were a series of Roman military campaigns in Germania under Emperor Augustus led by his stepsons Drusus and Tiberius. The campaigns resulted in the short-lived Roman conquest of most of modern-day Germany.

Chronology

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January 8 BC: In 11 BC. Drusus worked further south, being the first to face and beat the people of the Usipetes. He threw a bridge over the Lupia river, and invaded the territory of the Sigambri (absent because they were fighting with the nearby Catti), building some fortresses (among which the Latin Aliso). Finally, it reached the territories of Marsi and Cherusci, up to the river Visurgis. On the way back he was attacked by the Germans, presumably in the narrow gorges and thick forests of the Marsi, and nearly ended up like his successor Publius Quintilius Varus, defeated in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. he operated even further south, from the legionary fortress of Mogontiacum (today's Mainz) first against the Mattiaci and then against the Catti, devastating their lands, building some fortresses, including that of Rödgen, built a bridge at Bonna, strengthening it with a fleet along the Rhine (Classis Germanica). In 9 B.C. forced the surrender first of the Marcomanni (who following these events decided to migrate to Bohemia), then the powerful tribe of the Catti and some neighboring Suebe populations (probably the Ermunduri) as well as the Cherusci, and went where no other Roman had ever reached , to the river Elbe. He died shortly after, in front of the eyes of his brother, Tiberius Claudius Nero, who rushed to his bedside, for a trivial fall from a horse.

January 7: Tiberius entered Germany and subdued Canninefati, Cattuari and Bructeri. He also bought back the Cherusci (population to which Arminio belonged) to the dominion of Rome. But Tiberius' strategic plans envisaged passing the Visurgis River and penetrating further. Velleius Patercolo recalls that "he assumed all the responsibility for this very uncomfortable and dangerous war, while the least risky operations were entrusted to his legate, Senzio Saturnino". Finally, towards the end of the year, he left a winter legionary camp near the sources of the Lupia river (perhaps it is the archaeological site of Anreppen). In 5 he invaded Germany again, operating across the Weser river, in a joint action between the land army and the fleet, which managed to go up the Elbe, subjugating all the populations to the west of this river (from the Cauci, to the ferocious Lombards, up to the Ermunduri), and forcing those to the east to become customers (Semnons, Cimbri and Charidi). This is how Velleius Patercolo tells it: Bust of the young general and stepson of Augustus, Tiberius. «The Langobards were defeated, a people even more ferocious than the Germanic ferocity. Ultimately the Roman army with standards was driven as far as four hundred miles from the Rhine, as far as the Elbe River, which flows between the lands of the Semnones and the Hermunduri. »At the end of the campaigns of the 4th and 5th, the province that was being formed should have included all the territories between the Rhine and the Elbe. Once the whole of northern and central Germany was occupied up to the Elbe, only the southern part, i.e. Bohemia, was missing to complete the work of conquest of the entire Germanic area. Therefore, it was also necessary to annex the powerful kingdom of the Marcomanni of Maroboduo. Tiberius had planned everything and this campaign began in 6 which was believed to be the last. With a pincer maneuver, Senzio Saturninus would have had to move from Moguntiacum (or from the legionary fortress of Marktbreit, positioned along the river Main) with 2-3 legions (these were perhaps the XVII, XVIII and XIX or XVI Gallica legions) which were to join the army of Rezia (probably formed by the I Germanica and the V Alaudae). Tiberius proceeded, however, from the south-eastern front, from Carnuntum on the Danube, with another 4-5 legions (VIII Augusta from Pannonia, XV Apollinaris and XX Valeria Victrix from Illyricum, XXI Rapax from Rhaetia, XIII Gemina, XIIII Gemina and from Germania Superior and an unknown unit), and had to advance first in Moravia also accompanied by the fleet (where traces of a legionary camp in Mušov have been found) and then in the heart of Bohemia, the center of power of Maroboduo. Five days before assembling, the armies were halted by the outbreak of revolt in Pannonia and Dalmatia.

January 11 BC: During the first campaign of 12 B.C. Drusus first repulsed an invasion by Sigambri and their allies Tencteri and Usipetes. He penetrated into German territory, passing through the island of the Batavi (probable allies of Rome) and devastated the lands of Usipeti and Sigambri. After having descended the Rhine with a fleet in the direction of the North Sea (thanks also to the construction of an artificial canal, the Druze trench), he made allies with the Frisi and penetrated into the territory of the Cauci as far as beyond Amisia (the current Ems , where it could have constituted a docking point).

1. Battle of Teutoburg

The Roman army was ambushed and almost destroyed by a Germanic force led by Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, resulting in the end of the Roman campaign in Germania.

January 10: The defeat suffered by the Roman Army in 9 AD by Arminius in the ambush of the Teutoburg forest marked the end of the Roman expansion in Germany.