| September 3, 2010 |
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| Biography
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|  STENDAL (Town) SAXONY-ANHALT |
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Winckelmann, Johann Joachim
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Mannus
Mannus, a son of Tuisco, was regarded by the ancient Germans, along with his father, to have been the founders of their race. They further ascribed to Mannus three sons, from whom the three tribes of the Ingaevones, Hermiones, and Istaevones derived their names. (Tac. Germ. 2.) Others, however, represented Mannus, who was worshipped as a god, as the father of more than three sons. Mannus is perhaps the same being as Irmin who is mentioned by other authors among the German gods (Witechind of Corv. i.; J. Grimm, Irmenstrasse und Irmensaiie, p. 41), and seems to have been a kind of German Mars; though some believe that Irmin was the deified Arminius. It is not impossible that in later times Irmin and Arminius may have become identified in the imagination of the people.
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| | GERMANY (Country) EUROPE |
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Koester, August
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1873 - 1939
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| | GERMANIA (Ancient country) EUROPE |
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Chnodomarius, king of the Alemanni
Chnodomarius or Chondomarius (Gundomar), king of the Alemanni, became conspicuous in Roman history in A. D.
351. Magnentius having assumed the purple at Augustodunum, now Autun, in Gaul,
the emperor Constantius made an alliance with the Alemanni and induced them to
invade Gaul. Their king, Chnodomarius, consequently crossed the Rhine, defeated
Decentius Caesar, the brother of Magnentius, destroyed many towns, and ravaged
the country without opposition. In 356 Chnodomarius was involved in a war with
Julian, afterwards emperor, and then Caesar, who succeeded in stopping the progress
of the Alemanni in Gaul, and who defeated them completely in the following year,
357, in a battle near Argentoratum, now Strassburg. Chnodomarius had assembled
in his camp the contingents of six chiefs of the Alemanni, viz. Vestralpus, Urius,
Ursicinus, Suomarius, Hortarius, and Serapio, the son of Chnodomarius' brother
Mederichus, whose original name was Agenarichus; but in spite of their gallant
resistance, they were routed, leaving six thousand dead on the field. Obliged
to cross the Rhine in confusion, they lost many thousands more who were drowned
in the river. Ammianus Marcellinus says, that the Romans lost only two hundred
and forty-three men, besides four officers of rank, but this account cannot be
relied upon. Chnodomarius fell into the hands of the victors, and being presented
to Julian, was treated by him with kindness, and afterwards sent to Rome, where
he was kept a prisoner in the Castra Peregrina on Mount Caelius. There he died
a natural death some time afterwards. Ammianus Marcellinus gives a detailed account
of the battle of Strassburg, which had the most beneficial effect upon the tranquillity
of Gaul (Amm. Marc. xvi. 12; Aurel. Vict. Epit. c. 42; Liban. Orat. 10, 12).
| This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks |
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Maroboduus, Marbod, afterwards king of the Marcomanni, or men of the Mark (maerc) or border,
or, according to another etymology, the Marsh land, was by birth a Suevian. He
was born about B. C. 18, of a noble family in his tribe, and was sent in his boyhood
with other hostages to Rome, where he attracted the notice of Augustus, and received
a liberal education. Maroboduus seems early to have discerned the relative position
of his countrymen and the Romans. The Germans were brave, numerous and enterprising,
but weakened by internal feuds, and impatient of government and discipline. Before
they could effectually resist or assail the Roman empire they needed the restraints
of laws and of fixed property in land. At what time Maroboduus returned to his
own country is uncertain, but probably soon after he attained manhood, since he
died at the age of 53, the last eighteen years of his life were spent in exile,
and his kingdom, when it awakened the jealousy of Rome, was the work of long and
systematic preparation. Crossing the Erzgebirge at the head of at least one branch
of the Suevians, Maroboduus expelled, or more probably subdued, the Boians, a
Celtic race, who inhabited Bohemia and part of Bavaria. The kingdom which Maroboduus
established amid the woods and morasses of central Germany extended, through immediate
invasion or gradual encroachments, along the north bank of the Danube, from Regensberg
nearly to the borders of Hungary, and stretched far inco the interior. Its southern
frontier was not more than 200 miles from Italy itself, and the half-subdued provinces
of Pannonia and Noricum might either become useful allies, or at least divert
the attention of the Caesars from the peaceful growth or the hostile preparations
of the Marcomannic state. Its capital was Boviasmum, and Maroboduus maintained
his regal dignity by a regular force of 70,000 foot and 4000 horse, armed and
disciplined after the Roman manner, and while he provided for independence or
aggression he carefully cultivated the arts of peace. The Romans believed, or
affected to believe, that Maroboduus chose this remote seat of empire from dread
of their arms. But policy rather than fear probably directed his choice, for if
Rome was to be assailed, leisure and security for many years were needful to prepare
the Germans for the assault. In A. D. 7, however, his designs, or the strength
of the Marcomannic kingdom aroused the jealousy of Augustus. The existence of
a free and powerful state was a dangerous spectacle for the subjects of Rome;
the disunion of the Teutonic tribes was the security of the empire; and even if
Maroboduus was not personally hostile, he was forming a centre of union and a
model of polity for the Germanic race. Maroboduus had also touched the pride as
well as the fears of Rome. He gave refuge to its discontented subjects; his ambassadors
did not always address Augustus as a superior, and if their language was respectful,
their demands were frequently arrogant. The operations against Maroboduus were
on a wider scale than had hitherto been adopted against the German tribes. Tiberius
was directed to cross the Danube at Carnuntum, near the modern Presburg, the eastern
extremity of the Marcomannic kingdom ;. Sentius Saturninus was to lead his forces
across the country of the Chatti, and, cutting his way through the Hercynian forest,
to join Tiberius on the north bank of the Danube, and both were to make a combined
attack within a few leagues from the Marcomannic capital Boviassmum. A general
revolt of the Cis-Danubian provinces rescued Maroboduus, and Tiberius had the
address or the good fortune to persuade him to remain neutral during the Pannonian
and Dalmatic war. Maroboduus did not avail himself of the distress of Rome after
the disaster of Quintilius Varus, A. D. 9, and marked his friendship for Augustus
on that occasion by redeeming from his murderers the head of the unfortunate general
and sending it for sepulture to Rome. Eight years later (A. D. 17) the disunion
which so long paralysed the Teutonic races in their struggle with Rome effected
the ruin of the Marcomannic kingdom. The policy of Maroboduus, ill-understood
by his countrymen, appeared to them, or may have really degenerated into despotism.
The Cheruscans under Arminius prepared to attack; the Semnones and Longobards,
Suevian clans, revolted from him. The jealousy between Arminius and his uncle
Inguiomerus, who embraced the Marcomannic alliance, delayed but could not avert
the storm, and Maroboduus, defeated in action, sought the aid of Rome. In A. D.
19 he had again become formidable, and Drtusus prepared to invade him, when Cattualda,
a chief of the Gothones, whom Maroboduus had driven into exile, led a detachment
through the Bohemian passes into the heart of Maroboduus's kingdom. As his last
resource the Marcomannic king became a suppliant, although a lofty and royal one
in his tone, to Tiberius. The emperor assured him of shelter, so long as he needed
it, in Italy, and of a free return beyond the Alps when refuge was no longer needful.
Maroboduus passed the remainder of his life, eighteen years, at Ravenna. His name
was sometimes employed to keep the Suevians in awe, but Tiberius warily guarded
a captive whom, before the senate, he compared to Pyrrhus and Antiochus. By his
inactivity during the Pannonian war, A. D. 7-9, Maroboduus let slip the opportunity
of raising Germany against Rome, and his resignation to an obscure and protracted
life in exile lost him the esteem of his own countrymen. He died at the age of
53 years, A. D. 35. (Strab. vii. p. 290; Tac. Ann. ii. 44, 45, 46, 62, 63; Vell.
Pat. ii. 108; Suet. Tib. 37.)
| This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks |
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| | SUEVI (Ancient Tribe) GERMANY |
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Hermericus
Hermericus, king of the Suevi, who, in conjunction with the Vandals and Alans,
entered Spain, A. D. 409. The Suevi occupied a considerable part of Gallaecia,
in the N.W. part of Spain; but the rest of the Gallaecians retained their independence;
and, though apparently unsupported by the troops of the empire, carried on an
obstinate and desultory warfare with the invaders. In A. D. 419 war broke out
between Hermeric and his former allies, the Vandals, who, under their king Gunderic,
attacked the Suevi in the mountains of Nervasi or Nerbasis (Tillemont understands
the mountains of Biscay, but we rather identify them with the mountains of Gallicia
or of Portugal, N. of the Douro); but the Vandals were recalled to their own settlements
in Baetica, by the advance of the Roman troops into Spain. In their retreat they
had a severe conflict at Bracara (Braga), in which they slew many of the Suevi.
In A. D. 431 Hermeric, who had coneluded peace with the independent portion of
the Gallaecians, broke the treaty, and ravaged their territory; but, failing to
reduce their strongholds, restored his captives, and renewed the peace. Next year
(A. D. 432) he broke it again; and Idatius, the chronicler, was sent to Aëtius,
the patrician, then in Gaul, to solicit help. In A. D. 433 Idatius, accompanied
by Count Censorius, returned to Spain, and by his intervention peace was made,
but was not ratified by the court of Valentinian III. In A. D. 437 Censorius was
sent again to Hermeric, and in 438 peace was concluded. Hermeric resigned his
crown the same year to his son Rechilda, having been suffering for four years
from some disease, of which he died, three years after his abdication (A. D. 441).
Isidore of Seville says he reigned 14 years, which, reckoned back from his abdication
(A. D. 438), carries us to 424. As this was long after his invasion and settlement
in Gallaccia, it perhaps marks the epoch of his recognition by the Romans of the
Western Empire.
(Idatius, Chromcon; Isid. Hispal. Histor. Suevor.; Tillemont, Hist. des Elmp.
vol. v. vi.)
| This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks |
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| | CHERUSKI (Ancient Tribe) GERMANY |
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Arminius
Arminius or Hermann, "the chieftain", was the son of Sigimer, "the conqueror",
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 the year 18 B. C., and in his youth he led the warriors of his tribe as
auxiliaries of the Roman legions in Germany (Tac. Ann. ii. 10), where he learnt
the language and military discipline of Rome, and was admitted to the freedom
of the city, and enrolled amongst the equites. (Vell. Pat. ii. 118)
He appears in history at a crisis which is one of the most remarkable
in the history of Europe. In the year A. D. 9, the Romans had forts along the
Danube, the Rhine, on the Elbe and the Weser. Tiberius Nero had twice (Vell. Pat.
ii. 107) overrun the interior of Germany, and had left Varus with three legions
to complete the conquest of the country, which now seemed destined to become,
like Gaul, a Roman province. But Varns was a man whose licentiousness and extortion
(Dion Cass. lvi. 18; Vell. ii. 117) made the yoke of Rome intolerable to the Germans.
Arminius, who was now twenty-seven years old, and had succeeded his father as
chief of his tribe, persuaded the other chiefs who were with him in the camp of
Varus, to join him in the attempt to free his country. He amused Varus with professions
of friendship, with assurances that his countrymen were pleased with the improvements
of Roman civilization, and induced him to send off detachments of his troops in
different directions to protect his convoys; and as these troops were separately
attacked and cut to pieces, Varus gave orders for the army to march to quell what
seemed an insurrection. Arminius promised to join him at a certain place with
his Germans. It was in the upper Valley of the Lippe, and then covered with the
deep wood of the Teutoburger Wald. Here Arminius met him, as he had promised,
but with a furious assault. (Dion Cass. lvi. 19.) The legions were in disorder,
making their way through the forest, and encumbered with a heavy baggage train,
when the Germans charged on all sides upon them. Night put an end to the fight,
which was renewed at daybreak. But the country was almost impassable -a violent
storm of wind and rain rendered it still more so--and the legions were unable
to advance or retreat. Varus fell on his own sword (Tac. Ann. i. 61). Those who
were taken alive were sacrificed at altars in the forest to the gods of the country,
and the legions were cut to pieces, with the exception of a very small body, who
broke through the Germans, and made their way to the Rhine.
The consternation felt at Rome is well known (Suet. Aug. 23). Tiberius
was despatched (A. D. 10) with a veteran army to the Rhine. But Arminius had manifestly
succeeded in making that river again the barrier of the Roman power.
In the year A. D. 14, Germanicus took the command of the legions,
and collected his forces on the Ems to penetrate along that river into Germany.
But the party of Arminius had rapidly gathered strength. He had been joined by
his uncle, Inguiomer, a powerful chief who had hitherto fought for the invaders;
and the popular feeling was so strong against his father-in-law, Segcstes, still
a partizan of the Romans, that he had been rescued only by the legions of Germanicus
from a place in which he had been beset by his own tribe. It was on this occasion
that the wife of Arminius fell into the hands of the Romans, and was reserved,
with the infant boy to whom she soon after gave birth in her captivity, to swell
the triumph of Germanicus at Rome (Strabo, vii.; Tac. Ann. i. 57). As Germanicus
advanced, Arminius retired before him into the forests. He at last halted on some
open ground, and allowed the Romans to attack. He then gradually withdrew his
men towards a wood, on the skirts of which he had concealed strong bodies of men,
whose unexpected charge threw the Romans into confusion. After an obstinate struggle,
Arminius remained master of the field, and Germanicus withdrew towards the Rhine
(Tac. Ann. i. 63). One division of the Roman army under Caecina was ordered to
retire by a causeway raised over an extensive marsh, and called the Long Bridges.
Arminius occupied the woody heights about the place where the bridges began; and
as Caecina halted to repair them, Arminius charged down from the hills, and the
Romans were giving way when night ended the contest. The next morning, the Romans
endeavoured to make their way round the border of the marsh, and when their long-extended
line of march had already got into confusion, Arminius rushed down from the woods,
broke the Roman line, and nearly made Caecina prisoner; and nothing but the eagerness
of the Germans for plunder, and the approach of night, saved the Romans from destruction.
In the morning, Arminius urged, that the enemy, who had formed an entrenched camp
during the night, should be allowed to leave their lines before they were attacked
But he was overruled by Inguiomer, who led the impatient Germans to the assault.
The result was what Arminius expected. As they were mounting the ramparts, they
were suddenly met by a vigorous and steady charge along the whole line. They were
routed and pursued with great slaughter, and the Romans made good their retreat
to the Rhine (Tac. Ann. i. 68)
The next year the Romans made no attempt on Germany; but on the following
year, A. D. 16; they appeared on the left bank of the Weser. Arminius collected
his own and the neighbouring tribes on the plain of Idistavisus, and there resolved
to await Germanicus (Tac. Ann. ii. 16). It was a winding plain between the river
and the neighbouring hills. A forest clear of underwood was in the rear of the
main body of the Germans. Arminius with his tribe occupied some rising ground
on the flank; and he seems to have chosen his ground and disposed his men with
ability. But the generalship of Germanicus and the discipline of the veterans
prevailed. Arminius and his tribe were surrounded. He himself was badly wounded,
and after making every exertion to maintain the fight, he broke through the enemy,
and saved himself by the fleetness of his horse (Tac. Ann. ii. 17).
Germany again seemed at the mercy of the Romans. Arminius could not
meet them in the field; but he had maintained the struggle long enough to save
his country from subjection, till the jealousy of Tiberius recalled Germanicus,
A. D. 17, and left Germany to secure the independence for which her gallant chief
had so nobly struggled.
The same year that the Romans retired, Arminius was engaged with another
enemy in Maroboduus (or Marbod), the king of the Suevi. He was deserted by his
uncle, Inguiomer, who was jealous of his glory, and joined his enemy. But he had
attached to himself, as the champion of German liberty, the powerful tribes of
the Semnones and Longobardi, and a battle was fought in which he was victorious
(Tac. Ann. ii. 45)
These successes, however, suggested to him other objects than his
country's liberty. Not contented with being the chief of a free tribe, he aimed
at absolute power. His countrymen rose in arms against him, and the struggle was
undecided when he fell by the hands of his own relations in the 37th year of his
age, A. D. 19 (Tac. Ann. ii. 88).
| This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks |
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Flavius, brother of Arminius
Flavius, a brother of Arminius, chief of the Cheruscans. In the summer of A. D. 16, the Romans and the Cheruscans were drawn up on the opposite banks of the Weser (Visurgis), when Arminius, prince of the Cheruscans, stepped forth from a group of chieftains, and demanded to speak with his brother, a distinguished officer in the Roman army. Flavius had lost an eye in the service of Rome. The brothers, after their followers had fallen back, conversed across the stream. On learning the cause of his brother's disfigurement, Arminius asked what had been its compensation. Flavius replied, increased pay, and the usual rewards of valour. Arminius derided his chains and chaplet, as the gear of a slave; and now began between therm an angry colloquy, which, but for the stream between, would have passed into blows. (Tac. Ann. ii. 9.) A descendant of Flavius, named Italicus, became in A. D. 47 chieftain of the Cheruscans. (Ibid. xi. 16.)
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Gannascus, chief of the Chauci
Gannascus, a chief of the Chauci, a Suevian race settled between the Weser (Visurgis) and the Elbe ( Albis). Gannascus himself, however, was of Batavian origin, and had long served home among the Batavian auxiliaries. He had deserted in A. D. 47, when, at the head of the Chauci, he passed up the Rhine, and ravaged the western bank of the river. His inroads were stopped by Cn. Domitius Corbulo, into whose hands Gannascus was betrayed, and executed as a deserter. (Tac. Ann. xi. 18, 19.)
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| | GOTHI (Ancient Tribe) GERMANIA |
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Catualda
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| | BERLIN (Town) GERMANY |
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Bekker, Immanuel
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