There are numerous places in Germany where you can breathe in a touch of Roman history. The many finds can be admired in various museums. But what did the Romans want in Germania?
The first campaigns to Germania
In the years 58 to 51 BC Gaius Julius Caesar (100 to 44 BC) conquered Gaul. This area consisted of today's France, Belgium, western Switzerland and most of Germany on the left bank of the Rhine.
As a result, the Rhine became the borderline between the settlement areas on the right bank of the Rhine of Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire. But the Romans had underestimated the Germans. Germanic tribes regularly invaded the Gallic provinces and caused unrest.
The security situation was unsatisfactory for Rome. For example, in 17/16 BC M. Lollius, the Roman governor of the Gallic provinces, suffered a severe defeat against invading Germanic tribes.
Emperor Augustus (63 BC to 14 AD) took this as an opportunity to decisively change the military strategy towards the Germans on the right bank of the Rhine.
The highest priority now was to secure Gaul by defending the Rhine border. Rome moved the legions stationed in the interior of Gaul to military camps along the Rhine line. This strategic location allowed them to take on several tasks at the same time.
On the one hand, they served as troop deployment camps to intercept Germanic invasions of Gaul in good time. On the other hand, as bases and supply bases, they enabled military operations in Germania on the right bank of the Rhine.
Reconstruction of a border wall with a corner tower
The tactics of advance defense
But this strategy didn't work either. In 12 BC the Germanic tribes of the Sugambrians and Usipetes invaded Gaul. Emperor Augustus' stepson, Drusus (38 to 9 BC), was commissioned to implement a new border security tactic.
The Drusus campaigns (12 to 9 BC) in the Germanic area on the right bank of the Rhine were intended to enable upstream border security. Augustus wanted to prevent further invasions of Gaul by controlling and pacifying the Germanic tribes living there.
With these campaigns, which had their provisional conclusion in the years 8 and 7 BC, the subjugation of the stronger Germanic tribes that settled between the Rhine and Elbe succeeded. It almost seemed as if the Empire had finally got the Sugambri, Usipetes, Cherusci, Chauken, Chatten and Marcomanni under control.
Cologne – Roman culture in the far north
Rule and divide
The Roman Empire now relied on a dual strategy. In addition to military submission, political and diplomatic means were used to prevent unrest and uprisings. Rome forged strategic alliances in order to be able to play the individual Germanic tribes off against each other.
Selected German chiefs were honored with Roman titles and numerous Germans entered the service of Roman legions. The goal was to romanize the Germanic tribes step by step.
One of the selected Germans was Armin (17 BC to 21 AD), who would soon become a legend under the Roman name Arminius. From the Middle Ages, Arminius was often referred to by the Germanized but unhistorical name Hermann.
Military power did not lead to success
Varus and the Arminius Rebellion
Peace seemed assured when Publius Quinctilius Varus became governor of the Gallic provinces in AD 7. In this capacity he was also supreme commander of the Rhine legions. The descendant of ancient Roman nobility, born around 46 BC, had already had a successful political and military career.
In 13 BC he had been a Roman consul and later governor in Syria and Africa. Varus had the task of placing Germania under strict Roman provincial law. This meant collecting taxes and treating the Germans as subjects of Rome.
In the year 9 AD, the German Arminius managed to unite some quarreling Germanic tribes (Cherusci, Chattten, Angrivarer, Marser, Brukterer) under his leadership and to oppose Varus.
The Arminius uprising came as a complete surprise. 15,000 to 20,000 Romans fell in a three-day battle at the hands of the Germans in the Kalkriese pocket. Today it is known as the Varus Battle. Varus himself took his own life during the battle. The loss of honor for a man of his rank was too great.
The Hermann Monument in the Teutoburg Forest is reminiscent of Arminius
Rome stops expanding
In the years 14 to 16 AD, Emperor Tiberius (42 BC to 37 AD) and his adopted son Germanicus (15 BC to 19 AD) carried out punitive expeditions against Arminius, which Arminius was able to repel.
The uprising had ended Roman rule over the Germanic tribes on the right bank of the Rhine. Again, the Rhine was the border between the Roman province of Lower Germany on the left bank of the Rhine and the free Germans on the right bank of the Rhine.
Rome for a long time gave up the desire to advance further north. In order to maintain the existing borders, a structure was even built later, the remains of which can still be found today:the Limes.
Germanicus undertook some punitive expeditions to Germania
Civilization achievements are lost
In view of the fact that the Romans were very progressive in many respects, the question arises:why did many of the achievements of civilization fall into oblivion after the Romans left? Scientists are still dealing with this question to this day.
One reason for the loss is probably that after the fall of the Roman Empire, there were suddenly many smaller empires - instead of one large unit, there was a kind of patchwork quilt.
To a certain extent there was a lack of overarching organizations and institutions that administered the formerly Roman territories; there was a lack of infrastructure and also the knowledge of how to preserve, maintain and continue to operate aqueducts, statues and stone houses. As a result, many buildings fell into disrepair and the Roman urban culture disappeared in many places.
Depending on the region, other reasons were probably also responsible for the loss of Roman civilization. For example, the current city of Xanten, the Colonia Ulpia Traiana, was completely destroyed by the Franks towards the end of the third century.