Arminius

Family: German · Role: Germanic leader · First appears: Annals I (16)

Arminius is a Germanic leader of the German faction. In Annals I (16), his hostility toward Segestes was intensified when he carried away Segestes’s daughter, who was already betrothed to another: “as Arminius had carried away the daughter of Segestes, already betrothed to another”. His sudden violence caused Varus to fall, and his wife gave birth to a son who was later raised at Ravenna. He then roused the Cheruscans and neighboring nations against Germanicus and Rome, drawing his paternal uncle Inguiomerus into the confederacy; at another engagement, he commanded his Germans to break in against Quinctilius Varus.

In Annals II, Flavius, Arminius’s brother, remained faithful to the Romans, and the brothers exchanged reproaches across the river, nearly coming to blows until Stertinius restrained Flavius. Arminius assembled allies, planned a night assault on Germanicus’s camp, and offered Roman deserters wives, land, and money, provoking the legions; his forces later approached and insulted the camp but withdrew without attacking its ramparts. At Idistavisus, Arminius escaped after the Cheruscans were driven from the hills, while Inguiomerus also escaped.

Arminius opposed Maroboduus, against whom he used contumelious names, while Inguiomerus deserted to Maroboduus out of disdain for obeying his younger nephew. He also stood against Tiberius, claiming to have preserved the glory of Germany when attacked by twelve legions, and Adgandestrius offered to kill him if poison were provided.