View source for Cherusci

{{Short description|Germanic tribe in present-day northwestern Germany in the 1st centuries BCE and CE}}
[[Image:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|right|400px|The [[Roman Empire]] under [[Hadrian]] (r.{{nbsp}}117–138), showing the former location of the Cherusci in northwestern Germany]]
The '''Cherusci''' were a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Germanic tribes|tribe]] that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern [[Germania]] in the area of the [[Weser River]] and present-day [[Hanover]] during the first centuries BCE and CE. [[Roman historiography|Roman sources]] reported they considered themselves kin with other [[Irminones|Irmino]] tribes and claimed common descent from an ancestor called [[Mannus]]. During the early [[Roman Empire]] under [[Augustus]], the Cherusci first served as [[Roman ally|allies]] of Rome and sent sons of their [[Germanic chieftain|chieftains]] to receive [[Roman education]] and serve in the [[Roman army]] as [[auxilia]]ries. The Cherusci leader [[Arminius]] led a confederation of tribes in [[Battle of Teutoburg Forest|the ambush]] that destroyed three [[Roman legion]]s in the [[Teutoburg Forest]] in CE{{nbsp}}9. He was subsequently kept from further damaging Rome by disputes with the [[Marcomanni]] and reprisal attacks led by [[Germanicus]]. After rebel Cherusci killed Arminius in CE{{nbsp}}21, infighting among the royal family led to the highly [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanized]] line of his brother [[Flavus (son of Segimerus)|Flavus]] coming to power. Following their defeat by the [[Chatti]] around CE{{nbsp}}88, the Cherusci do not appear in further accounts of the German tribes, apparently being absorbed into the [[Late antiquity|late classical]] groups such as the [[Saxons]], [[Thuringians]], [[Franks]], [[Bavarians]], and [[Allemanni]].

{{anchor|Etymology}}
==Name==
Cherusci ({{IPA|la|kʰeːˈrus.kiː|lang}}) is the [[Latin language|Latin]] [[Latinisation of names|name]] for the tribe. Both it and the [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] form ''Khēroûskoi'' ({{lang|grc|Χηροῦσκοι}}) are presumably [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]]s of an otherwise unattested [[Old Germanic language|Old Germanic]] [[demonym]], whose [[etymology]] is unclear. The dominant opinion in scholarship is that it may derive from {{lang|goh|*herut}} ("[[hart (deer)|hart]]"), which may have had [[totem]]istic significance for the group.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Alterturmskunde |year=1981 |volume=4 |page=430 ff}}, s.v. "Cherusker"; cf. also {{cite book|author1=Rudolf Much|author2=[[Herbert Jankuhn]]|author3=Wolfgang Lange|title=Die Germania des Tacitus|location=Heidelberg|publisher=Winter|year=1967|page=411}}</ref> Another hypothesis{{mdash}}proposed in the 19th century by [[Jacob Grimm]] and others{{mdash}}derives the name from {{lang|goh|*heru-}} ({{langx|got|hairus}}; {{lang|ang|heoru}}, a kind of [[sword]]).<ref>{{cite book|author=Jacob Grimm|title=Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache|edition=2nd|location=Leipzig|year=1853|volume=2|page=426}}</ref> Hans Kuhn has argued that the derivational suffix {{lang|goh|-sk-}} involved in both explanations is uncommon in Germanic. He suggested that the name may therefore be a compound of ultimately non-Germanic origin and connected to the hypothesized {{lang|de|[[Nordwestblock]]}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Alterturmskunde |year=1973 |volume=1 |pages=420–421, s.v}} "Arminius".</ref>

==History==
[[File:Druso in Germania per Wikipedia.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.35|[[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus]]'s [[Drusus Campaigns|campaigns]] against the [[Germanic people|Germans]], 12{{ndash}}9{{nbsp}}BC]]
[[File:Germania Enobarbo e Tiberio.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|[[Tiberius]] and [[Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BCE)|L. Domitius Ahenobarbus]]'s campaigns against the Germans, 3{{nbsp}}BCE{{nbsp}}{{ndash}} CE{{nbsp}}6]]
[[File:Germania 10-12 Tiberio.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|[[Tiberius]] and [[Germanicus]]'s campaigns in CE{{nbsp}}10{{ndash}}12, with the Cherusci and their remaining allies in pink]]
[[Image:Carl Theodor von Piloty Thusnelda im Triumphzug des Germanicus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|''Thusnelda at the Triumph of Germanicus'', by [[Karl von Piloty]], 1873.<ref name="Beard108">{{harvnb|Beard|2007|p=108}}.</ref>]]
{{more citations needed|section|date=May 2019}}
The Cherusci were a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Germanic tribes|tribe]] living around the central [[Weser River]] in the [[1st century BCE]] and [[1st century CE]].<ref>{{citation |last1=Thompson |first1=Edward Arthur |author-link1=Edward Arthur Thompson |last2=Drinkwater |first2=John Frederick |author-link2=John Frederick Drinkwater |display-authors=1 |date=2012 |chapter=Cherusci |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-1539? |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor1-link=Simon Hornblower |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |editor3-link=Esther Eidinow |display-editors=0 |title=[[The Oxford Classical Dictionary]] |edition=4 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780191735257  |quote=Cherusci, a Germanic people, living around the middle Weser. They are the best known of the Germanic opponents of the Romans in the 1st cent. CE. }}</ref> They are first attested in [[Julius Caesar]]'s ''[[De Bello Gallico|Commentaries on the Gallic War]]''. Caesar relates that in the year 53{{nbsp}}BCE he crossed the [[Rhine River|Rhine]] to punish the [[Suebi]] for sending reinforcements to the [[Treveri]]. In passing, he mentions that the Suebi were separated from the Cherusci by the "Bacenis Forest", a relatively impenetrable [[beech]] forest, possibly the [[Harz]].<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[De Bello Gallico|Commentaries on the Gallic War]]'', 6.10.</ref> [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] grouped them with the nearby [[Suebi]], [[Chatti]], and [[Hermunduri]] as [[Irminones]], tribes who claimed descent from an ancestor named [[Mannus]].<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Nat. Hist.]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=4:chapter=28&highlight=cherusci 4.28].</ref> [[Tacitus]] later placed them between the [[Chatti]] and the [[Chauci]], generally taken to indicate a territory between the [[Weser River|Weser]] and [[Elbe River|Elbe]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=cherusci-geo&highlight=cherusci|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |year=1854| first=William |last=Smith}}</ref>

As part of his [[Drusus campaigns|German campaigns]], [[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus]] marched an army east into the territory of the Cherusci in 11{{nbsp}}BCE and was ambushed as he returned west at a narrow pass called [[Battle of Arbalo|Arbalo]], probably near modern [[Hameln]] or [[Hildesheim]]. The Cherusci were initially victorious but paused their attack, allowing the surviving Romans to break through the encirclement and escape.<ref name=Powell>{{citation |last=Powell |first=Lindsay |title=Eager for Glory: The Untold Story of Drusus the Elder, Conqueror of Germania |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78303-003-3 |location=Barnsley |at=Chapter 5 |oclc=835973451 }}.</ref> By that winter, Drusus had recovered enough control that a garrison was stationed somewhere in Cheruscan territory, probably at either [[Haltern am See|Haltern]] or [[Bergkamen]] in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]].<ref name=Powell/> The Cherusci continued to resist the [[Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BCE – CE 16)#Campaigns of Tiberius, Ahenobarbus and Vinicius|campaigns]] of [[Tiberius]], [[Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BCE)|L. Domitius Ahenobarbus]], and [[Marcus Vinicius (consul 19 BCE)|M. Vinicius]] as late as the "vast war"<ref>[[Velleius Paterculus]], ''[[Roman History (Velleius)|Rom. Hist.]]''</ref> begun around 2{{nbsp}}BCE.

Finally, in CE{{nbsp}}4, [[Tiberius]] overcame the factions of the Cherusci still hostile to Rome and by the next year he considered the tribe a [[Roman ally]], giving it special privileges. The [[Germanic chieftain|chieftain]] [[Segimer]] sent at least two sons who became [[Roman citizen]]s and served in the [[Roman military]] as [[equites|cavalry]] [[auxilia]]ries. The elder son [[Arminius]] returned as an auxiliary commander under [[Publius Quinctilius Varus|P. Quictilius Varus]], who began organizing Germany as the new [[Roman province|province]] of [[Germania Superior|Germania Magna]] in CE{{nbsp}}7. This involved expanded [[Roman taxation|taxation]] and demands of [[tribute]], and Arminius began organizing a combined attack on Varus's [[Roman legion|legions]]. A Cheruscan noble named [[Segestes]] attempted to warn the [[Roman governor|governor]] repeatedly, but Varus ignored him and followed Arminius into an ambush in the [[Battle of Teutoburg Forest|Teutoburg Forest]] and marshes in CE{{nbsp}}9. Working together, the Cherusci, [[Bructeri]], [[Marsi (Germanic)|Marsi]], [[Sicambri]], [[Chauci]], and [[Chatti]] completely destroyed the [[Legio XVII|17th]], [[Legio XVIII|18th]], and [[Legio XIX|19th Legions]]; Varus and many of the officers [[Roman suicide|fell on their swords]] during the battle.{{sfn|Roberts|1996|pp=65–66}}{{sfn|Ozment|2005|pp=20–21}} [[Cassius Dio]] reports that Segimer was second in command during the battle but Arminius seems to have acted as chieftain himself soon thereafter. He abducted Segestes's daughter [[Thusnelda]] and married her.

The Romans encouraged the [[Marcomanni]] to attack the Cherusci and launched punitive raids of their own, eventually recovering some of the lost [[Aquila (Roman)|eagle standards]] from the defeated legions. In CE{{nbsp}}14, [[Germanicus]] raided the Chatti and Marsi with 12,000 legionnaires, 26 cohorts of auxiliaries, and eight cavalry squadrons and systematically laid waste to an area 50 [[Roman mile|miles]] wide such that "no sex, no age found pity".<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Ann.]]'', 1, 51.</ref> He then campaigned against the Cherusci,<ref>{{citation |title=The Works of Tacitus, ''Vol. 1:'' The Annals |location=London |publisher=Bohn |year=1854 |url=https://archive.org/details/workstacitus01corngoog/page/n54 |at=Book 1, Ch. 60, & Book 2, Ch. 25 }}.</ref> freeing Segestes from captivity and seizing the pregnant Thusnelda.<ref name="Wells204">{{harvnb|Wells|2003|p=204-205}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Seager|2008|p=63}}.</ref> Arminius assembled the Cherusci and surrounding tribes while Germanicus marched some men east from the Rhine and sailed others from the [[North Sea]] up the [[Ems River|Ems]], attacking the Bructeri on their way.<ref name="Wells1">{{harvnb|Wells|2003|pp=204–205}}.</ref> These two forces met and then ravaged the land between the Ems and the [[Lippe River|Lippe]]. When they reached the Teutoburg Forest, they found the bodies of the slain Romans unburied and in places [[Human sacrifice in Germanic paganism|sacrificed]] on German altars. The army buried the dead for half a day, after which Germanicus stopped the work to return to war against the Germans.<ref>{{harvnb|Wells|2003|pp=196–197}}.</ref> Making his way to the Cherusci heartland, Germanicus was attacked by Arminius's men at [[Battle at Pontes Longi|Pontes Longi]] ("the long causeways") in the boggy lowlands near the Ems. The Cherusci trapped and began to kill the Roman cavalry but the Roman infantry was able to check and rout them over the course of a two day battle. Tacitus considered this a victory<ref>{{harvnb|Tacitus|Barrett|2008|p=39}}</ref> although historians such as Wells think it was more likely inconclusive.<ref>{{harvnb|Wells|2003|p=206}}</ref>

In CE{{nbsp}}16, Germanicus returned with eight legions and Gallic and Germanic auxiliary units, including men led by Arminius's younger brother [[Flavus (son of Segimerus)|Flavus]]. Marching from the Rhine and along the Ems and [[Weser River|Weser]], the Romans met Arminius's forces at the plains of [[Idistaviso]] by the Weser near modern [[Rinteln]]. Tacitus reports the [[Battle of the Weser River]] as a decisive Roman victory:<ref name="Wells2">{{harvnb|Wells|2003|p=206}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Tacitus|Barrett|2008|p=57}}.</ref> {{bquote|The enemy were slaughtered from the fifth hour of daylight to nightfall, and for ten miles the ground was littered with corpses and weapons.}} Arminius and his uncle [[Inguiomer]] were both wounded but evaded capture. The Roman soldiers proclaimed Tiberius as {{lang|la|[[imperator]]}} and raised a pile of arms as a trophy with the names of the defeated tribes inscribed beneath them.<ref>{{harvnb|Tacitus|Barrett|2008|p=58}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Seager|2008|p=70}}.</ref> This trophy enraged the Germans, who ceased retreating beyond the [[Elbe River|Elbe]] and regrouped to attack the Romans at the [[Angrivarian Wall]]. [[Battle of the Angrivarian Wall|This battle]] also ended in a decisive Roman victory, with Germanicus supposedly directing his men to exterminate the Germanic tribes. A mound was raised with an inscription reading "The army of Tiberius Caesar, after thoroughly conquering the tribes between the Rhine and the Elbe, has dedicated this monument to [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], and [[Augustus]]."<ref>{{harvnb|Tacitus|Barrett|2008|pp=58–60}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dyck|2015|p=154}}.</ref>

In the next year, Germanicus was recalled to Rome. Tacitus reports this as partially caused by the emperor's growing jealousy of the general's fame, but permitted him to celebrate a [[Roman triumph|triumphal march]] on 26 May: {{bquote|Germanicus Caesar, celebrated his triumph over the Cherusci, Chatti, and [[Angrivarii]], and the other tribes which extend as far as the Elbe.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'', [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#41|2.41]]</ref>}}Germanicus was then moved to the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] border in [[Roman Syria|Syria]] and soon died, possibly from poisoning. Arminius was killed in turn by Segestes and his allies in CE{{nbsp}}21.

After Arminius's murder, the Romans left the Cherusci more or less to their own devices. In CE{{nbsp}}47, the Cherusci asked Rome to send [[Italicus (chieftain)|Italicus]], the son of Flavus and nephew of Arminius, to become their chieftain, as civil war had destroyed their other nobility. He was initially well liked but, since he was raised in Rome as a Roman citizen, he soon fell out of favor.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'', [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 11#16|11.16]].</ref> He was succeeded by [[Chariomerus]], presumably his son, who was defeated by the [[Chatti]] and deposed around CE{{nbsp}}88.<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], ''Epitome'', 67, 5.</ref>

[[Tacitus]] (56{{ndash}}{{c.|120}}) writes of the Cherusci:<blockquote>Dwelling on one side of the Chauci and Chatti, the Cherusci long cherished, unassailed, an excessive and enervating love of peace. This was more pleasant than safe, for to be peaceful is self-deception among lawless and powerful neighbours. Where the strong hand decides, moderation and justice are terms applied only to the more powerful; and so the Cherusci, ever reputed good and just, are now called cowards and fools, while in the case of the victorious Chatti success has been identified with prudence. The downfall of the Cherusci brought with it also that of the [[Fosi]], a neighbouring tribe, which shared equally in their disasters, though they had been inferior to them in prosperous days.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Achapter%3D36 |title=Tac. Ger. 36 |publisher=Perseus Project |access-date=2013-12-31 }}</ref></blockquote>

[[Claudius Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'' places the Cherusci, [[Calucones]], and [[Chamavi]] ({{lang|grc|Καμαυοὶ}}, ''Kamauoì'') all near one other and "Mount Melibocus" (probably the [[Harz Mountains]]).<ref>[[Claudius Ptolemy|Ptolemy]], ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geogr.]]'' 2, 11, 10.</ref>

The later history of the Cherusci is unattested.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==See also==
* [[List of Germanic peoples]]
* ''[[Barbarians (2020 TV series)|Barbarians]]'', a 2020 TV series dramatizing the events around the [[Battle of Teutoburg Forest]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Citation |last=Beard |first=Mary |title=The Roman Triumph |url=https://archive.org/details/romantriumph00bear_0 |year=2007 |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-02613-1 |author-link=Mary Beard (classicist) |url-access=registration}}
* {{Citation |last=Dyck |first=Ludwig Heinrich |title=The Roman Barbarian Wars: The Era of Roman Conquest |year=2015 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=9781473877887}}
* {{Citation |last=Seager |first=Robin |title=Tiberius |year=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780470775417}}
* {{Citation |last=Tacitus |first=Cornelius |title=The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero |year=2008 |editor-last=Barrett |editor-first=Anthony |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780192824219 |ref={{harvid|Tacitus|Barrett|2008}}}}

==Further reading==
*Tacitus, Cornelius and Michael Grant, ''The Annals of Imperial Rome''. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.
*Caesar, Julius et al. ''The Battle for Gaul''. Boston: D. R. Godine, 1980.
*Wilhelm Zimmermann, ''A Popular History of Germany'' (New York, 1878) Vol. I
*[[Ptolemy]], "Geography"
* Max Ihm, ''Cherusci''. In: ''Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE).'' volume III,2, Stuttgart 1899, Sp. 2270–2272.
* Ralf Günther Jahn, ''Der Römisch-Germanische Krieg (9–16 n. Chr.)''. Diss., Bonn 2001.
* Peter Kehne, ''Zur Lokalisierung, Organisation und Geschichte des Cheruskerstammes.'' In: Michael Zelle (Hrsg.), ''Terra incognita? Die nördlichen Mittelgebirge im Spannungsfeld römischer und germanischer Politik um Christi Geburt. Akten des Kolloquiums im Lippischen Landesmuseum Detmold vom 17. bis 19. Juni 2004''. Philipp von Zabern Verlag, Mainz 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-8053-3632-1}}, pages 9–29.
* Gerhard Neumann, Reinhard Wenskus, Rafael von Uslar, ''Cherusker''. In: ''[[Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde]]'' (RGA). 2. Auflage. volume 4, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin – New York 1981, pages 430–435.
*{{cite book| last=Ozment | first=Steven | year=2005 | title=A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People | place=New York | publisher=Harper Perennial | isbn=978-0-06093-483-5 }}
*{{cite book | last=Roberts | first=J. M. | year=1996 | title=A History of Europe | place=New York | publisher=Allen Lane | isbn=978-0-96584-319-5 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofeurope00robe_0 }}
* Oberst Streccius, ''Cherusker''. In: Bernhard von Poten (Hrsg.): ''Handwörterbuch der gesamten Militärwissenschaften''. volume 2, Bielefeld/Leipzig 1877, page 235.
* {{Cite book |last=Wells |first=Peter S. |title=The Battle That Stopped Rome |year=2003 |publisher=Norton |isbn=978-0-393-32643-7}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cherusci|volume=6|page=89|short=1}}

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[[Category:Cherusci| ]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Irminones]]