View source for Germania Antiqua

{{short description|Short-lived Roman province}}
{{about||the 1616 book|Philipp Clüver||Germania (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
| native_name            = {{aut|Provincia Germania}}
| conventional_long_name = Germania Antiqua
| common_name            = 
| subdivision            = [[Roman province|Province]]
| nation                 = the [[Roman Empire]]
| era                    = [[ancient history|Antiquity]]
| capital                = [[Roman camp, Marktbreit|Marktbreit]]?
| title_leader           = 
| image_map              = Germania romana.jpg
| image_map_caption      = The Roman province of Germania (marked in yellow)
| life_span              = 
| year_start             = 7 BC
| event_start            = 
| event1                 = 
| date_event1            = 
| year_end               = AD 9
| event_end              = 
| today                  = {{ubl|[[Germany]]|[[Netherlands]]|[[Switzerland]]}}
| p1                     = 
| flag_p1                = 
| s1                     = 
| flag_s1                = 
}}
'''''Germania'''''  (also sometimes called '''Germania Antiqua'''{{by whom|date=February 2024}}) was a short-lived [[Roman province]]
for the duration of 16 years under [[Augustus]], from  7 BC to AD 9. The possible capital of this province was [[Roman camp, Marktbreit|Marktbreit]] ({{langx|de|Römerlager Marktbreit}}), a [[castrum]] (Roman legionary fortification) with a nearby ''[[canaba]]'' (Roman ''[[vicus]]'') from the period of Emperor [[Augustus]], located 70 km east of the "Limes Germanicus" on the [[River Main]].

==History==
{{see also|Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)}}
The Romans under [[Augustus]] began to conquer and defeat the peoples of Germania Magna in 12 BC, having the ''[[Legatus|legati]]'' (generals) [[Drusus the Elder|Drusus]] and [[Tiberius]] leading the legions. By AD 6, all of Germania up to the [[River Elbe]] was temporarily pacified by the Romans as well as being occupied by them, with [[Publius Quinctilius Varus]] being (unofficially) appointed as Germania's governor. 

{{Quote|In 12 BC Nero Claudius Drusus "the elder" crossed the Rhenus to establish Roman control. Many of the Germanic tribes were conquered and by 9 BC he had pushed the border of northern Roman Germania to the Albis (Elbe). Drusus died later that year and was replaced by his brother Tiberius. Tiberius fought a number of smaller wars and eventually left Germania in the hands of various legates who had established friendly relations among the Germans.Augustus, satisfied with the accomplishments of both Drusus and Tiberius, pushed to make Germania Magna (between the Rhenus and Albis) a province of the Roman Empire. The Romans, however, had overestimated their position and found the tribes unwilling to accept the offer of provincial status.In 9 AD under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus the Romans were caught in a surprise attack while marching through the Teutoburg Forest. The Cherusci tribe, under Arminius (Hermann) destroyed 3 full Legions, the XVII, XVIII, and XIX, resulting in the death of 20,000 Legionaries.<ref> [https://www.unrv.com/provinces/germania.php Germania]</ref>}}
 
However, the Roman plan to complete the conquest and incorporate all of Magna Germania into the Roman Empire was frustrated when three Roman legions under the command of [[Publius Quinctilius Varus|Varus]] were annihilated by the German tribesmen in the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in AD 9. Augustus then ordered Roman withdrawal from Magna Germania (completed by AD 16) and established the boundary of the Roman Empire as being the [[Rhine]] and the [[Danube]]. 

Under Emperors [[Vespasian]] and [[Domitian]], the Roman Empire occupied the region known as the [[Agri Decumates]] between the Main, Danube, and Rhine rivers. The region soon became a vital part of the ''[[Limes Germanicus]]'' with dozens of Roman forts. The Agri Decumates were finally abandoned to the Germanic [[Alemanni]], after the Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius Probus|Probus]]' death (282).<ref>D. Geuenich, ''Geschichte der Alemannen,'' p. 23</ref> Some parts of the earlier province were incorporated into either [[Germania Inferior]] or [[Germania Superior]] in AD 85.

In [[Tacitus]], ''Germania Antiqua'' or ''Germania Barbara'', are synonyms of ''Germania Transrhenana'', also ''[[Germania Magna]]'', i.e., the part of ''Germania'' on the right side of the Rhine.<ref>E.B. Williston (ed.), ''Five Books of the History of C. Cornelius Tacitus: With His Treatise on the Manners of the Germans, and His Life of Agricola'' (1826), [https://books.google.com/books?id=8ldCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA223  p. 223].</ref>

==See also==
*[[Germani cisrhenani]]<!--"Germania Antiqua" should *by no means* redirect to [[Germani cisrhenani]] (as has been suggested). The two terms are pretty much antonyms, if anything, "Germania Antiqua" = "Germania transrhenana"-->
*[[Germanic peoples]]

==Notes==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
*Carroll, Maureen. ''Romans, Celts & Germans: the german provinces of Rome''. Tempus Series. Publisher Tempus, 2001 {{ISBN|0752419129}}
*Lintott, Andrew. ''The Cambridge Ancient History: X, The Augustan Empire; 43 B.C. – A.D. 69. 10'' (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 526–528. Cambridge, 1996 {{ISBN|0-521-26430-8}}.
*Mommsen, Theodore. ''The Provinces of the Roman Empire''. Editor Scribner. New York, 1906

{{Ancient Roman sites in Germany}}

[[Category:Germany in the Roman era]]