The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

ARMINIUS

Arminius was an ancient German hero celebrated by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer from the Roman yoke. He was born about 18-16 BC, and died in 19 AD. Having been sent as a hostage to Rome, he served in the Roman army, and was raised to the rank of eques. Returning home he found the Roman governor, Quintilius Varus, making efforts to Romanize the German tribes near the Rhine. Placing himself at the head of the discontented tribes he completely annihilated the army of Yarus, consisting of three legions, in a three days' battle fought in the Teutoburg forest. For some time he baffled the Roman general Germanicus, and after many years' resistance to the vast power of the empire he drew upon himself the hatred of his countrymen by aiming at the regal authority, and was assassinated. A national monument to his memory was inaugurated on the Grotenburg, near Detmold, in 1875.
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