Germanicus, when Germany "risked" to become Roman

Many believe that the Roman experience in Germany ended with the battle of Teutoburg. After the loss of the three legions led by the Roman general Varo, massacred in an ambush in the German forest in 9 AD; Rome would have finally put an end to the desire to expand the boundaries in what was called "Germania Magna". Augustus, in fact, tried to erase such humiliation from the memory of the Romans forever, and ordered in his will not to further expand the boundaries already reached.

Only six years had passed since the defeat, when one of the most formidable Roman generals, Germanico, along with his lieutenant Cecina, returned with 8 legions to those places, with a specific purpose: to avenge the honor of Rome. Being able to defeat the populations of the Marsi and Catti, but especially to get near the river Weser, face to face with the old enemy Arminio, the germano trained in the Roman army inspiring the massacre of Teutoburgo.

Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC - Antioch of Syria, 10 October 19 AD), better known simply as Germanicus, was born with the name of Nero Claudius Drusus, from Drusus Majorus, son of Empress Livia Drusilla, and minor Antonia, nephew of August. He received the cognomen Germanicus following the successes of his father, commander in Germany between 12 and 9 BC.

He changed the original name to that of Germanicus Julius Caesar following his adoption in the Iulia gens. When Tiberius, on his return from voluntary exile, was adopted by Augustus, the princeps forced him, however, to adopt his nephew Germanico, although Tiberius already had a son.

In the same year (in 4 AD), Germanicus was given as wife Agrippina major, nephew of Augustus, from whom he had nine children, including: Agrippina minor, wife and nephew of Claudius and mother of the future emperor, Nero.

THE SHIPPING OF GERMANY OF 15 AD: THE FAILURE TO BE ANNEXED

In 15 AD after having obtained the consent of the emperor Tiberius, Germanicus led 12,000 men into the Germanic forests, determined to regain the lost ground until the Elbe. While moving its ground troops, a powerful Roman fleet bypassed the coastline to the north, ready to rejoin the Elbe with the forces of the Roman general. Recovered the insignia of the lost legions, hurriedly buried the dead and punished Arminio, king of the Cheruschi (main responsible for the defeat at Teutoburgo), Germanico succeeded in spite of a thousand difficulties to be right of the Germans after a war lasted three years and during which , in a military camp, the future emperor Caligula was born (so called by virtue of the caligae, the military shoes used by the legionaries).

However, the military campaigns failed to bring the territories between Reno and Elba back under Roman rule. He managed to recover two of the three lost eagles at the Battle of Teutoburg, and to beat the Germanic coalition, though not with a decisive victory. Tiberius, despite the expectations of the young general, considered it opportune to renounce new plans to conquer those territories. But above all Germany, a wild and primitive land, was an inhospitable territory, covered by marshes and forests, with limited natural resources (at that time known) and, therefore, not particularly attractive from an economic point of view. Germany was thus lost forever and Germanicus was recalled at the end of the 16th. Tiberius believed that the imperial borders should remain on the River Rhine and that no mention was made of the Elbe. His will, contrary to that of his nephew, perfectly matched what Augusto had indicated, which he warned not to cross the borders of the Rhine and Danube rivers.