A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present DayTaylor, Bayard
History
A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day
Taylor, Bayard
Germany -- History
While Cæsar was in Britain, in the year 53 B. C., the newly subjugated
Celtic and German tribes which inhabited Belgium rose in open revolt
against the Roman rule. The rapidity of Cæsar's return arrested their
temporary success, but some of the German tribes to the eastward of the
Rhine had already promised to aid them. In order to secure his
conquests, the Roman general determined to cross the Rhine again, and
intimidate, if not subdue, his dangerous neighbors. He built a second
bridge, near the place where the first had been, and crossed with his
army. But, as before, the Suevi and Sicambrians drew back among the
forest-covered hills along the Weser river, and only the small and
peaceful tribe of the Ubii remained in their homes. The latter offered
their submission to Cæsar, and agreed to furnish him with news of the
movements of their warlike countrymen, in return for his protection.
When another revolt of the Celtic Gauls took place, the following year,
German mercenaries, enlisted among the Ubii, fought on the Roman side
and took an important part in the decisive battle which gave
Vercingetorix, the last chief of the Gauls, into Cæsar's hands. He was
beheaded, and from that time the Gauls made no further effort to throw
off the Roman yoke. They accepted the civil and military organization,
the dress and habits, and finally the language and religion of their
conquerors. The small German tribes in Alsatia and Belgium shared the
same fate: their territory was divided into two provinces, called Upper
and Lower Germania by the Romans. The vast region inhabited by the
independent tribes, lying between the Rhine, the Vistula, the North Sea
and the Danube, was thenceforth named _Germania Magna_, or "Great
Germany."
Cæsar's renown among the Germans, and probably also his skill in dealing
with them, was so great, that when he left Gaul to return to Rome, he
took with him a German legion of 6,000 men, which afterwards fought on
his side against Pompey, on the battle-field of Pharsalia. The Roman
agents penetrated into the interior of the country, and enlisted a great
many of the free Germans who were tempted by the prospect of good pay
and booty. Even the younger sons of the chiefs entered the Roman army,
for the sake of a better military education.
[Sidenote: 15 B. C. THE EXPEDITIONS OF DRUSUS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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