WEEK 2

The most dramatic and memorable chapter in the relationship between Rome and Germany took place in the first century BC-AD during the lifetime of the Roma general Germanicus. The name was a nickname given to him by his troops and the Roman public who adored him. Germanicus' own campaigns in Germany made him famous after avenging the defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 BC) and retrieving two of the three legionary eagles that had been lost during the battle. Beloved by the people, he was widely considered to be the perfect Roman long after his death. The Roman people for centuries would consider him as Rome's Alexander the Great due to the nature of his death at a young age, his virtuous character, his dashing physique and his military renown. His place in the imperial family is visible in the chart below. He was the son of Drusus and Antonia. Antonia was the daughter of Mark Anthony and Augustus' sister Octavia. Drusus and his brother Claudius were royalty. And so was the brilliant young man "Germanicus."

REQUIRED READING

Steven Ozment,

A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People,

Harper Perennial,

ISBN 0060934832


Gordon A. Craig,

The Germans,

Meridian,

ISBN 0452010853