Historical Tales, Vol 5 | Page 2

sons into
the imperial army. All went ill when he sought to hasten his work by
acts of oppression, leading his forces across the Weser into the land of
the Cherusci, enforcing there the rigid Roman laws, and chastising and
executing free-born Germans for deeds which in their creed were not
crimes. Varus, who had at first made himself loved by his kindness,
now made himself hated by his severity. The Germans brooded over
their wrongs, awed by the Roman army, which consisted of thirty
thousand picked men, strongly intrenched, their camps being
impregnable to their undisciplined foes. Yet the high-spirited
barbarians felt that this army was but an entering wedge, and that, if not
driven out, their whole country would gradually be subdued.
A patriot at length arose among the Cherusci, determined to free his
country from the intolerable Roman yoke. He was a handsome and
athletic youth, Arminius, or Hermann as the Germans prefer to name
him, of noble descent, and skilled alike in the arts of war and of oratory,
his eloquence being equal to his courage. He was one of the sons of the
Germans who had served in the Roman armies, and had won there such
distinction as to gain the honors of knighthood and citizenship. Now,
perceiving clearly the subjection that threatened his countrymen, and
filled with an ardent love of liberty, he appeared among them, and

quickly filled their dispirited souls with much of his own courage and
enthusiasm. At midnight meetings in the depths of the forests a
conspiracy against Varus and his legions was planned, Hermann being
the chosen leader of the perilous enterprise.
It was not long before this conspiracy was revealed. The German
control over the Cherusci had been aided by Segestus, a treacherous
chief, whose beautiful and patriotic daughter, Thusnelda, had given her
hand in marriage to Hermann, against her father's will. Filled with
revengeful anger at this action, and hoping to increase his power,
Segestus told the story of the secret meetings, which he had discovered,
to Varus, and bade him beware, as a revolt against him might at any
moment break out. He spoke to the wrong man. Pride in the Roman
power and scorn of that of the Germans had deeply infected the mind of
Varus, and he heard with incredulous contempt this story that the
barbarians contemplated rising against the best trained legions of
Rome.
Autumn came, the autumn of the year 9 A.D. The long rainy season of
the German forests began. Hermann decided that the time had arrived
for the execution of his plans. He began his work with a deceitful skill
that quite blinded the too-trusting Varus, inducing him to send bodies
of troops into different parts of the country, some to gather provisions
for the winter supply of the camps, others to keep watch over some
tribes not yet subdued. The Roman force thus weakened, the artful
German succeeded in drawing Varus with the remainder of his men
from their intrenchments, by inducing one of the subjected tribes to
revolt.
The scheme of Hermann had, so far, been completely successful. Varus,
trusting to his representations, had weakened his force, and now
prepared to draw the main body of his army out of camp. Hermann
remained with him to the last, dining with him the day before the
starting of the expedition, and inspiring so much confidence in his
faithfulness to Rome that Varus refused to listen to Segestus, who
earnestly entreated him to take Hermann prisoner on the spot. He even
took Hermann's advice, and decided to march on the revolted tribe by a

shorter than the usual route, oblivious to the fact that it led through
difficult mountain passes, shrouded in forests and bordered by steep
and rocky acclivities.
The treacherous plans of the patriotic German had fully succeeded.
While the Romans were toiling onward through the straitened passes,
Hermann had sought his waiting and ambushed countrymen, to whom
he gave the signal that the time for vengeance had come. Then, as if the
dense forests had borne a sudden crop of armed men, the furious
barbarians poured out in thousands upon the unsuspecting legionaries.
A frightful storm was raging. The mountain torrents, swollen by the
downpour of rain, over--flowed their banks and invaded the passes,
along which the Romans, encumbered with baggage, were wearily
dragging onward in broken columns. Suddenly, to the roar of winds
and waters, was added the wild war-cry of the Germans, and a storm of
arrows, javelins, and stones hurtled through the disordered ranks, while
the barbarians, breaking from the woods, and rushing downward from
the heights, fell upon the legions with sword and battle-axe, dealing
death with every blow.
Only the discipline of the Romans saved them from speedy destruction.
With the instinct of their