Usipetes in the context of "Early Imperial campaigns in Germania"

⭐ In the context of Early Imperial campaigns in Germania, the Usipetes are considered significant for their role in which early conflict with Rome?

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Usipetes

The Usipetes or Usipii (in Plutarch's Greek, Ousipai, and possibly the same as the Ouispoi of Ptolemy) were an ancient Germanic people who entered the written record when they encountered Julius Caesar in 56/55 BC when they attempted to find a new settlement west of the Rhine, together with the Tencteri, who were both attempting to move away from the aggressions of the Suevi on the east side of the Rhine. After the Romans slaughtered a great number of both tribes, they resettled on the east bank with the help of the Sicambri.

By about 100 AD, in the time of the Roman author Tacitus, the Usipii and Tencterii had moved southwards along the eastern bank of the Rhine into a position between the Chatti and the river. During the reign of Gallienus around 260-268 AD, the Laterculus Veronensis, reports that the Romans lost control of the Usipii lands, and after this they no longer appear in historical records.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Usipetes in the context of Early Imperial campaigns in Germania

The Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16) were a series of conflicts between the Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire. Tensions between the Germanic tribes and the Romans began as early as 17/16 BC with the Clades Lolliana, where the 5th Legion under Marcus Lollius was defeated by the tribes Sicambri, Usipetes, and Tencteri. Roman Emperor Augustus responded by rapidly developing military infrastructure across Gaul. His general, Nero Claudius Drusus, began building forts along the Rhine in 13 BC and launched a retaliatory campaign across the Rhine in 12 BC.

Drusus led three more campaigns against the Germanic tribes in the years 11–9 BC. For the campaign of 10 BC, he was celebrated for being the Roman who traveled farthest east in northern Europe. Succeeding generals would continue attacking across the Rhine until AD 16, notably Publius Quinctilius Varus in AD 9. During the return trip from his campaign, Varus' army was ambushed and almost destroyed by a Germanic force led by Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest; Arminius was the leader of the Cherusci, had previously fought in the Roman army, and was considered by Rome to be an ally. Roman expansion into Germania Magna stopped as a result, and all campaigns immediately after were in retaliation of the Clades Variana ("Varian Disaster"), the name used by Roman historians to describe the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, and to prove that Roman military might could still overcome German lands. The last general to lead Roman forces in the region during this time was Germanicus, the adoptive son of Emperor Tiberius, who in AD 16 had launched the final major military expedition by Rome into Germania.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Usipetes in the context of Nero Claudius Drusus

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (38–9 BC), commonly known in English as Drusus the Elder, was a Roman general and politician. He was a patrician Claudian but his mother was from a plebeian family. He was the son of Livia Drusilla and the stepson of her second husband, the Emperor Augustus. He was also brother of the Emperor Tiberius; the father of the Emperor Claudius and general Germanicus; paternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero.

Drusus launched the first major Roman campaigns across the Rhine and began the conquest of Germania, becoming the first Roman general to reach the Weser and Elbe rivers. In 12 BC, he led a successful campaign into Germania, subjugating the Sicambri. Later that year he led a naval expedition against Germanic tribes along the North Sea coast, conquering the Batavi and the Frisii, and defeating the Chauci near the mouth of the Weser. In 11 BC, he conquered the Usipetes and the Marsi, extending Roman control to the Upper Weser. In 10 BC, he launched a campaign against the Chatti and the resurgent Sicambri, subjugating both. The following year, while serving as consul, he conquered the Mattiaci and defeated the Marcomanni and the Cherusci, the latter near the Elbe. His Germanic campaigns were cut short in the summer of 9 BC by his death after a riding accident.

↑ Return to Menu

Usipetes in the context of Clades Lolliana

The clades Lolliana or Lollian disaster was a battle in 16 BC, when the consul Marcus Lollius was defeated by the Sicambri, Usipetes and Tencteri, Germanic tribes who had crossed the Rhine. This defeat is coupled by the historian Suetonius with the disaster of Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

After capturing and crucifying Romans in their own lands, the three Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine and plundered Roman territory. Roman cavalry were ambushed and routed. While pursuing the cavalry, the Germani came across the Roman governor Lollius and defeated him as well. They captured the eagle of the fifth legion. When Lollius and Augustus began to assemble armies, the Germani retreated back to their own lands, made peace and gave hostages.

↑ Return to Menu

Usipetes in the context of Tencteri

The Tencteri were a Germanic people during the first centuries BC and AD, who lived east of the Rhine delta. They were first reported by Roman sources during the Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar in 55 BC. He attacked a very large group of Tencteri and Usipetes near the Rhine delta, while they were on the move with women, children and the elderly, having left their homelands east of the delta under pressure from the Suebi. Caesar reported that large numbers were killed, but survivors managed to cross the Rhine and seek refuge with the Sugambri.

By the third century AD there is no more mention of the Tencteri, and it is possible they were merged into other populations such as the Franks, who are mentioned for the first time in that period.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Early Imperial campaigns in Germania ← Nero Claudius Drusus ← Clades Lolliana ← Tencteri ← Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Plutarch → Ptolemy → Germanic peoples → Julius Caesar → Tencteri → Suevi → Sicambri → Tacitus → Chatti → Gallienus → Laterculus Veronensis →