Why didn't Rome Conquer Germania?

It’s a common theme throughout history that guerilla warfare by small tribes in hostile terrain are the hardest to defeat.

When Arminius got accused that he would betray Varus he actually said that this is true but everyone took this as a joke. Sometimes the best lie is the truth.

Imagine fighting fierce tribes in hardly passable forrests every step on your way and when you eventually "conquer" an enemy headquarter its just a hill with 5 shacks on it. Germania was the perfect combo of being both tough to beat militarily and economically totally worthless to conquer.

When you think about it, the Romans actually conquered all of today's Austria and Switzerland and around 30% of today's Germany. In western and southern Germany, many well-known cities actually began as Roman forts or colonies. Examples: Cologne (Colonia Agrippina), Regensburg (Castra Regina), Mainz (Mogontiacum), Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum), Trier (Augusta Treverorum).

Augustus just whacking his head against the wall in frustration is one of the most relatable things he ever did

"As Tiberius was now busy in the Balcans" Some thing just never change

I live at the exact place, Neuwied, where Caesar built his first Rhine Bridge in 55 BC. It is also the same area where we kicked the Vikings out over 900 years later when they sacked everything downstream up to around Andernach and Neuwied. There are a LOT of historical ruins, towers, museums and information to just soak up in and it got me highly invested into more ancient history and a bit of archaeology. My first town I lived in, Mülheim-Kärlich over 20 years ago, which had just behind our garages a fully uncovered ruin of a Roman Villa. I would go there daily and hop around the former walls and just be in awe, even at a young age. Sadly it has recently fallen victim to vandalism and is no longer open to the public.

There is a large part missing from this video. Marcus Aurelius would later fight a series of battles against the Germanic tribes, defeating them but his death put a halt to the drive north into Germania. His son Commodus decided (against his fathers advisors) to instead make peace with the tribes. This would prove a costly mistake as centuries later it was these tribes among others that would invade the western roman empire and lead to its downfall.

And then years later the Germanics would be one of the primal catalysts in the fall of the Western Roman Empire, so good job Varus I guess.

Germany was probably very heavily forested at that time (it still has a lot today), making it very difficult to explore

When you go to Germany today and stand on the banks of the Rhine, it's just so formidable. If you're outnumbered and stretched thin by the requirements of a large empire, it turned out to be the only way they could defend their borders.

Interesting finding this video now, as I am currently rereading Lindsey Davis' IRON HAND OF MARS. Davis includes a lot of information on what happened to Varus in her background on this book. Her book takes place in 71 CE after Vespasian took power. Both Davis and Steven Saylor have done a lot of great background work for their mysteries set in Rome.

and because their armies suffered overwhelming losses against a small village in Gaul, led by Asterix and Obelix.

Very light explanation... 1 - Romans did have two Germanic provinces "Germania inferior" and "superior" That are here showed as "Gauls" Which it wasn't. 2 - Keep in mind that Germania magna was low in population, a huge swamp with no real economic or geopolitic interest 3 - All that while the center of power and economy was the Mediterranean sea. 4 - With many rivlaries and bigger problems to deal elsewhere in the frontiers than wasting time, men and money invading this land

5:00 "He payed special attention to the Eruscus tribe" is an understatement. He straight up kidnapped the leaders kids and braught them up himself in Rome.

I live in Köln Deutz (part of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium). It's a pity that we have lost so many roman artifacts. At least some pieces of the wall are still there.

5:04 now THAT'S what I call foreshadowing

The Roman historian Tacitus answers the question raised by this video in four Latin words:"coercendum intra terminos imperium" (restraining the Empire within its boundaries) to describe the policy of the emperor Augustus at the end of his life and that of his successor Tiberius. Contrary to Alexander the Great of Macedon, the Romans realised that conquering is one thing, pacifying and building a lasting civil administration another thing which was equally important (I think they learnt that lesson after the Second Punic War when they saw how easily their Italian and Sicilian allies would desert if given a chance,as Capua, Syracuse etc had gone over to Carthage.

nicely done, easy to understand with simple visuals

Hey guys I'm from "Kreis Lippe" and we are Arminen and still very proud of Arminius. We have a football club called after Arminius (Arminia Bielefeld) and we have a huge monument for him too. (Herrmanns Denkmal)