us attests the importance of the blow against the Roman
power, and the bitterness with which it was felt.

The Germans did not pursue their victory beyond their own territory; but
that victory secured at once and forever the independence of the
Teutonic race. Rome sent, indeed, her legions again into Germany, to
parade a temporary superiority, but all hopes of permanent conquests
were abandoned by Augustus and his successors.

The blow which Arminius had struck never was forgotten. Roman fear
disguised itself under the specious title of moderation, and the Rhine
became the acknowledged boundary of the two nations until the fifth
century of our era, when the Germans became the assailants, and carved
with their conquering swords the provinces of imperial Rome into the
kingdoms of modern Europe.

ARMINIUS

I have said above that the great Cheruscan is more truly one of our
national heroes than Caractacus is. It may be added that an Englishman
is entitled to claim a closer degree of relationship with Arminius than
can be claimed by any German of modern Germany. The proof of this
depends on the proof of four facts: First, that the Cheruscans were Old
Saxons, or Saxons of the interior of Germany; secondly, that the
Anglo-Saxons, or Saxons of the coast of Germany, were more closely akin
than other German tribes were to the Cheruscan Saxons; thirdly, that the
Old Saxons were almost exterminated by Charlemagne; fourthly, that the
Anglo-Saxons are our immediate ancestors. The last of these may be
assumed as an axiom in English history. The proofs of the other three
are partly philological and partly historical. It may be, however, here
remarked that the present Saxons of Germany are of the _High_ Germanic
division of the German race, whereas both the Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon
were of the _Low_ Germanic.

Being thus the nearest heirs of the glory of Arminius, we may fairly
devote more attention to his career than, in such a work as the present,
could be allowed to any individual leader; and it is interesting to
trace how far his fame survived during the Middle Ages, both among the
Germans of the Continent and among ourselves.

It seems probable that the jealousy with which Maroboduus, the king of
the Suevi and Marcomanni, regarded Arminius, and which ultimately broke
out into open hostilities between those German tribes and the Cherusci,
prevented Arminius from leading the confederate Germans to attack Italy
after his fir