soldiers by gifts and promises. A road was
opened from the Rhine into the German hinterland, and Germanicus led his
army into the heart of a country of which he knew but little to avenge
the disasters of the Varian legions. The forest folk eluded the invading
host, which now sought to return to headquarters; but ere they had
completed the journey they were assailed and suffered a severe reverse.

Numerous revolts occurred among the Gaulish legions in the service of
the Roman Empire in Germany. But the stubborn and trained resistance of
the Romans no less than the inexperience of the Gauls led to a cessation
of hostilities. The secret of Roman power in Rhenish territory lay in
the circumstance that the two great elements of German nationality, the
nobility and the priesthood, were becoming Romanized. But a rude culture
was beginning to blossom, and a desire arose among the barbarians for
unity. They wished to band themselves into a nation.

The Franks and Goths

The most dangerous enemies of Rome during the reigns of Valerian and
Gallienus were the Franks, the Alemanni, and the Goths, whose action
finally decided the conquest of the Rhenish provinces of Rome. The name
Frank, or Freedman, was given to a confederacy formed in A.D. 240 by the
old inhabitants of the Lower Rhine and the Weser. It consisted of the
Chauci, the Cherusci, and the Chatti, and of several other tribes of
greater or less renown. The Romans foresaw the power of this formidable
union and, by the presence of the Emperor himself and his son,
endeavoured to stem the invasion, which threatened their suzerainty. The
Franks, fond of liberty and imbued with a passion for conquest, crossed
the Rhine, in spite of its strong fortifications, and carried their
devastations to the foot of the Pyrenees. For twelve years Gallienus
attempted to stem the torrent thus freed.

The Alemanni, who belonged to the Upper Rhine, between the Main and the
Danube, were composed of many tribes, the most important of which
was the celebrated Suevi. This people, who had now become a permanent
nation, threatened the Empire with an invasion which was checked with
difficulty after they had fought their way to the gates of Rome itself.
In A.D. 271 Aurelian completely subdued the Rhenish peoples, numbers of
whom were dragged in his triumph through the streets of Rome; but after
his brief reign the old condition of things reasserted itself, until
Probus, who assumed the purple in 276,