| “ | You never understood. That some want to live differently to worship...and to feel...differently that you do! | „ |
| ~ Arminius to the severed head of Varus. |
Gaius Julius Arminius was the protagonist of the 2020 Netflix television series Barbarians, and was based upon the Germanic historical figure.
He was portrayed by Laurence Rupp, with Finn Reiter portraying the younger Arminius.
Arminius was the son of Segimer, who was the Reik of the Germanic Cherusci tribe. He was the elder brother of Flavus. At a young age he was saved from a wild wolf by Thusnelda and Folkwin Wolfspear, which sparked a friendship between the three Cherusci. Shortly afterwards he and his brother were given as hostages to the Romans by their father. The two boys were then raised by Senator Publius Quinctilius Varus as his sons. Ariminius grew up to become a soldier and officer in the legions commanded by Varus.
Prior to returning to his homeland, Arminius served in Pannonia, which would later become parts of Austria and Hungary. During his time in Pannonia Arminius was wounded in battle. During one battle his unit saved a group of Romans during a cavalry charge, including the centurion Metellus.
Sometime around 9 AD Varus was named Governor of Germainia by the Roman Emperor Augustus. Arminius returned to his homeland and was reunited both with his father and his friends. At first he was very loyal to the Empire. He had the Germanic mercenary Talio whipped for making an obscene comment about the Empire in his native language, unaware that it was Arminius's mother tongue, and executed a Germanic chieftain on the command of Varus. Over time witnessing the oppression of his fellow Germainians by the Romans led Ariminius to turn against Rome.
Following his father Segimer's death, Ariminius became the next Reik of his tribe, and married Thusnelda. Working with Talio and other Germanic mercenaries along with other local tribes, Ariminius began plotting to ambush and destroy the Roman legions occupying Germania. His plans were revealed by the Roman friendly Segestes to Varus, who refused to believe that Arminius would betray the Romans.
In the battle that followed Ariminius and his supporters managed to ambush and destroy the Roman legions. Seeing that the man he raised as a son betrayed him and his legions were destroyed, Varus decided to commit suicide. While regretful over the death of Varus, Ariminius assumed his role as the new Reik to rule over the Cherusci.
Trivia[]
- The real Battle of the Teutoburg Forest became a turning point in world history as it was the worst military defeat Rome had suffered at the time. The Romans would not make any major incurisions into Germania for over a century, and the names of the legions that had been destroyed were retired.
- Due to the associations with German nationalism Arminius had largely disappeared from German textbooks after the Second World War. The 2,000th anniversary of Arminius's defeat of the Romans was only lightly commerated in 2009 in Germany.
- Finn Reiter, who portrayed the young Arminius, is the son of Laurence Rupp who portrayed the older Arminius.