who had crossed the Rhine probably to exact tribute from populations already reduced to poverty and slavery. Aware of the inevitable Roman reaction, Tencteti, Uispeti and Sigambri played in advance, crossing the Rhine and devastating part of Gaul.
The Roman governor at the time was Marcus Lollius Paulinus: Velleius Paterculus desscribes him «a man who hid great vices under beautiful appearances, and who seemed more eager to accumulate money than to do good».
He sent the V Legio Alaudae, the first legion of provincial soldiers established by Caesar, against the barbarians, who were appreciated for their great ability as horsemen and archers.
The Roman cavalry was however put to flight; a very hard fight followed between the Germanic tribes and the legionaries who were overwhelmed and lost the Eagle of the Legion. It was an unexpected defeat, the "Clades Lolliana" that ancient writers compared to the subsequent defeat of Teutoburg in 9 AD.
It provided the Romans with the casus belli to invade and conquer the entire region to create the province of Germania Magna, expanding the Roman dominion beyond the Rhine to reach as far as the Elbe river. For this purpose in 8 BC Augustus sen
t Tiberius and his brother Drusus to Germany; they were the best generals of the time and had distinguished themselves both in campaigns of conquest in Raetia and Pannonia and Dalmatia, and in the ferocious suppression of the revolts of Illyricum and Judea.
We know that Drusus designed and built the Fossa Drusi, an artificial navigable canal that connected the Rhine with the North Sea, whose precise route is unknown and is still a matter of discussion among scholars.
It allowed the Roman fleet to navigate more safely, and to threaten the coastal settlements of the Germanic tribes
. Suetonius writes: «[Drusus] had a command in
Raetia and then in Germany, where he sailed as the first Roman general over the Northern Ocean, building an artificial canal that connected it with the Rhine River
, in a colossal undertaking. This canal still bears his name today».Tiberius found himself operating in a wild and impenetrable forested territory, and he understood that the Rhine was a very difficult and dangerous river to cross. Wisely, he preferred to fortify the border, simply discouraging the attacks of the Germanic tribes, who pretended to submit to the Romans but actually were waiting for the right moment to rebel.
In 9 BC, things changed drastically, because Drusus fell from his horse and suffered a bad wound to the femur, from which he died three months later. His brother Tiberius escorted his body to Rome, where Augustus paid him solemn honors and had him buried in his Mausoleum.
The story continued in 4 AD, when Tiberius was adopted by Augustus as his successor.