Marsi (Germanic tribe)

[1] Strabo describes the Marsi as an example of a Germanic tribe who were originally from the Rhine area, now the war-torn Roman frontier, but had migrated deep into Germania.

They had been part of the tribal coalition of the Cheruscian war leader and traitor to Rome, Arminius that in 9 AD annihilated three Roman legions under Varus in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.

Germanicus, seeking revenge for this defeat, invaded the lands of the Marsi in 14 AD with 12,000 legionnaires, 26 cohorts of auxiliaries and eight cavalry squadrons.

[4] Several town names today are often seen as reminders of the ancient Marsi, especially Marsberg with its quarter Obermarsberg in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia and Volkmarsen in northern Hesse.

[citation needed] But the early versions of the name Marsberg are Eresburg within the Royal Frankish Annals and Heresburg within The Deeds of the Saxons by Widukind of Corvey.

The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century.