Thusnelda

Thusnelda (/ðʌsˈnɛldə/; c. 10 BC – after AD 17) was a Germanic Cheruscan noblewoman who was captured by the Roman general Germanicus during his invasion of Germania.

In 9 AD, Arminius, Thusnelda's future husband, who had been given by his father to the Romans as a child and raised as a Roman military commander serving under Publius Quinctilius Varus, switched sides to the Germans, and led a coalition of Germanic tribes that defeated the legions of Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

The conflict between the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes continued after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, and Arminius abducted and raped Thusnelda circa 14 AD, likely as a result of a dispute with her pro-Roman father, according to Tacitus.

[6] Contemporary historians evince discomfort with her display as evidence of Roman victory in Germania, as Arminius had resisted capture.

Thusnelda (under the name of Rosmonda) and other figures of the conflict between Arminius and Germanicus were immortalized by the Italian composer Nicola Porpora in his opera Germanico in Germania.