Mighty roman general “Arminius – The Great Warrior” finally got the opportunity to pay a visit to local German tribal leader of 18th legions under his command. This visit was long pending, last couple of years every exchange of message with the tribal leaders didn’t return with a prompt and sincere visit, that is what a Roman authority would expect from his subjects. In every visit to Rome for some years, questions around those tribal leaders have been brought up by the royalty but Arminius didn’t has a satisfactory answer. It is not an immediate military or social revolution was the matter of concern, even the region is not a big revenue generator for Rome but those tribes maintain an indifferent attitude to the Roman system, and for Roman superiority that has a little space of acceptance. In the contrary every corner of the world where Roman kingdom has been expanded acceptance of the supremacy of Roman is unquestionable. Having a different way of living, inside Roman territory, which has a reluctance attitude to celebrate Roman supremacy, is not something this world expected to see. This is unacceptable! who knows this can be a breeding ground for a social revolution. Till now no information about underground military activity has been reported but this can not be taken lightly any more. Few royals and high ranked General accompanying Arminius making his way towards that region of present Germany. After the day long trip, Romans reached almost at the edge of the territory. Sun is going down fast, so they decided to settle the night camp over there.
The servants are preparing the night camp, others are scattered around and enjoying their personal time, Arminius decided to climb up the small hill in front of the camp taking his horse. In the east the green farm land of Rian valley, appearing strange in the dusk....partially its revealed and rest is mystery..., abiding sun is still visible in the west through the mountain pass..... spraying his last light before the darkness will take over the land. Suddenly Arminius realizes, this is not the first time he is standing on this hill ! many many years ago, appearing almost not in present life, he observed the same sunset with his father and a childhood friend. Suddenly an irresistible flush flood of memories and emotions took over his consciousness. A strange feeling mesmerized him suddenly, as if, these are not feeling of his own, but so dear so close to his heart. Suddenly he starts losing his identity as a Roman General and his royal rank, high social status and everything all he cares about. No more he can identify himself as Mighty roman general “Arminius – The Great Warrior”. So many people struggle to reach equestrian status in Roman society for life long, but only very few capable and lucky could make it. And he is one of them, and he could manage to reach same at such young age. But suddenly it started appearing meaningless to him, his aspiration to climb up in roman bureaucracy, no more has any importance........ all the bloodshed all the personal sacrifices are started appearing as unnecessary. But only few minutes before, he was making so many hard decisions and strategies, few world will know rest would stay with him forever, which would even wipe off some faces from earth permanently. But all of a sudden, his hard works, careful moves, which he smartly made at every single step of his life, starting from the early teen days as a student, for which he always praise ( admire ) himself, totally lost its value to him.
Suddenly he hear a noise from very close, normally he would be alert like an wild beast ready for strike, taking control of his weapon at this situation. But that moment was different for anything in the world he doesn’t want to come out of himself. Suddenly the mystic dark and shade cluster together and form an human shape in front of him. He doesn’t even bother to ask who he his , he just doesn’t want to loose this moment from his existence…just ready to accept whatever world wants to reveal he is a merry observer, totally offered himself in the hand of some infinite force.
Aren’t you Hermann ! who can dare to call him without proper addressing, if that is not enough by his childhood name ? but he is stunned nothing in this world bothers him any more….the stranger closes….an ordinarily dressed man, almost of his own age, is clearly visible in the last shine of the day, do you remember me I am Fridumar.
This takes him back to the real world but which is appearing stranger to a dream. He can’t believe his own eyes, he is the same old friend with whom he was last time standing on the same hill, is this a merry coincident or an well planned event by some unknown force!. Time and lifestyle have alter their appearance over the years but at this moment it seems they are just picking it up from where it was left.
Conversation begins slowly, but most of the time, it was filled with prolong silence. Both of them wandering, are we really meeting after thirty years ? Before they realize few long paused exchange of thoughts took them thirty years back. A joy what Arminius has lost, doesn’t know when, in the mad race of achieving something not sure exactly what, suddenly starts appearing as the profound reality to him. A strange feeling overpower the mightily Roman general, how possibly he was living a life without this joy. If anything in this world is worth to seek, is should be this joy everything else appears meaningless.
All of a sudden some noise from heavy feet ruined the world of heaven they were in. Soon Arminius had to go back to his camp, and Fridumar will return to his hut beside the farm land but only after taking a promise from his childhood friend for a visit to his hut. The interaction was short but this will change Arminius forever. Rest of the visit was not eventful both the general and his company was over whelmed with the hospitality of the tribal community, some bunch of people who are disconnected from the modern world and living in their own paradise of ignorance. That was the unambiguous opinion from everyone of the troop, probably except the silent disagreement of the general.
General appears to be in a deep pensive mood all along his way, and that is how world will observe their general for next few of days. Inside Arminius, an unanswered question is tearing him apart…..bothering him down to his core…..what made him different today from what he was and where that content heart of Hermann got lost ? He was wondering how shameful he was about his German identity little while ago and how desperately he wanted to wipe it out from his personality, from his name, from every where within his capacity and beyond. How desperately he was trying to become a roman, which his is not in reality. How the illusion of superior race has been taken over his mind. How his total success of life and meaning of existence depends on some honor and positions thrown by Roman Authority.
Arminius, born in 18 BC, was son of the Cheruscan chief Segimerus (German: Segimer) , he had an wonderful growing up days in Germany with his family and friends but those happy days were cut short when his father made an agreement with Roman to leave him along with few cousins in Roman hand. This was a common practice in Roman Political System, wherever their territory expands they persuade the local leaders to handover their young children to Roman authority. Children will be taken to Roam and go through an Roman education system to train and prepare to be a great warrior and leader. And after demonstrating their quality as a roman leader, normally they will be send back to the same territory to lead the administration on behalf of Roam. Arminius had lived in Rome as a hostage in his youth, where he had received a military education from Rome. He has been trained as a Roman military commander also exposed to Roman philosophy and so called high standard of life, eventually rise as a promising future Roman leader.
Roaming around in his aisles of memory Arminius reached to his early days in Roam as a student, which finally helped him to connect the dots he was struggling to make. The aspiration for being great Roman was implanted in his training days, the value system they are taught, the success of life have been preached over and over to the young minds of Hermann and his fellow students is the primary catalyst to shape Arminius and other youngsters. Roman educators cleverly picked up few non Roman personalities, whose life and thought process could be successfully characterize Roman superior race message, more importantly who openly criticize their native culture and managed to earn some high position in the roman aristocracy, then remain vocal to spread roman lifestyle in their own community and beyond, they have been portrait as real life heroes, creating a larger than life image of them in their young mind. And their own practice and their way of life was always looked upon as a primitive one, which are not relevant in current time, specially in front of the growth and progress Roman Society promises. At the beginning sometime he resisted, which was harshly tamed down and doesn’t know when he stared getting inspired with those hero portraits. He can’t totally disagree those images started to excite him too and soon creating a self image of himself as Roman general, where there was little trace left of the spirit and simple joy of young Hermann’s heart. He surprised to find himself how few years of Roman education change himself for life. Following part of his life was chasing that unrealistic self image by falling down from his true self. And yes with his hard work and his clever and intelligent moves he attended the status of equestrian (petty noble) before returning to Germania as a Roman General.
Around the year 4 AD, Arminius assumed command of a Cheruscan detachment of Roman auxiliary forces, probably while fighting in the Pannonian wars on the Balkan peninsula. In the fall of 9 AD, the 25-year-old Arminius brought to Varus a report of rebellion in northern Germany, where the Roman Empire had established secure control of the territories just east of the Rhine, along the Lippe and Main rivers, and was now seeking to extend its hegemony eastward to the Weser and Elbe rivers, under Publius Quinctilius Varus, a high-ranking administrative official appointed by Augustus as governor. And Arminius was playing a key role of this effort and which has just started to take shape by expanding Roman boundary which obviously increasing political importance of Arminius in Rome and rising his rank and importance in Roman Power Center was just matter of time.
But sudden change of Arnenius will alter Roman history in Germany. Arminius began plotting to unite various Germanic tribes to thwart Roman efforts to incorporate their lands into the empire. Finally Armin defeated the mighty Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius's influence held an allied coalition of Germanic tribes together in opposition to the Romans.
Arminius's victory against the Roman legions in the Teutoburg forest had a far-reaching effect on the subsequent history of both the ancient Germanic peoples and on the Roman Empire. The Romans were to make no more concerted attempts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the river Rhine. Modern historians have regarded Arminius' victory as "Rome's greatest defeat" and one of the most decisive battles in history.
He persuaded Varus to divert the three legions under his command (composed of the 17th, 18th and 19th legions, plus three cavalry detachments and six cohorts of auxiliaries) from the march to winter quarters to suppress the rebellion. Varus and his legions marched right into the trap Arminius had set for them near Kalkriese, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius's tribe, the Cherusci, and their allies the Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci, and Sicambri (five out of at least fifty Germanic tribes at the time) ambushed and annihilated Varus's entire army, totaling over 20,000 men. Recent archaeological finds show the long-debated location of the three-day battle was almost certainly near Kalkriese Hill, about 20 km north of Osnabrück. When defeat was certain, Varus committed suicide by falling on his sword. Arminius's success in destroying three entire legions and driving the Romans out of Germany was one of the most devastating defeats Rome suffered in its history, and a high point of Germanic power for centuries. Roman attempts to reconquer Germany failed, although they did manage to break Arminius's alliance eventually.
The loss at Teutoburg was deemed unacceptable by Augustus, who subsequently removed the Roman presence from Germany, as well as removing Germans within Rome from his immediate vicinity. After the death of Augustus in AD 14, the Senate appointed Germanicus commander of the forces in Germania Inferior. Although the German province was lost to Rome, Germanicus and his troops returned to Germany, and to Teutoburg, in 15 CE. During the next two years, he led his 8-legion army into Germania against a coalition led by Arminius.
Germanicus’ official mission was to recover the eagle-topped standards lost in the Teutoburg Forest, stolen by the Germans as tokens of victory. After visiting the site of the disastrous Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where 3 Roman legions (15,000 men) had been killed in AD 9, and burying their remains, he launched a massive assault on the heartland of Arminius' tribe which ended with big success. How Arminius was defeated ? Roman just keep building army with out attacking him. They stopped him not by fighting but cutting down the very resource he and his army rely on to live a minimum standard of life they learned and grow up with during his friendly days with Roman.
Arminius managed to uplift the self respect and pride among native Gernman tribe but the life style he and his fellow were used to, was not much different from Roman and to earn that desperately he has to come out again and again from their own territory and only to be defeated and de motivated . Same like today’s war technique - Stop the money flow. Their love of Roman pampered lifestyle soon overpower the thrive enthusiasm of proving their true identity. It was not difficult for roman generals to identify and corrupt such individuals.
The root cause of failing Arminiuum to create history was he and his followers were challenging the very basic Roman way of thinking purpose, success and standard of life where in the contrary they themselves were used to that life so they couldn’t get the final victory but another person in history took this battle in a different level and successfully wiped of the Roman arrogance from the face of the earth forever his mane is Jesus Christ.
He started preaching a very simple message to common people, you don’t need to feel inferior with whatever life you live, you all are great in your very own life. Each and every individual are children of God and all same in his eyes. You need not be a roman to live a successful life. That doesn’t mean that you no need to have any guide line or objective of your life. There is of course an objective that’s how to be beloved to God not how to be a Roman.
The between the line message of his preach was, objective of life cannot be a Roman and struggle to become more and more Roman, but it should be quite different than this. There must be a disciple of life but it should not come from looking others or following others rather it should rise from inside and more importantly you have not do a gladiator fight with each other to seek this.
The similarity between Arminiuum and Jesus was, both realized and sparked a social movement telling, there is no meaning of wasting life to be Roman rather love and respect your own way of living, being your trueself. But the true self of Arminiuum and his followers were dreaming was already induced with the need and bad Roman habits.
On the other side Jesus’s tool was very humble, which he could successfully spread among the mass, the common hard working section of the society, who were the muscles of the roman social structure. It tells that the life they are living is not insignificant, that’s great with its own virtue and it is useless to seek life's success in the ladder defined by romans. He just let them know they can live and in most cases living much more content and meaningful life than Roman aristocrats and so called heroes, who are celebrated in roman society. The status, which they very well know, will never be able to reach but keep them mesmerized about roman glory and power, and force them to live a life of subjects with bondage ignoring the true capacity of themselves, is nothing but an illusion.
Christ challenged the very mission statement, which was the foundation of the Roman empire and on which society was built and functioning. The message he tried to spread was, making life meaningful is in reach for every person in the society. His between the line message was, Roman aristocrat way of living and working hard to seek that lifestyle, cannot be the goal of life, neither this is the ultimate lifestyle which one can achieve in his life, nor is the only correct way to live a meaningful life. On the contrary motivating people to seek for roman status, was the driving force of the roman society, movers and shakers of the Roman society take lot of pride to reach that status. Jesus basically ridicule them, which indirectly challenged the basic functioning of Roman empire. That’s is the reason they wanted to destroy and humiliate him every possible way, so this school of thought can never be able to challenge the Roman civilization and bury this thought process under the grave forever.
That is why Roman wanted to offer him a spectacular death to prove to the world, how silly and insignificant Christ’s claim was compare to the modern civilized Romans. But those simple preaching laid the foundation for the demolition of the Roman empire and his preaching what we know as Christianity today, flourished standing on the ruins of same Roman civilization….on the same piece of land on earth……..
Roman didn’t return on the face of earth but same technique and strategy is used over here again and again, whenever any race claims to be supreme. The easiest way to dominate any other race or even the entire mankind is somehow to convince others, my way of living is better and any attempt to move towards that lifestyle is a sign of progress. This tool will be more effective if you can embed this philosophy from the child hood in the name of education.
Looking the history in a different light is one aspect but what will be more important, is to make the subject relevant to our own life and time by doing a critical self analysis. Isn’t the current time which celebrates the technological developments, progress of humanity so loudly over sighting darkness accumulating as a bi product of this system appears very similar to the end of Roman civilization ?
Take any person from any society, unless he/she is connected with some inner strength and inspiration, its natural to get emptiness of what he/she has. When a group of people try to overpower and wish to dominate others they take advantage of this sense of emptiness of the other cultures. Highlighting this emptiness of other cultures they project their own culture is superior. And the most effective way to do it is - do it in name of education at very young age. This history has repeated many times and its still in action with full swing.
There is an unparalleled waste of human time, energy, effort and resource in name of education, in today’s society, and it’s a criminal offense to talk against it. The aimless, objective less, study without any joy of learning, and a purpose of education, which is deeply rooted to the ground of their own society, today’s education system damaging humanity more than helping anyway. The false promises : this education will make you a better person ( what you are not currently ) in the society …may be by making a doctor, engineer, scientist, astronaut and what not is spread at every corner through the schooling system. The utopia of education, harms us more than anything else. The education which cannot teach to respect your parent or forefathers and the value they cared, but grow disrespect towards them, or which couldn’t generate love and honor to the way the parent and forefathers made their living but creates an illusion others are superior and start look upon their own way of living, can never create a positive impact to any society. But to run the modern society, creating this illusion in young hearts, is absolutely necessary. Finally people learn few alien skills required for a job, but nobody teaches how to execute them to get the joy of the work. With that emptiness soon the illusion about the job they nurtured from their young ages are lost. Neither they find any more courage to challenge it because the options are not known. And in this process they loose the simple joy of life which is of their very own.
Little Boxes
Song by Malvina Reynolds
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same