Arminius and his brother were, as sons of a tribal prince of the Cherusk tribe who opposed their alliance with Rome, raised as 'honorary hostages' in Rome, in the glorious age of Augustus. Arminius became a cavalry officer, saw in Pannonia the army's superiority in the field and rose the equestrian rank. Varrus, reputed ruthless but efficient in Syria, was made governor in Germania. He vastly enlarged a chain of fortifications from the Rhine limes. Arminius served in that army in his native country. Seeing his people's repression virtually without civilizing progress, he ultimately chose to unite it and organized the fatal trap for Varrus's three legions in the Teutoburger forest, which prohibited its tactical deployment.
—KGF Vissers