Drusus' Germanic campaign

The Germanic campaigns of Drusus were a series of Roman military operations carried out between 12 and 8 BC against Germanic tribes located east of the Rhine River. These campaigns were led by Nero Claudius Drusus (born in 38 BC), the stepson of Emperor Augustus. Drusus commanded the Roman forces until his death in the fall of 9 BC, possibly from a fall from his horse.

The campaigns began in the late summer of 12 BC, with initial military actions in the Lippe region and along the North Sea coast. They concluded in 8 BC, after many Germanic tribes between the Rhine and the Elbe had been subdued (largely under the command of Drusus’ brother, Tiberius Claudius Nero). The high point of these campaigns came in 9 BC, when Drusus reached the Elbe River. These operations marked the beginning of the Augustan Germanic Wars, which continued for a total of 28 years.