We describe as Roman Germany the two forward zones which Augustus established on the Rhine for action against the tribes between the Weser and the Elbe. There were two high commands here invested with imperium, one for the ‘upper army’ (Exercitus Germanicus Superior) in Mainz, the other for the ‘lower army’ (Exercitus Germanicus Inferior) in Cologne.

The end of the Batavian revolt (a.d 68–70) also marks the end of the keen attention which Roman imperial historians had paid to Germania up to that point. Under Augustus the princes of the imperial family had imperium maius and waged war in Germania. Claudius still showed great interest in the new military enclaves in the context of his Gallic policy and the exploitation of natural resources. He had begun the process of municipalization with the raising of Cologne to colonial status and he, or Nero, had perhaps established a municipium with the name Cibernodurum out of the tribal centre of the lower Rhine Ciberni or Cuberni. The military activity on the Rhine between 13 b.c and a.d. 70 is characterized by the presence of fourteen legions between the Alps and the Dutch coast. At this epoch the history of Roman Germany is essentially imperial history.

With the end of the Batavian revolt Germania vanished from the purview of imperial politics. The legions on the Rhine were already reduced to six by a.d. 43 for the offensive against Britain. After the rebellion of the Rhenish tribes four legions (I, IV, XV and XVI) were broken up.