The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-04-07
WHERE CAESARS LEGIONS
PAVED THE WAY FOR THE A.F.G.
Mr.. J. G. Breuninger With the Am
erican Forces in Germany, Writes.

Forces in Germany, in which he says;
81 have received letters from Gar
rett county requesting that l write
something for the home paper in order
that I might convey to them some
knowledge of things with which we
are surrounded.
"Here is an article which was in
The Amaroc, our army paper. 1t
took me several weeks to get this in
formation, and 1 believe it will be
enjoyed by all who read it.
81 am now with the 'Y' in Ander-
mach, Germany, and like my work
very much. l have resigned my po-
sition as post chaplain in Coblenz and
am engaged in work OF a similar
nature but upon a much larger scale.
81 often think of you dear people
and of my grand old Maryland home.
I have not been to the Red House
since left for service in the World
War. Very cordially yours,
Il. VI III ~
The article appearing in The Am
aroc, referred to in Mr.. Breuninger's
letter, is as follows:
"Andernach, a town of approx
mately 10000 inhabitants, which is
occupied by the American Forces at
the present time, is especially inter
esting because of its ancient history.
The city at one time comprised one
of the fifty forts of Drusus and saw
much of Roman life during the first
three centuries Of the Christian Era.
"The history of the town dates
back thousands of years when it was
inhabited by the prehistoric man. Dis
tinct signs of this oldest settlement
which is known as the 'Magdalenien'
age, have been discovered between
the blocks of lava stream by the
Bonn Museum assistants in 1882 on
the Martinberg, located in the south
ern part of the city.
"Andernach owes its origin to a
settlement of the Celts, an art low
ing and industrious race, who in the
past ages inhabited the country from
the Rhine to the Atlantic ocean. On
the Martinsberg, a few years ago,
several Celtic graves and dwellings,
were found.
"The name of the city had its orr
gin in the Celtic Age. The old name,
'Antunacum,' as written in Roman
documents of the third and fourth
centuries, is derived from the name
of the Celtic hero, Antonaco or An
tunaco. The root syllable is found
in the name of the little brook, AN
tel which flows underground through
the city and empties into the Rhine.
In the sixth and seventh centuries.
the name was written in documents
as 'Andernacha,' while in the middle
ages the historians call it Antenac-
UNI.
"The Romans, Under julius Caesar.
from SO to SO B. c., waged an unre-
lenting war against the Celts who
inhabited the city at that time. In
the winter of 55-56 B. c., Caesar
treacherously captured the Celtic
leader, Cleve of the Germatic Usip-
eter, who went with his wives, and
children into Gallien for confer
ence with the Romans. After cap
turing their chieftain, Caesar had the
tribe massacred. Also he gave them
a more impressive warning and to
brighten them to migrate into Gallien
Caesar had bridge built over the
Rhine in 50 B. c., which the histori
lans state was constructed over the
river at Weissenthurm and Neuwied.
A few days after the tribe submitted
to the Roman yoke through fear, Gaze
sar had two hundred feet of the bridge
on the right side destroyed, while on
the left bank he stationed strong
army of occupation.
"The Celts were finally driven from
the vicinity by the Romans in the year
1873 B. c. Claudius Drusus, son-in
law of Emperor Augustus, had fifty
forts erected along the Rhine valley,
one of them being located at Ander
mach. This fort was used as prov
ince station for the reception and
feeding of Roman soldiers who march
ed on the army highway from May
ence and Cologne to the garrisons in
the lower Rhinelands. 1t was stu
ated on the highest point on Hoch-
strasse near the present Rathaus.
THE military Importance of the
forts at Andernach lost their sig
nificance when the Limeslinie was
erected on the right side of the Rhine
during the reign of Domitian. The
change did not effect the growth of
the city. On the contrary, the town
was inhabited by the civic settlers and
developed into a fourishing center of
commerce.
Ear into the third century Ander-
mach remained an open and undefend-
ed city. The necessity of refortving