Who were the Cherusci?

The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe inhabiting parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area near present-day Hanover, during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. They led an important war against the Roman Empire. They were probably absorbed into the tribal confederations of the Franks or Allemanni toward the later part of the Roman Empire. The first mention of the Cherusci occurs in Book 6.10 of Caesar's Gallic Wars, which recounts events of 53 BC, when Caesar crossed the Rhine to punish the Suebi. In 12 BC, the Cherusci and other Germanic tribes were subjugated by the Romans. In 9 AD an army of allied Germanic tribes under the Cheruscan prince, Arminius, annihilated three Roman legions commanded by Varus. The legions' eagle standards, of great symbolic importance to the Romans, were lost. The numbers of legions, Legio XVII, Legio XVIII, and Legio XIX, were never used again.