Roman citizenship and the rank of knighthood, but likewise acquired a knowledge of the Latin language, and an insight into the arts of war and policy, as practiced by the Romans. On re- turning home, Arminius found the people op- pressed by the Roman Viceroy, Quinctilius Varus, and conceived the plan of delivering his country from the Romans. All the tribes and leaders as far as the Elbe were secretly united; Varus was lulled into security and induced to scatter most of his forces, and with the remaining portion, which was just on the point of leaving the territory of the Cherusci for the Rhine, to quit the highway for a shorter route across the country. He was thus lured into the impassable districts of the Teutoburg Forest, between the towns of Detmold and Wiederbruck, near the sources of the Ems and the Weser. Arminius, who commanded the rear-guard of the Roman army, fell upon the legions unexpectedly, and annihilated the entire force, A.D. 9. When intelligence of the disaster reached Rome it excited the greatest consternation: but the Germans carried their victory no farther, and for a few years both parties refrained from hostilities. In A.D. 14, however, the Romans pressed once more into Germany. In two successive campaigns, A.D. 14 and A.D. 16, Germanicus reduced Arminius to great straits and took his wife captive, but was recalled to Rome by the Emperor Tiberius, A.D. 17, and the results of his victories were lost. From this time no Roman army ever ventured to penetrate into the interior of Germany. After the expulsion of the Romans, internal feuds broke out with great violence among the Teutonic tribes. In the course of these Arminius was slain by his own relatives about A.D. 20. Tacitus says of him: "Arminius fought with alternate vicissitudes of fortune, and fell at last by the treachery of his own relations; a man of warlike genius, and beyond all question the deliverer of Germany." A colossal statue of Arminius by Bandel was erected on a hill near the town of Detmold in 1870.
Consult: Wietersheim, Der Feldzug des Germanicus (Leipzig, 1850); Kemmer, Arminius (Leipzig, 1893); and Fischer, Armin und die Römer (Halle, 1893).
ARMINIUS, Jacobus or Jacob Harmensen,
commonly called Arminius (1560-1609). One
of the most influential of the Dutch theologians
of the Reformed Church, and founder of the
theological system which bears his name. He
was born in Oudewater-an-der-Yssel, October 10,
1560, and died in Leyden, October 19, 1609. His
father, a cutler by trade, died when Jacob was a
child, and the boy was brought up by friends in
Utrecht and Marburg. He spent several years
(1575-82) at the newly founded University of
Leyden, where he imbibed a distaste for the
Aristotelian philosophy, which still had great
power. Proceeding to Geneva, the Mecca of the
Reformed Church, Arminius studied for nearly
six years under Beza (1582-87), with the inter-
ruption of a few months' stay in Basel (1583),
where he heard Grynæus, who became very fond
of his gifted pupil. In Basel, Arminius delivered
some lectures on his own account, as was the
custom with especially promising students, and
he would have been rewarded with the degree of
doctor, had he not modestly declared himself too
young to receive this distinction. At the close
of his period of study, Arminius made a trip to Italy, visiting Padua and Rome (1587). During most of his student life he had been supported by the city of Amsterdam, which recognized his promise, and, knowing him to be dependent, had extended to him a sort of municipal patronage.
In 1588 Arminius became preacher of the Reformed Church in Amsterdam, where he remained for fifteen years, with growing fame and influence. His orthodoxy was as unquestioned as his ability, and we find that appeal was several times made to him to defend the Calvinistic system against attacks. In its influence upon Arminius himself, the most important of these controversies was with one Koornheert, of Haarlem, who had attacked Calvin's doctrine of predestination. While studying the question, Arminius began to incline toward similar views himself, and this tendency appeared in his public sermons on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans, especially chapters vii.-ix. Yet he always maintained that his opinions were not inconsistent with the doctrinal standards of his Church, the Belgic Confession, and the Heidelberg Catechism. In spite of some opposition on the part of the conservatives, Arminius, in 1603, was appointed professor at the University of Leyden, the great training-school for ministers of the Reformed Church in Holland. His colleague, Gomarus (q.v.), was a stanch Calvinist, and controversy soon broke out between them, which continued throughout the remainder of Arminius's life. This was by no means a mere academic dispute, but rather one in which the whole of Dutch Protestantism was engaged. The chief points on which Arminius differed from the orthodox majority were the doctrines of divine grace and of election. Arminius taught that grace was universal and election conditional. Gomarus taught that grace was confined to the elect, and that their election was not dependent upon God's foreknowledge of their faith or good works, but was merely from God's good pleasure. Disputations were held, but without result. Arminius was charged with holding Pelagian and Socinian views, which latter charge he denied with especial vigor. His position at the university remained secure, for the authorities declined to permit clerical interference. Nevertheless, he was constantly under fire, and repeated attempts were made to bring him to trial before a synod. The struggle was still going on when Arminius died, worn out by the strain of theological strife. His influence, however, was never greater than after his death, and his followers, under the leadership of his pupil Episcopius (q.v.), prolonged the struggle, even through temporary defeat at the Synod of Dort, until religious toleration was secured under Prince Frederick Henry. The details may be found under Arminianism.
The works of Arminius are accessible in Latin and English. Consult: J. Arminii Opera Theologica (Leyden, 1629); The Works of Arminius, English translation, reprinted from the London edition (Buffalo, 1853).
AR'MISTEAD, George (c. 1780-1818). An American soldier, born at New Market, Va. He entered the United States Army as second-lieutenant in 1799, became a captain in November, 1806, and a major in March, 1813. He was conspicuous for gallantry at the capture of Fort George (Canada), on May 27, 1813, and subse-
