About the same time Arminius met his death while trying to make himself king of the Cherusci.
At first, with most of the Suevic tribes, they were subject to the hegemony of Maroboduus, king of the Marcomanni, but they revolted from him in his war with Arminius, chief of the Cherusci, in the year 17.
By the end of the 1st century the prestige of the Cherusci had declined through unsuccessful warfare with the Chatti.
Further, that the tribes were not normally of a migratory character, as Strabo seems to imply, is shown by the existence of sanctuaries of immemorial age and by frontier ramparts such as that raised by the Angrivarii against the Cherusci.
He also penetrated into regions beyond and crossed the Weser, receiving the submission of the Bructeri, Chatti and Cherusci.
He was a son of a certain Segimer, a prince of the tribe of the Cherusci, and in early life served with distinction as an officer in the Roman armies.
It is clear that agnatic succession prevailed among the princely families of the Cherusci, and the general account given in the Germania seems to imply that this type of organization was normal.
They seem, however, to have recovered very soon, and at the end of the 1st century had apparently extended their power at the expense of the Cherusci.
To the north-west of them were situated the Marsi, apparently between the Diemel and the Lippe, while the central part of the basin of the Weser was inhabited by the Cherusci, who seem to have extended considerably eastward.
We again hear of their interference in the dynastic strife of the Cherusci some time after the year 47.