Marbod

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Marbod or Maroboduus (died in A.D. 37), was king of the Marcomanni. Marbod organized a confederation of several Germanic tribes in about 9 BC to deal with the threat of Roman expansion into the Rhine-Danube basin. The Marcomanni formed a confederation with neighboring Germanic tribes in what are now Silesia and Saxony. He was the first historical ruler of Bohemia.

Rivalry between him and Arminius, the Cheruscan leader who inflicted the devastating defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest on the Romans in 9 A.D., prevented a concerted attack on Roman territory across the Rhine in the north (by Arminius) and in the Danube basin in the south (by Marbod). In 17 A.D., after Arminius had successfully compelled the Romans to abandon their efforts at conquering northern Germany, war broke out between Arminius and Marbod, and Marbod withdrew into Bohemia.