And as the author noted in passing, Arminius was a Roman citizen. He betrayed his country for his tribe. And the personal ambition the author tends to omit got Arminius killed by the members of that selfsame tribe.
European history would have been much different, and I think better, if Germany had been absorbed into the roman Empire.
It might have also been due to the fact that the three lies in one empire didn’t really have a strong Emperor to really clamp down on the nobility, the fact that the Emperor was elected by them really didn’t help matters.
The foundation of the US legal system is English Common Law not Roman Law. The only places where this is not true is Lousiana where law derives from the Napoleonic Code, and property law in the West, water rights and that sort of thing which has a strong Spanish influence.
Yes there is an overly of law French, from the Normans on Anglo Saxon law, but our rights and traditions are very distinct from any roman country.
Amusingly, South Africa, which was founded on Roman Dutch Law has moved sharply towards a strong English Common Law influence.
That is possible, however look at what happened to Britain after Rome collapsed and the Roman troops left. The stronger German Tribes invaded and it became England. The preservation of freedom will always produce strength. What is that famous American quote, those that give up their freedom for security end up losing both.