Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
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The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (8–11 September 9 AD) was a major defeat for Ancient Rome, with three legions, six infantry cohorts and three auxiliary cavalry wings (20,000+ men) under Publius Quinctilius Varus being annihilated, bringing the triumphant period of expansion under Augustus to an abrupt end. The Germanic forces were led by Hermann (Latin: Arminius). The Roman Empire would launch no other major incursion into Germania until Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) during the Marcomannic Wars. Some of the descendants of the vassal kingdoms, like the Suebi (by suzerainty), that Augustus tried to create in Germania to expand the romanitas and the Empire would be the ones that conquered the Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. The outcome of this battle and the crushing Roman defeat dissuaded the Romans from their ambition of conquering Germania, and is thus considered one of the most important events in European history, creating the Latin-Germanic divide that persists in Western Europe to this day.
History
The Roman Emperor Augustus likely had intended to conquer the German region between the Rhine and Elbe rivers, with this being prevented by the defeat. Tacitus described Hermann as “unquestionably the liberator of Germany”.
- At the Battle of Teutoburg Forest (aka Battle of Varus), c. 9 CE, a combined force of Germans annihilated a Roman army consisting of three legions including three squadrons of cavalry and six cohorts of auxiliary troops. As some soldiers must have been left behind to defend summer camps, the army probably held 10,000 to 15,000 men or roughly 8 to10 % of the total Roman army. The sources do not mention the size of the German army at the famous battle. Based on the size of the catchment area, and the fact that Arminius, leader of the German forces, was not able to recruit all chieftains, it is likely that the Germans were heavily outnumbered, perhaps 1:2. [...] Every youngster, who has ever studied Latin, has been met with the task of reading one of the great military historical works, The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar. As such they have also read how Caesar c. 55 BCE built two bridges across the river Rhine and led his army across in order to confront the Germans on their home turf for the first time. In the next 60 years, this led to widespread warfare in the northwestern part of present Germany in the region between the Rhine and Weser rivers, with skirmishes penetrating as far as the river Elbe. Exactly how far into the interior (Germania Interior) the Romans succeeded in pressing forward is debated. The remains, however, of several Roman encampments, recorded archaeologically as far inland as the Roman fort at Barkhausen in Porta Westfalica, indicate how far the Romans reached under the leadership of Tiberius 9-7 BCE. By all accounts, the Romans afterwards settled down to colonise and Romanise the region. For this purpose, Publius Quinctilius Varus was appointed governor of Germania in 7 CE. At his command were three legions. In September 9 CE Varus broke up from his summer camp in order to march his army to winter in either Xanten or Mainz. History later tells us that Varus received intelligence from Arminius that a rebellion was cooking to the east of the Rhine. Arminius was son of a prominent Germanic chieftain, but had spent his childhood in Rome as a hostage. Here, he had received a military education as well as obtained Roman citizenship. In this capacity, he had obtained the rank of equestrian, as well as a post as squadron leader in Varus' army. Afterwards it became apparent that, Arminius – while serving as liaison between the Romans and the Germans - had plotted against the Romans, recruiting support and soldiers from a number of German chieftains. We know from the archaeological excavations at Kalkriese that the attack had been carefully prepared during the summer. Thus, Arminius was not leading a random rebellion, but an ingeniously planned attack on the Roman army stationed along the Lower Rhine. Come September, Roman historians tell us that when Arminius had fed Varus the false information, Varus was lured to make a detour into Arminius' preselected and prepared battlefield. Historians also tell us that Segestes, the Roman father-in-law of Arminius, forewarned Varus; unfortunately, the Roman commander disregarded this and marched his legions towards total annihilation. Although the story of the battle of Teutoburg was known since Antiquity, it was not accorded special significance until 1470 CE when the description by Tacitus was discovered and printed in Venice for the first time. However, the exact location of the battlefield continued to be an enigma for more than 500 years, until the amateur archaeologist, major Tony Clunn, after a successful day with his metal detector, hooked up with the leading archaeologist in Osnabrück, Wolfgang Schlüter. Based on the writing of the 19th-century CE historian Theodor Mommsen they began systematically to investigate an area north of the Wiehen Hills (Wiehengebirge) in Lower Saxony, Germany; more precisely at Kalkriese. Formerly, the area had been considered an archaeological desert because peasants had used a special technique when farming the land. In order to fertilise their fields, they would cut bricks of peat or grass to use as bedding for cattle in winter. Come spring, this manure would be spread out on the fields, which would be intensively worked as in-fields, creating layer upon layer of so-called podzoll or plaggen soil. This meant that the Roman landscape was covered with sometimes more than a meter to a meter and a half of agricultural soil. Until the introduction of deep ploughing, farmers might recover the odd coin, but no more. After WW2 this changed and a better sense of the Iron Age landscape gradually emerged.[1]
After Augustus, the Roman borders became, with some exceptions, relatively stable. Hermann and the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest became German nationalist symbols. Following World War II, Hermann became less known among West Germans and many schools shunned away from teaching the subject in any detail, due to its previous association with nationalism. The 2,000-year anniversary of the battle in Germany was celebrated with restraint, avoiding "flag-waving festivals" and other gestures that might be interpreted as "nationalism".
See also
External links
Encyclopedias
- Ancient History Encyclopedia: Battle of Teutoburg Forest
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
