Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest was a Battle fought in Germany in 9 CE, by Varus, the Governor of Germania, against an alliance of Germanic Tribes under Arminius.
Varus’ three Legions were destroyed in one of the worst defeats of the Roman Army.

The Romans were attempting to consolidate Germany by a series of invasions, into the Province of Germania Magna, as far as the Elbe and with the capital at Cologne.
In 4 CE, Tiberius led a successful Roman Invasion as far as the River Weser. In 6 CE, Saturninus led a Roman Army of 100,000 men and attacked King Maroboduus of the Marcomanni.
Tiberius then left to resolve the Great Illyrian Revolt (6-9 CE).
As a result in 6 CE, Varus became Commander of the Rhine Legions and his number two was Arminius.
Arminius was the son of the Segimerus, King of the Cherusci Tribe. He and his brother Flavius had been sent to Rome as Hostages by Drusus the Elder during his Invasion of Germania (11-9 BCE) and Arminius had been brought up as a Roman Officer.
But as a German Prince, Arminius was planning a coordinated uprising with the Germanic Tribes to regain their independence.
When 8 of the 11 Legions were moved from the Rhine to deal with the Great Illyrian Revolt, leaving only 3 Legions, Arminius saw his opportunity.
An uprising was staged, which Varus set off to put down, unaware that it had been planned by Arminius to lure Varus and the three Legions into a trap.

Varus took three Legions into Germany, the Legio XVII, Legio XVIII and Legio XIX.
They were accompanied by 6 cohorts of Roman Auxiliaries and 3 squadrons of Cavalry.
Dio Cassius wrote that as Varus progressed into the Forest, he did not march in combat formation, nor did he send out reconnaissance scouts and on entering the Forest, was drawn out in a long thin line about 10-12 miles (15-20km) long.
The Germans attacked at the same time as heavy rainfall turned the forest track into a muddy swamp. Arminius had understood the importance of terrain, and his forces cut off and surrounded small groups of Roman soldiers using just javelins and swords.
When nightfall came, the Romans managed to establish a defensive camp, but the next day they incurred great losses when trying to break out. To escape, the Romans decided to march through the night and escape through another forest.
But Arminius had set a trap for the Romans. The army emerged into the open ground between the forests, unaware the Germans had built an embankment one side and a trench on the other. The Germans attacked from the cover of the embankment which the Romans were unable to climb. The cavalry tried to flee but was pursued and cut down, and the rest of the army was massacred.
Varus and most of his officers committed suicide. The Roman losses are estimated at between 15-20,000, with the surviving Roman officers sacrificed and their soldiers enslaved.

Arminius had intended to join with the Tribal Armies in Illyria, and then move into Italia and conquer Rome itself. However, the end of the Great Illyrian Revolt in 9 CE brought the Legions back to the Rhine, ending his plans.
The Battle is considered by historians to have been Rome’s greatest defeat, with 9 CE marking the end by the Roman attempt to conquer Germany. From then on the River Rhine remained the Roman Frontier.
The German Tribes were eventually to overrun the Western Roman Empire as a consequence of this failure, starting with the Marcomannic Wars against the Marcomanni and Quadi between 162-182 CE, and culminating with the Sack of Rome in 410 CE by the Visigoths.

The Eagle standards of the Legions were recovered by Germanicus in 15 CE and celebrated by the construction of the Arch of Tiberius in 16 CE.
The Standards were placed in the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus.

Hermannsdenkmal is located in Detmold, in the Teutoburg Forest.
Arminius is known as Hermann in Germany. In 1875 Kaiser Wilhelm I built a monument to him known as ‘Hermann’s Monument’. It was built on what was then thought to have been the site of the battle.
The location has now been identified at Kalkriese, 62 miles (100km) to the northwest.

The location was finally identified in 1987 and a Museum constructed on the site in Bramsche.

Tacitus (c. 55-120 CE)
- ‘Annals’ which were based on the ‘History of the Germanic Wars.’ by Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE).
Publius Anius Florus (c.70-c140 CE)
- ‘Epitome of the History of Titus Livy’
Velleius Paterculus (19BCE-31 CE)
- ‘Roman History dedicated to Marcus Vinicius’
Dio Cassius (164-235 CE)
- ‘Roman History’.

Osnabrücker Land Museum & Park Kalkriese: