On 9-11 September 9 CE, the Battle of Teutoburg Forest was fought in Germany between the Romans under Publius Quinctilius Varus against the Germans under Arminius during the Roman-Germanic Wars.
Why did it happen?
During the reign of Emperor Augustus, the Roman Empire attempted to establish its rule over the Germanic tribes living across the Rhine River after a German invasion of Gaul in 17 BCE. The conquest of Germany began in 12 BCE when armies under Augustus’ stepsons Drusus and Tiberius advanced toward the Elbe River, establishing Roman rule in the Pannonian Plain. After Drusus died in 9 BCE, Tiberius took command of the German province before retiring from public life three years later, although Roman traders and tax collectors soon occupied the province. In 6 CE, a two-pronged invasion of Bohemia, involving some 60,000 legionaries under Tiberius, was planned from the Rhine and Danube before a revolt in Pannonia forced Tiberius to turn and face this threat. The Roman governor of Germania at this time was Publius Quinctilius Varus, who had been governor of Syria in 4 BCE before being given command of Germania in 6 CE. In the summer of 9 CE, upon hearing rumours of a revolt by the Cherusci tribe, Varus refused to believe them and led three of his legions plus auxiliary units under a German prince named Arminius towards a winter camp at Aliso, unaware that Arminius was leading them into an ambush.
Who was involved?
The Roman army at Teutoburg Forest numbered 18,000 infantry and 300 cavalry. The Roman infantry consisted of three legions, the XVII, XVIII, and XIX, totalling 15,000 legionaries and 3,000 auxiliary units. Due to the nature of the terrain, the Romans could not deploy in their traditional formation due to the boggy and narrow landscape of the Teutoburg Forest. In addition, the Roman army was encumbered by a long train of baggage and camp-followers, further hindering their movement. The German army at Teutoburg Forest numbered 17,000 warriors. The German plan was to harass the Roman column with hit-and-run attacks to wear down their numbers and morale before obstructing them with an earth-and-timber wall and annihilating the Roman army.
What happened?
On 9 September, as the Roman army under Publius Quinctilius Varus entered the Teutoburg Forest, Arminius slipped away to join his waiting army of Germanic tribesmen. Amid the forest, the Germans conducted hit-and-run attacks against the Roman column before retiring back into the forest. On 10 September, the Roman column continued its march only to find its route blocked by an earth-and-timber wall. As the Germans defending the wall fired volleys of arrows and javelins at the Romans, Varus ordered an assault on the wall that continued into the following day. In the chaos and confusion, the Roman cavalry fled north, where they were hunted down by the Germans over the following few days. On 11 September, upon seeing the Roman assault on the earth-and-timber wall fail, Varus committed suicide. While a small group of Romans reached the winter fort at Aliso, the rest of the Roman army, numbering 15,000 men, was killed or captured. Throughout the three-day battle, the Germans lost only 500 men.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Teutoburg Forest was a decisive German victory. Upon hearing of the defeat, Emperor Augustus was deeply distressed and was reported to have continually banged his head against the wall of his palace in Rome crying, “Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!” (Rodgers, 2007, p.191). Despite their victory, however, the Germanic tribesmen refused to join Arminius in an attack against the Roman Empire. Indeed, despite losing their province, the Romans counterattacked in 15 CE and found and buried the bones of the three legions destroyed at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest six years earlier. Under the new emperor Tiberius, the Romans withdrew from Germany and Arminius was killed by his own people in 21 CE. However, the defeat at Teutoburg Forest meant that Germany would forever remain outside the influence of the Roman Empire. If the Romans had pushed further into Germany, the Germanic tribesmen would likely have been Romanised. Subsequently, there would have likely been no Germanic invasions of the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries CE.
Bibliography
Butler, Rupert. 100 Battles: Decisive Conflicts That Shaped the World. Bath, Parragon, 2013.
Cristiano64. “Battle of Teutoburg Forest Map.” World History Encyclopaedia. Last revised February 6, 2017. www.worldhistory.org/image/6330/battle-of-teutoburg-forest-map/
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Rodgers, Nigel. The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome. London, Hermes House, 2007.
Wells, Peter. The Battle That Stopped Rome: Emperor Augustus, Arminius, and the Slaughter of the Legions in the Teutoburg Forest. New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
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