Publius Quinctilius Varus
Varus, the Roman commander had taken his legions to the Teutoberg Forest region of Germany to pacify rebellious tribesmen in the vicinity. The Roman soldiers, along with as many as 5,000 servants and dependents, who were mostly women and children, were moving their summer camp near Minden to winter quarters on the Lippe River, which is just east of the Rhine River, when the attack occurred.
Arminius, the German Barbarian
The German leader, Arminius (Roman name), whose German name was Hermann, was a clever and devious general. He was a Roman-trained warrior who fooled Varus into thinking he was a friend to the Romans. Meanwhile Hermann laid his plans to betray and destroy them.
Varus underestimated the Germans, considering them to be a minor risk, few in numbers, not especially intelligent and easy to suppress. He took the wives, children and servants on the line of march along with the legions with a large baggage train following behind. Normally this is not good military practice but Varus felt that the Germans could not offer any substantial threat. After all, he had three Roman legions under his command and the Germans were outnumbered.
However once they were deep in the dark forest, Hermann and the tribesmen suddenly vanished to later reappear with more hostile German barbarian recruits. They picked off the Romans singly and in groups in a running battle that lasted at least three to five days until there were no Roman survivors left. Over 25,000 men, women, and children were killed. To hide the evidence the Germans buried the bodies in mass graves which archaeologists discovered as recently as the late 1990's.
At the end Varus and his generals took the only honorable way out when they realized that defeat was inevitable. They fell on their swords and committed suicide. Back in Rome, the Emperor Augustus wondered for months what had happened to the army and when the news finally came, he cried into the night, "Varus, give me back my legions!" The battle marked a change in Roman aspirations to conquer Germany and European history was permanently altered.
Two Vastly Different Cultures
Rome never sent troops to confront the Germans again, so that Germany was not Romanized. It was the only nation in Europe that the Roman Army failed to conquer and did not become part of the Empire. That left two vastly different cultures to dominate the western world--the Roman civilization and the German tribes.
Historians now propose that there would never have been a Franco-German problem, no Charlemagne, no Louis XIV, no Napoleon, no Kaiser Wilhelm II, no Hitler to bend and shape western European history and finally no WW II if Rome had contributed its civilizing influence to Germany's development.
The Battle of Teutoberg Forest held enormous consequences for Europe--a major turning point in European history. It's possible that WW I and WW II would never have taken place if the Roman Legions had survived the attack by the German tribes and had gone on to conquer Germany.
Hermann's Denkmal
In 1875 Germany erected a large bronze statue called "Hermann's Denkmal" to commemorate the victory. Hermann became the national hero of Germany. He was a symbol of national unity. Every school child learned the story and revered Herman as the true national hero of the Germans.
Hitler Steps Forward
The time was ripe when Hitler stepped forward in 1933. The Germans were listening. They wanted another Hermann. Hitler reminded them of the glorious defeat of the Romans, and said they could do anything if they worked together in unity. He described his plan to work with the Nazi party and teach the children how to work for his glorious dream of Germany's one thousand year future.
Diane Evans - I am a retired civil engineer as well as a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Join the Conversation