Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Part of the Roman-Germanic wars

View from the Hermannsdenkmal (not the site of the battle)
Date September , AD 9
Location Osnabrück County, Lower Saxony
Result Decisive Germanic victory
Combatants
Germanic tribes (Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri and Chauci) Roman Empire
Commanders
Arminius (Hermann) Publius Quinctilius Varus †
Strength
Unknown 3 Roman legions,
3 alae and
6 auxiliary cohorts, probably 20,000 - 25,000
Casualties
Unknown; but far less than Roman losses 15,000-20,000
Germanic Wars
Noreia - Arausio - Aquae Sextiae – Vercellae – Lupia River – Teutoburg Forest – Weser River

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in the year 9 A.D. when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius, the son of Segimer of the Cherusci, ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.

The battle began a seven-year war which established the Rhine as the boundary of the Roman Empire for the next four hundred years, until the decline of the Roman influence in the West. The Roman Empire was never able to conquer Germania, and no further concerted attempts to do so were made.

The battle (which is called Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald, Varusschlacht or Hermannsschlacht in German) had a profound effect on 19th century German nationalism along with the recovery of the histories of Tacitus in the 15th century. In 1808, the German author Heinrich von Kleist's play Die Hermannsschlacht aroused anti-Napoleonic sentiment, even though it could not be performed under occupation. Later, the figure of Arminius was used to represent the ideals of freedom and unification - as supported by German liberals, and opposed by the reactionary rulers of the German states. A memorial - the Hermannsdenkmal - was begun during this period, and Arminius became a symbol of Pan Germanism. The monument lay unfinished for decades until after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, which unified the country. The completed monument was then a symbol of conservative German nationalism.

Contents

[edit] Background

The Roman force was led by Publius Quinctilius Varus, a noble from an old family, an administrative official who, as governor of the Gaul, was assigned to establish the new province of Germania in 7 AD.

His opponent Arminius had lived in Rome as a hostage in his youth, where he had received a military education and had even been given the rank of Equestrian. After his return, he was a trusted advisor to Varus. In secret, he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had traditionally been enemies (the Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, and Bructeri), but which he was able to unite due to outrage over Varus' measures. Historians believe that these were no different from the measures used to establish any nascent province--which often resulted in revolts.

While Varus was on his way from his summer camp somewhere west of the Weser to the winter headquarters near the Rhine, he heard reports of a local rebellion, fabricated by Arminius. Varus decided to quell this uprising immediately and take a detour through territory unfamiliar to the Romans. Arminius, who accompanied Varus, probably directed him along a route that would facilitate an ambush. Another Cheruscan nobleman, Segestes, father of Arminius' wife, and opposed to the marriage, warned Varus the night before the departure of the Roman forces, but his warning was dismissed as the result of a personal feud. Arminius then left under the pretext of drumming up Germanic forces to support the Roman campaign, but instead led his troops, who must have been waiting in the vicinity, in attacks on surrounding Roman garrisons. Recent archaeological finds place the battle in Osnabrück County, Lower Saxony. On the basis of Roman accounts, the Romans must at this time have been marching northwestward from the area that is now the city of Detmold, passing east of Osnabrück; they must then have camped in this area prior to being attacked.

[edit] The Battle

Varus's forces included three legions (Legio XVII, Legio XVIII, and Legio XIX), six cohorts of auxiliary troops (non-Roman allies) and three squadrons of cavalry (alae). The Roman forces were not marching in combat formation, and included large numbers of camp-followers. As they entered the forest (probably just northeast of Osnabrück), they found the track narrow and muddy; according to Dio Cassius a violent storm had also arisen. He also writes that Varus neglected to send out advance reconnaissance parties.

The line of march was now stretched out perilously long--estimates are that it surpassed 15 km, and was perhaps as long as 20 km. It was then suddenly attacked by Germanic tribesmen. Arminius knew Roman tactics very well and could direct his troops to counter them effectively, using locally superior numbers against the spread-out Roman legions. The Romans managed to set up a fortified night camp, and the next morning broke out into the open country north of the Wiehen mountains, near the modern town of Ostercappeln. The break-out cost them heavy losses, as did a further attempt to escape by marching through another forested area, with the torrential rains continuing, preventing them from using their bows, and rendering them virtually defenseless, as their shields, too, became waterlogged.

They then undertook a night march to escape, but marched straight into another trap that Arminius had set, at the foot of Kalkriese Hill. There, the sandy, open strip on which the Romans could march easily was constricted by the hill, so that there was a gap of only about 100 m between the woods and the swampland at the edge of the Great Bog. Moreover, the road was blocked by a trench, and, toward the forest, an earthen wall had been built along the roadside, permitting the Germanic tribesmen to attack the Romans from cover. The Romans made a desperate attempt to storm the wall, but failed, and the highest-ranking officer next to Varus, Numonius Vala, abandoned the troops by riding off with the cavalry; however, he too was overtaken by the Germanic cavalry and killed, according to Velleius Paterculus. The Germanic warriors then stormed the field and slaughtered the disintegrating Roman forces; Varus committed suicide. Velleius reports that one commander, Ceionus, "shamefully" surrendered, while his colleague Eggius "heroically" died leading his doomed troops.

Around 15,000 - 20,000 Roman soldiers must have died; not only Varus, but also many of his officers are said to have taken their own lives by falling on their swords in the approved manner. Tacitus wrote that many officers were sacrificed by the Germanic forces in pagan ceremonies. Others were ransomed, however, and the common soldiers appear to have been enslaved.

All Roman accounts stress the completeness of the Roman defeat and the extremely heavy Roman casualties; also the fact that the Germanic troops apparently suffered only minor losses. That account is confirmed by the finds at Kalkriese, where, along with 6000 pieces (largely scraps) of Roman equipment, there is only one single item — part of a spur — that is clearly Germanic[citation needed]. Even allowing for the fact that several thousand Germanic soldiers were deserting militiamen who wore Roman armor (which would thus show up as "Roman" in the archaeological digs), and for the fact that the Germanic tribes wore less metal and more perishable organic material, this indicates surprisingly slight Germanic losses.

The victory over the legions was followed by a clean sweep of all Roman forts, garrisons and cities — of which there were at least two — east of the Rhine; the remaining two Roman legions, commanded by Varus' nephew, were content to try to hold that river. One fort (or possibly city), Aliso, fended off the Germanic tribes for many weeks, perhaps a few months, before the garrison, which included survivors of the Teutoburg Forest, successfully broke out and reached the Rhine.

[edit] Aftermath

Upon hearing of the defeat, the emperor Augustus, according to Roman author and historian Suetonius in his book Lives of the Twelve Caesars, had a nervous breakdown with symptoms of semi-insanity, repeatedly shouting Quintili Vare, legiones redde! ('Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!') Some authors misquote this as "give me back my eagles"; see I Claudius, by Robert Graves.

The three legion numbers were never used again by the Romans after this defeat, unlike other legions that were restructured — a case unique in Roman history.

The battle abruptly ended the period of triumphant and exuberant Roman expansion that had followed the end of the Civil Wars 40 years earlier. Augustus' stepson Tiberius took effective control, and prepared for the continuation of the war. Rome gradually slid into a period of tyranny and oppression lasting much of the rest of the first century.

The Germanic tribes, on the other hand, profited greatly from the plunder of their victory, and gradually began to move to a higher stage of development, although they were still a long way from political unification. This was apparently the goal of Arminius, however, who immediately sent Varus' severed head to Marbod, king of the Marcomanni, the other most powerful German ruler, with the offer of an anti-Roman alliance. Marbod declined the offer, sent the head on to Rome for burial, and remained neutral throughout the ensuing war. Only thereafter did a brief, inconclusive war break out between the two Germanic leaders.

Thereafter, during the next centuries, the Germanic tribes were able to profit from trade with Rome, without suffering the Roman yoke, and to absorb those elements of Roman culture which they wanted.

[edit] Roman Retaliation

Though the shock at the slaughter was enormous, the Romans immediately began a slow, systematic process of preparing for the reconquest of the country. In 14, just after Augustus' death and the accession of his heir and stepson Tiberius, a massive raid was conducted by the new emperor's nephew Germanicus, followed the next year by two major campaigns with a large army estimated at 70,000 men, backed by naval forces. After initial successes, including the capture of Arminius' wife Thusnelda, the army visited the site of the first battle. According to Tacitus, they found heaps of bleached bones and severed skulls nailed to trees, which they buried, "looking on all as kinsfolk and of their own blood". Burial pits with remains fitting this description have been found at Kalkriese Hill.

Thereafter, however, Germanicus suffered two defeats, and withdrew to his original positions on the Rhine, Lippe and Ems. A further, even more massive invasion the next year was inconclusive (see Battle of the Weser River), although Germanicus managed to reclaim two of the three standards lost under Varus; a subordinate Lucius Stertinus received the Legio XIX Eagle from the Bructeri in 15 AD; the hiding place of the second eagle was told to Germanicus from the captured leader of the Marsi after the Battle of the Weser River in 16 AD. An image of a coin of Germanicus with a recovered standard can be seen at [1]. After these setbacks, Tiberius decided to stop all further operations against the Germanic tribes, and reassigned Germanicus to Asia, after letting him celebrate a triumph. (Tacitus: Annals: Book 2 {Chapter 32 in this version})

The third standard was recovered in 42 AD by Publius Gabinius from the Chauci during the reign of Germanicus brother Claudius, according to Cassius Dio in Roman History Book LX {Book 60} Chapter 8. Possibly the recovered Aquilae were placed within the Temple of the Avenging Mars, (Tempio di Mars Ultor{Mars Ultor}), the ruins of which stand today in the Forum of Augustus by the Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome.

The last punctuation mark on the story of the battle is recounted by the historian Tacitus, in Annales (xii.27). Around 50 AD, bands of Chatti invaded Roman territory in Germania Superior, possibly an area in Hesse east of the Rhine which the Romans appear to have still held, and began to plunder. The Roman commander, Lucius Pomponius, raised a force from the Vangiones and Nemetes supported by Roman cavalry. They attacked the Chatti from both sides and defeated them, and joyfully found and liberated some of the men from Varus' legions, who had been held in slavery for 40 years.

[edit] Significance

Traditionally, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was seen as having caused Augustus to give up his plans for the conquest of Germania. The view was that the later military actions were merely punitive face-saving measures. The current consensus among historians is that this is untenable, especially in light of recent archaeological finds, and not only those at Kalkriese Hill. For one third of the entire Roman army was repeatedly mobilized at great expense and risk for the Germanic campaigns, and its incursions were massive. Moreover, infrastructural measures were undertaken east of the Rhine which would have made no sense unless a full reconquest had been planned. Tacitus is unclear on the subject in Annales 1.3, but clearly his interest is in making Germanicus look good by comparison to his uncle, the emperor; and although Germanicus was definitely defeated, Tacitus tries his best to avoid saying so.

This does not, however, reduce the significance of the battle, since it is clear that without the massive advantage won in the Teutoburg Forest and in the ensuing weeks, the Germanic tribes would have been unable to resist the renewed Roman assault. This victory, on this completely one-sided scale, was not sufficient to ensure the ultimate victory in the war of independence, but it was definitely necessary for that purpose.

[edit] The Detmold Memorial

Main article: Hermannsdenkmal.

The legacy of the Germanic victory was resurrected with the recovery of the histories of Tacitus in the 15th century, when the figure of Arminius, rechristened "Hermann" by Martin Luther, became a nationalistic symbol of Pan Germanism. In 1808 the German Heinrich von Kleist's play Die Hermannsschlacht aroused anti-Napoleonic sentiment, even though it could not be performed under occupation.

As a symbol of unified Romantic nationalism, the Hermannsdenkmal (Hermann's monument), a statue in Detmold paid for largely out of private funds, was completed in 1875 to commemorate the battle; similar statues also exist outside of Germany in German-founded communities including New Ulm, Minnesota.

In 1847, Josef Viktor von Scheffel wrote a lengthy song, "Als die Römer frech geworden" ("When the Romans started to misbehave"), relating the tale of the battle with somewhat gloating humour. Copies of the text are still found on many souvenirs available at the Detmold monument.

[edit] Site of the Battle

For almost 2000 years, no one knew for certain where the battle had taken place. The main hint as to its location was an allusion to the saltus Teutoburgiensis in section i.60-62 of Tacitus's Annals, an area "not far" from the land between the upper reaches of the Lippe and Ems Rivers in central Westphalia.

During the 19th century, theories as to the true site of the battle abounded, and the followers of one theory successfully argued for the area of a long wooded ridge called the Osning, around Bielefeld. This was then renamed the Teutoburg Forest, and became the site of the Detmold Memorial.

Late 20th-century research and excavations at Kalkriese Hill were sparked by finds by British amateur archaeologist Major Tony Clunn's discovery of coins from the reign of Augustus (and none minted later), and some ovoid leaden Roman sling shot. Clunn was casually prospecting with a metal detector in hopes of finding "the odd Roman coin." The excavations soon turned up more scraps of weapons and equipment, the helmet mask of a Roman officer, the bone pits, and the remains of the Germanic fortifications. As a resuilt, Kalkriese is now perceived to be the actual site of part of the battle, probably its conclusive phase. Kalkriese is a village administratively part of the city of Bramsche, on the north slope fringes of the Wiehengebirge, a ridge-like range of hills in Lower Saxony, north of Osnabrück. The site some 70 km from Detmold was first suggested by 19th-century historian Theodor Mommsen, one of the "founding fathers" of modern research into ancient history.

While the initial excavations were done by the archaeological team of the Kulturhistorisches Museum Osnabrück under the direction of Prof. Wolfgang Schlüter, after the dimensions of the project became apparent, a new foundation was created to organize future excavations, to build and run a new museum on the site, and to centralise publicity work and documentation. Since 1990 the excavations have been directed by Susanne Wilbers-Rost.

The Varusschlacht Museum ("Varus' Battle Museum") and Park Kalkriese include a large outdoor area with trails leading to a re-creation of part of the earthen wall from the battle, and other outdoor exhibits. An observation tower allows visitors to get an overview of the battle site. Most of the indoor exhibits are housed in the tower. A second building includes the ticket center, museum store and a restaurant. The museum houses a large number of artifacts found at the site, which include fragments of studded sandals legionaries lost in flight, spearheads, and a Roman officer's ceremonial face-mask, which was originally silver-plated. Coins minted with the countermark VAR, distributed by Varus, support the identification of the site. Excavations have revealed battle debris along a corridor almost 15 miles from east to west and little more than a mile wide. A long zig-zagging wall constructed of peat turves and packed sand apparently had been constructed beforehand: concentrations of battle debris before it, and a dearth of finds behind it, testify to the Romans' inability to breach the defense. Human remains found here appear to corroborate Tacitus' account of their later burial. (Smithsonian, p 81)

[edit] Alternate Theories on the Battle

Although the evidence is overwhelming that the 3-day battle took place in the area east and north of Osnabrück and ended at Kalkriese Hill, some scholars and others cling to older theories. Moreover, there is controversy among "Kalkriese-adherents" as to the details.

The German historians Peter Kehne and Reinhard Wolters believe that the battle was probably in the Detmold area after all, and that Kalkriese is the site of one of the battles in 15 AD. This theory is, however, in serious contradiction to Tacitus' account.

A very large body of opinion, including the scholars at the Kalkriese Museum (Susanne Wilbers-Rost, Günther Moosbauer; also Historian Ralf Jahn and British author Adrian Murdoch, see below), believe that the Roman army did not approach Kalkriese from the south of the Wiehen Mountains (i.e., from Detmold), but rather from roughly due east, from Minden, Westphalia. This would have involved a march along the northern edge of the Wiehen mountains, and would have passed through flat, open country, devoid of the dense forests and ravines described by Cassius Dio. Their explanation of this contradiction is that Romans had a sterotyped view of Germany: Just as most Europeans and Americans, hearing the word "Arabia", think "sandy desert", so, they argue, to most Romans, the word "Germany" meant "swampy, rainy forest"; thus, Cassius Dio was, they believe, not really describing the situation, but only reflecting this stereotype. Historians such as Gustav-Adolf Lehmann and Boris Dreyer counter that the description is too detailed and differentiated to be thus dismissed.

Some scholars dispute the theory that the battle ended at Kalkriese; Dreyer thinks, on the basis of Tacitus' account, that it must have ended several hours later, somewhat further west. Jona Lendering, the Dutch historian who runs an English-language homepage on the topic, goes even further: He believes that the Romans were first ambushed at Kalkriese and then made their way further west over the next two or three days. Recent finds have made these theories less likely; Lendering's theory also suffers from the fact that three full Roman legions, with all their supplies and artillery, would have had no problem overcoming the wall discovered at Kalkriese, which is in any case less than half a km long - far too short to have served as an ambuscade for the entire Roman force stretched out over 15 km or more.

Tony Clunn (see below), the discoverer of the battlefield, and a “southern-approach” proponent, on the other hand believes that the battered Roman Army regrouped north of Ostercappeln, where Varus committed suicide, and that the remnants were finally overcome at the Kalkriese Gap.

Finally, there is a small group of fans of the mediocre Roman historian Florus, who claimed that the Romans were all slaughtered in a camp while listening to Varus pass judgment in a court case. That account is so "ridiculous" - according to historian Theodore Mommsen - that even its proponents have to modify it considerably - and ignore all the other accounts. Peter Wells, author of a recent book in English (see below) offers one explanation; the German author Peter Oppitz another(see below).

[edit] Ancient Sources

The following is a list of all known references to the battle from the literary sources of classical antiquity. Though the account provided in the Roman History is the most detailed of these, Dio Cassius' almost two century removal from the time of the event, as well as his use of detail mentioned by no earlier author, makes much more likely as a literary re-imagining of the battle than as a reliable historical record.

[edit] Portrayal in fiction

The battle and its aftermath are featured in both the novel and miniseries, I, Claudius.

A movie, named: "Die Hermannsschlacht" / "The Hermann Battle" (Hermann is the popular German name of Arminius) was realized between 1993 and 1995. The first public screening of this work took place in Düsseldorf in May 1995. In 1996 the opus was honoured by an international jury in Kiel, where it was presented during an archeological film-festival. "The Hermann Battle" was successfully shown in arthouse-cinemas in the whole of Germany. Since 2005 a DVD with bonus tracks and recently filmed documetary footage is also available. The actors speak German and Latin, with German subtitles. Famous British artist Tony Cragg has a brief role as a Roman citizen in the palace of Augustus. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest is also a historical battle that can be played in the video game Rome: Total War. However, it is not an accurate depiction of the historical battle. The scenario is difficult due to the fact that the Roman troops are heavily outnumbered, not due to the superior Germanic strategy.

[edit] Notes

    [edit] References

    • Adrian Murdoch, Rome's Greatest Defeat: Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2006, ISBN 0-7509-4015-8 (review)Account of the battle, "eastern approach" to Kalkriese
    • Peter S. Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome. Emperor Augustus, Arminius, and the slaughter of the legions in the Teutoburg Forest, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY 2003, ISBN 0-393-02028-2 Strong on archaeology, but extremely weak on the ancient sources; controversial "Florus"-based theory
    • Fergus M. Bordewich, "The ambush that changed history" in Smithsonian Magazine, September 2005, pp. 74–81.
    • Tony Clunn, "The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions, Spellmount, Oxford, 2005, 371 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-9544190-0-4Combination of the account of the discovery and his theory about the course of the battle, recounted in fictional style.
    • Peter Oppitz: „Das Geheimnis der Varusschlacht“, ISBN 3-00-010073-X. Preis: 9,80 Euro im Buchhandel oder beim verlag unter „zagara-verlag@ngi.de“

    [edit] External Links

    Coordinates: 52°24′29″N, 8°07′46″E

    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/a/t/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest_61e3.html"