Battle of Teutoborg Forest, AD 9: A Bad Day at the Legion

by Bryn Jenkins (columnist) | Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

From 9 to 11 September memories of the infamous Battle of Teutoborg Forest in 9 AD were revived, predominantly in Germany, on its 2000th Anniversary. A major victory by Germanic tribes against Roman legions in Lower Saxony, its ultimate consequence was to restrict Roman expansion to the Rhine instead of the Elbe.
Sources of information relating to the Battle of Teutoborg Forest are substantial and the most quoted are The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus (AD 55-117). He is considered the greatest of Roman historians and, although his works were lost for centuries, a mediaeval manuscript was found during the Renaissance era and became part of the Codex Mediceus, still housed in Florence’s Laurenziana library. For the English speaking world, Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in 1788, has been described as the first “modern” history ever written. The most recent publication, The Empire Stops Here, by Philip Parker involved the author travelling 20,000 kilometres through 21 countries over a period of three years. Books that focus specifically on the Battle of Teutoborg Forest and its aftermath include The Battle That Stopped Rome (2003, by Peter S. Wells), Rome’s Greatest Defeat (2006, by Adrian Murdoch) and The Lost Eagles (1955, by Robert Graves).

Spectacular defeat
In the year 9 AD, Augustus was already firmly established as Rome’s first emperor and his plans included further expansion from the Rhine to the Elbe, territory inhabited by hostile Germanic tribes. The campaign was led by Quintilius Varus, described by Tacitus as “a nobleman devoid of military talent,” who had been assigned the task of establishing the new province of Germania. Arminius (aka Hermann), of the Cherusci tribe, with experience of military education in Rome, was appointed as an adviser. In fact, he betrayed the Romans and their three legions XVII, XVIII and XIX  by switching sides; he led the first attack on the Roman troops entering a forest north east of Osnabrück along a muddy track during a violent storm. Varus set up a fortified night camp and his troops then headed north of the Wieken mountain faced with torrential rain and the following night were trapped at the foot of the Kalkriese Hill. The troops led by Arminius attacked from improvised fortifications and slaughtered between 15,000 and 20,000 of the disintegrating Roman forces.

Falling on their swords
Varus and many officers committed suicide by falling on their swords in the customary  manner, Eggius died heroically leading his doomed troops while Ceionus shamefully surrendered. Neumonius Valla, the highest ranking officer abandoned the troops. In a gruesome account by Tacitus many officers were sacrificed by the Germanic forces as part of their religious ceremonies, cooked in pots and their bones used for rituals. Some were ransomed, others enslaved and the complete humiliation was the loss of the eagles (aquila), the insignia of the three legions.

“Give me back my Legions!”
According to the historian Suetonius (AD 69-140) in Lives of the Twelve Caesars, the news from Teutoborg provoked symptoms of insanity in Emperor Augustus who was seen banging his head against the wall of his palace in Rome, shouting repeatedly, “Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions”. The legion numbers XVII, XVIII and XIX were never used again. Tiberius, a stepson of Augustus later invaded Germanic territory in 16 AD and one of his achievements was the recovery of two of the three eagles lost in 9 AD. The third eagle was recovered in 41 AD and the standards were placed in the Temple of Mars Ultor (‘Mars the Avenger’) in the Forum of Augustus.

Re-living the past
There has been academic dispute over the precise location of the battle scenes but Arminius became a symbol of 19th century German nationalism at the same time as the Risorgimento in Italy. The 19th century German historian Theodor Mommsen, after extensive archaeological research, concluded that Kalkriese, a range of hills in Lower Saxony, north of Osnabrück was the site of the Battle of Teutoborg. The Varus Battle Museum and the Kalkriese Park, with an overview of the battle scene and the various exhibits such as studded sandals, spearheads and Roman coins now attract many visitors. One special guest this summer was the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who took a break from G8 and other commitments to pay a visit. In the year of the 2000th anniversary of the Battle of Teutoborg Forest  visitor numbers will certainly continue to increase.
Naturally,  anniversary celebrations will be much more enthusiastic in Germany and certain states in the USA where German emigrants settled, than here in Italy where it would be difficult to celebrate enthusiastically such a humiliating defeat. In Italy, any discussions about the fortunes of the national team in World Cup football will usually avoid reference to North Korea (who famously defeated Italy at Middlesbrough’s Ayresome Park at the 1966 World Cup in England), so why mention Teutoborg Forest when reminiscing about the Roman Empire?
No doubt the ticket office at Kalkriese Park will be enjoying a record year! ■

(First published in September 2009.)

Author note: Bryn Jenkins, formerly a History teacher at St. George’s, Marymount and the New School, is now an independent College Counsellor and Tour Guide.