#varus disaster

[gwynedd-chronicles]

Battle of Teutoburg Forest

[blueiscoool]

Germanicus After the Disaster of Varus An 1896 oil painting by French artist Lionel-Noël Royer.

Germanicus Caesar surveying the battlefield where Publius Quinctilius Varus lost three Roman legions (XVII, XVIII, and XIX) to Germanic tribes led by Arminius in AD 9 at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster (Latin: Clades Variana) by Roman historians, was a major battle fought between an alliance of Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire between 8 and 11 September 9 AD, possibly near modern Kalkriese. Fighting began with an ambush by the Germanic alliance on three Roman legions being led by Publius Quinctilius Varus and their auxiliaries; the alliance was led by Arminius, a Germanic chieftain and officer of Varus's auxilia. Arminius had received Roman citizenship and a Roman military education, thus allowing him to deceive the Romans methodically and anticipate their tactical responses.

[makima-s-most-smile]

I saw a notice about the Varus disaster/ the fight of the Teutoburg Forrest ...

And of course I am fucking emotional about it...

Just picture you're a Roman legionnaire in the tribal Germanic parts west of the rhine.

Rome has already de facto pacified the tribes for around 10-15 years at this point. You trade with the tribes. Some of your Roman stations are on the bridge of becoming blossoming cities due to the trade. The Germanic lands are mostly treated as a new Roman province, they are nominally one.

And under the newly appointed governor Varus the empire expects the last steps to a fully fledged province to follow. Things are going so well, that one of the advisors of Varus is Arminius, a man of Germanic descent, who made his way up through the Roman ranks.

You are part of one of three legions, each being made up of around 5000-6000 fighters. Not counting the other jobs they contain and need manpower for. You are between summer and winter camps, planning to set up camp in Cherusci territory, Arminius' homeland. Security isn't the tightest, because you feel safe, and Varus follows Arminius' council to take a detour to shorten the way back to winter camp and pacify another tribe on the way.

You walk through the marshy primeval woods of Germany. Sometimes having to cut trees to cave a path for the legion. You cannot stand in formation. Your armour hinders your movement. And the woods are fucking dark, they swallow light due to their thick foliage. The weather is turning for the worse. It rains. The track is torture.

And

Then

Arminius

Strikes.

From the dark.

From the thicket.

With the knowledge of Germanic and Roman warfare.

With the knowledge of the terrain

Arminius strikes.

Your feet stick in the marshy ground.

Your armour makes you sluggish.

You are unable to get into formation with your cohorts

Unable to move

Unable to defend

Helpless

Defenseless

You listen to the screams of your friends as they fall one by one from the onslaught of the Germanic tribes.

Torches cannot light what you need to see

Maybe you die.

Maybe you hide under the bodies of the dead friends

Cold, marshy earth seeping into the armour that you Romans were so proud for and that didn't protect you.

In three days around 20.000 of around 21.000 Romans die in the Germanic ambush. Varus and the other leaders see no way out and chose to end their lives to not end up in the hands of the tribes.

The shock of the fight stops emperor Augustus' expansion beyond the Rhine. 'Quintili Vare, redde legiones!' indeed. The names of the legions lost are never given to another legion again.

[astral-witch]

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD