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Teutoburg Forest in Germany |
Arminius
was a Roman citizen with a Germanic past. He had been sent to Rome at a young
age in a peace deal between Rome and his tribe. There, he was brought up as a
Roman but he still harbored a deep resentment against Rome for their
subjugation of his people. He formed a secret network of alliances between
tribes and kept them friendly towards each other until the time was right.
Varus
marched into a trap. While marching towards the fake rebellion, he was ambushed
in the Teutoburg Forest by thousands of Germans. His legions were crushed:
twenty thousand men died and all three legions were completely wiped out, a
substantial portion of Rome’s army at the time. The legions’ three Eagle
emblems were lost as well which was a huge dishonor to all of Rome as the Eagle
was considered the symbol of Roman dominion over the world. Varus committed suicide
rather than be captured as did many of his officers.
Roman territory in the years before and after the battle
The decisive
defeat reached Augustus’s ears and he went into a rage, banging his head
against the walls and exclaiming “Quinctillus Varus, give me back my legions!”
No other defeat in Roman history had been so terrible since Hannibal’s victory
at Cannae, and due to this one battle all of Rome’s dreams of conquering Magna
Germania were destroyed. Rome retreated to the Rhine River and never again
crossed it.
Sources
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