It's september of the year 9 An alliance of germanic tribes led by Arminius ambushed and destroyed 3 roman legions The Battle of Teutoburg Forest is seen as one of the most crushing defeats of entire roman history Despite the incredible shock Emperor Augustus sent his stepson Tiberius to seek revenge against the barbarians Tiberius didn't just contain the revolt, demonstrating his great skill as general but organized a real expedition in which he destroyed many germanic villages With Augustus' passing, Tiberius became princeps and sent his nephew to finish the job, Germanicus Germanicus was the son of Drusus the Elder the conqueror of all Germanies At just 28, he pushed the roman dominion up to the Elba river. So motivated by the desire to emulate his father, the roman general led 8 legions across the Rhine During these military operations no barbarian was spared. After pacifing several tribes who supported the revolt, Germanicus arrived in the location where Varus was ambushed the dreadful view of the dead tortured bodies motivated even more the roman soldiers to find the rebels. Arminius finally showed off. The germanic leader tried to ambush the roman army twice: the first time Arminius attacked Germanicus in person; The roman cavalry panicked, but the legions were able to counter-attack saving the day. In the second occasion the rebels attacked Germanicus second-in-command, Aulus Cecina Severus. The germanic tactic was always the same: ambush the enemy using natural hiding places such as forests and swaps. But Cecina wasn't unprepared as Varus: He was a skilled officer with 40 years of military experience. When the battle got worse, Cecina was able to turn the situation in his favour and defeat the germanic army. But Arminius managed to escape. After several months spent in the winter quarters, Germanicus realized that an invasion through the dark woods of Germania would have been a suicide. Besides, legions struggled to march in a land without proper roads. So the roman general decided to move his army by sea In this way the Romans got to the core of Germania without any casualty. Finally the two armies faced each other on the banks of Weser River. Before the clash Arminius asked of his brother Flavus who fought with the Romans. The two argued a lot Arminius tried to persuade his brother to join the revolt But Flavus strongly refused In the end the discussion became a fraternal scuffle. After this meeting, Germanicus commanded the crossing of the river In order to avoid enemy attack he sent his cavalry against the barbarians. The Batavi, a tribe from modern Netherlands which served in roman army as auxiliary unit charged the rebels. Initially Arminius commanded the retreat but after bringing the roman allies far away from the legions he stopped and turned back It was all a move to attract and encircle them alone. The Batavi suffered heavy losses but in the end roman cavalry rescued them During the night one rebel with a knowledge of latin, came in front of the Castra in the name of Arminius promising to each deserter money, women and lands. This proposal fired the anger of the legions. The Romans answered that they would take women and lands, of course but only when they defeat them. In responde, lately, germanic troops tried to attack the camp that the Romans had built but the legionaries pushed them back. The next morning the two armies moved themself on the field of Idistaviso On one hand Germanicus organized his men in this way: Germanic and Gallic auxilia Archers on foot behind followed by 4 legions 2 pretorian cohorts and 2 alae of cavalry Lastly the other 4 legions the light infantry and horse archers The germanic army was in front of them except for Arminius and his tribe, the Cherusci who awaited on nearby wooded hills "The Romans were alert and ready, so arranged that the order of march could come to an halt in line of battle."(Tacitus) The clash started with the attack from the hills by the Cherusci. Germanicus sent his cavalry to hit the flanks if the enemy his objective was to envelop them After that he ordered to the legions to move forward The impact was extremely brutal After they faced the roman charge for some time Germanic forces retreated in a disordered way Many tried to flee in the forest and others crossing the Weser River. Arminius encouraged his men, but it didn't make any difference. The battle got better for Germanicus' men and quickly turned into a slaughter. At the end of the day the field was full of germanic bodies. Legionaries built a monument with the names of all the defeated tribes in honour of the Emperor Tiberius. Provokated by the enemy celebrations the barbarians stopped themself from the retreat and started preparing an other assault. Arminius chose a field surrounded by the Weser River and the forest. The germanic infantry deployed on "Vallum Angrivarianum" a wall built to divide Cherusci from Angrivari. Moreover Arminius hid his cavalry in the near forest in order to attack from the rear the Romans But, unfortunately for the germanic leader Germanicus was informed by his spies about this plan and organized consequently his army. He placed his cavalry on the field and split the legions in two parts: the first against the Vallum the second against the forest. The legions advenced toward the wall but the bombardment from the top was too heavy. So Germanicus changed tactic. He ordered to the infantry to move back and commanded to the slingers to attack the defenders. It worked. The projectiles mixed up the defenders and the legions were able to conquer the Vallum. After that, Germanicus led the charge in the woods at the head of the pretorian cohorts This time the battlefield was surrounded by many natural obstacles and both formations would not have possibility to flee. They ought to fight for their survival for this reason, the second battle was even more brutal than the first one. The skirmish was balanced for a while and the rebels used all their "Furor Teutonicus" the famous germanic fury. Nevertheless, in a so confined space, rebels couldn't use properly their long spears On the contrary the legionaries advanced in a solid formation protecting by their shields and twirling their "gladii" the roman short swords causing heavy casualties among the enemies. Arminius himself was seriously wounded and started to give ground to the Romans The moment was crucial and Germanicus understood that He took off the helmet so everybody, romans and barbarians, could recognize him then shouted to his men: The germanic army was already defeated but the legions continued to fight until the night. It was an unspeakable massacre. The next day Germanicus praised his legions raising a pile of weapons with a legend boasting that "the army of Tiberius Caesar after pacifing the nations between the Rhine and the Elbe had consacrated that memorial to Mars, to Jupiter and to Augustus. For Rome it was a large victory and a desired revenge Despite the sink of part of the fleet in the way back to Gallia Germanicus organized an other expedition for the year 17 The germanic tribes were on the verge of defeat and was necessary a final blow to finish the war but then, the plot twist Tiberius recalled his nephew to Rome considering useless an other campaign. The germanic tribes would fight each other, keeping safe the empire. But, according to Tacitus The emperor was jealous of the military success and incredible consensus of Germanicus In my opinion, Rome lost an incredible strategic opportunity to terminate once for all the instability of the germanic front avoiding the war Romans preserved the same tribes that a few centuries later will cause serious problem for them But that is an other story.
