Wrath of Rome 🌳 Battle of the Teutoburg Forest AD 9 🌳 Lost Legions (Part 1)

It is September 11th, 9 AD. In the shadow of Calchrysa hill and the many thousands of beech and spruce trees that loom overhead, a party of fewer than a hundred Roman legionaries are forced to a halt in a small forest clearing. The rain has been hammering them for four days. Running down in rivulets down the helmets, it mixes with the blood and dirt on the men's faces, seeping in and out of the gashes and wounds. In the center of the clutch of soldiers, one man holds aloft the legion's aquila. He grips it in bleeding hands, while the legionaries around him form a shield wall. Short spears come hissing from behind the treeline, thrown by an unseen, but by now all too familiar enemy. The skies overhead have been leaden gray, leaving the legionaries believing that no matter how hard they prayed, their gods would not reach them. Suffering relentless attacks brought on an exhaustion unknown to men who had long believed themselves above weakness. The Germans kept throwing their spears and disappearing into the canopy. When the main attack finally begins, they come in a screaming wave. The Romans know that there is no escape from this place. Still, they raise their gladii and prepare to defend the eagle. There's an incredible range of World War 2 planes to pick from, and you can upgrade them with custom armor, engines and weaponry to suit your combat style. But whether you like to rush in with fighter plane or loom above in a heavy bomber, teamwork and strategy is what sets this game apart. Your teammates are crucial for victory. You can fly different game modes like dogfights, which are team-based plane battles, or domination, where you fight for control of points on the map, as well as annihilation, which tasks you with destroying key targets. But for me, the best challenge is the ace mode, where auto-aim is disabled, and you get more XP for fighting against skilled players. This one kept me on the edge of my seat for several hours while I was traveling. I highly recommend you try this one out. The best thing is that Wings of Heroes doesn't feel like an arcade flying shooter, but as a flight simulator, because the and handling of each plane is set to feel like you're flying a World War 2 plane. New planes are released every month, there are daily rewards, achievements and challenges that keep the game fresh and constantly growing. And incredibly, the game is completely free, so if you want something exciting and new to play, Wings of Heroes is it. Use my link below or scan the QR code to get the game, and use my gift code for a unique skin for a startup plane. This is for new players only. By using my QR code or my link below, you will support my channel, so I thank each and every one of you who jumps into this fun game. And don't forget to use my gift code to get an awesome skin for your plane. Four days previously, the 7th of September is a merry occasion for the three legions under the direct command of Publius Quinctilius Varus, the representative of the people and senate of Rome, and its imperator Augustus in Germania. Today is their quarterly remittance and the men's purses are bulging with coins. After a summer with little action in the land of the Germanic Cherusci tribe, except mysterious reports of attacks on isolated work details, the 17th, 18th and 19th legions are mustering to march back to their winter quarters on the Rhine by way of its tributary river, the Lippe. At the last moment before the legions move out, rumors begin to swirl of an offensive operation, soon confirmed as orders filter down from the high command. Any disquiet at this change in plans, when all the legionaries want is to spend their wages, is quickly offset by the details of the coming venture. The three legions, along with nine auxiliary units, six infantry cohorts and three cavalry allée, are not to march by the route they took on arrival, but instead they will move northwest into the lands of their Angrivare and there route out the source of the attacks on the work details and small barracks. Varus, officially announcing the plan from a tribunal stand before the march, has given them leave to forage off the land once they leave the domain of the allied Cherusci, which is in effect a pass to plunder. With the men back in high spirits at this unexpected bonus on top of their regular pay, the army of Varus sets off from its summer quarters in happy expectation of some long-awaited sport on the way home. Varus himself was a 55-year-old military and political veteran, well-connected and exuding an air of calm. Married to not one but two great-nieces of Augustus, his first wife was the daughter of Marcus Agrippa, arguably the second man in the empire during his lifetime. A consul 22 years previously, Varus has held governorships in Africa and Syria, and he was particularly noted for his stern punishments in the wake of a revolt in Judea. Although he is known as a man better suited to the camp than to the battlefield, Varus is a capable leader in whom the legionaries are willing to place their trust. Further afield, by the start of the 1st century, the Roman Empire was the master of all of continental Europe west of the Danube and the Rhine. Its armies conquered North Africa, Anatolia, parts of Syria and Palestine. From 11 BC to 4 AD, Rome began the subjugation of the wild Germanic tribes living east of the Rhine. Roman Emperor Augustus tasked his stepson Tiberius with bringing the tribes under Roman control. In a series of campaigns, the empire's armies pushed the frontier east to the river Elba. But holding onto the region became a burden on the state's resources. 11 Roman legions, some 60 to 70,000 troops, were needed to keep the locals in line. But, perhaps most crucially for Varus, in the year 9 AD the Roman position in Germany is not strong enough for him to operate in the high-handed manner that he is so used to. Three years earlier Tiberius, a general whose offensive capabilities and capacity for destruction are well known, departed Germania with eight legions to subdue a revolt in Illyria, leaving only three to his colleague. Tiberius might have declared Germany pacified on his departure, but the tribes themselves had other ideas. Varus' own summer campaign in 9 AD was largely uneventful, largely consisting of deepening diplomatic and political cooperation with the natives. And he now marshaled the Roman army back towards the winter quarters on the Rhine. Serving under Varus on the march are the commander of the cavalry, Numonius Vala, as well as the prefects Lucius Aegius and Caeonius. The final member of Varus' inner circle is Arminius, or as he is likely called in his native German language, Hermann. Arminius is about 30 years old and he has served in the Roman military since he was a young teenager. Taken effectively as a hostage during the early Roman incursions in Germania Magna, he is to all intents and purposes Roman in appearance and manner, with Roman citizenship and an equestrian rank. Certainly his fellow officers treat him as one of their own. Since returning to the province three years previously, he has made himself indispensable to Varus as a go-between and source of intelligence on the 50 or 60 tribes of Germania and the developments therein. Though Arminius' father-in-law has advised Varus that his erstwhile friend and ally intends to betray the Romans. However, Varus is aware of past disputes between the two men and he ignores the warnings. It is Arminius' suggestion that Varus march the army west into the land of the Angrivari and engage the tribes there, using the fact that it is actually a shorter route to the Rhine, as an extra incentive. The initial day's march is routine, with the army covering its mandatory 16 miles, or almost 26 kilometers, over open country before making camp for the night. Varus' column is organized into the cavalry under Vala at its head, two forward legions as a vanguard and a third legion behind to guard the baggage train. The auxiliary cohorts march on the flanks, providing a buffer against incoming attacks for the regular citizen legionaries on the march. The mood remains light, with mixing between the legionaries and the camp followers. The column is also of considerable length. Taking secondments for garrison and other duties into account, Varus is likely leading a force of about 17,000 men, along with almost 4,000 non-combatants. It is estimated that a single legion requires 1,700 pack animals, with many of them pulling wagons. Each of these legionary baggage trains would have been almost 2 miles, or 3 kilometers, in length alone. The ranks of legionaries along with the baggage trains likely thus made up a column 12 to 13 miles, or 20 kilometers in length. Overseeing such a long column efficiently would have been a tall task for any commander. At this point, the evening of the first day, Arminius takes his leave of Varus in order to gather Coruscian light cavalry forces for the coming incursion. Telling the Roman commander that he will catch up with the column in no more than three days' time with a larger host, he orders some of his tribesmen to stay with Varus as guides. The night passes without incident, and the legions move the next morning as planned, breaking camp and marching once more in column formation north. Very quickly the terrain in the area begins to change, and the open country of the previous day becomes increasingly heavy woods and forest. Bog land to the north as well as forested hills to the south constrict the width of the trail that the legions can follow, and the uneven terrain of the woods and close-packed tree line denies the possibility of widening the column. The three legions, their auxiliaries and the baggage trains become even further elongated, and the column's length makes communication between Varus and its various contingents increasingly difficult. It becomes necessary at points to fell trees to make room for wagons, as well as the carts pulling disassembled heavy weaponry like ballistas and scorpions. The column's pace slows in tandem with its extension, making it ever harder for Varus, his staff, and the legion's individual chain of command, to exercise effective control. Then, around mid-morning, the first attacks begin from the flanks. While the legionaries march in their stalwart and precisely drilled formation, tribesmen lying in wait begin hurling missiles from hidden positions. Germanic warriors eschewed the sling and bolt, unlike the Gauls, but they had short spears and javelins. At this point, they content themselves with throwing one or two such weapons and using some bows and arrows, even stones. The tribesmen then withdraw on a planned escape route. By the time the legionaries have identified the direction of the attack in the dark and oppressive woodland, giving chase is a lost cause. The ambushes come from all directions, right along the column, and the legion's mood becomes one of anxiety and tension that proves to be mentally and physically exhausting. The Romans maintain their discipline through this second day, even though a heavy rain that turns the forest into a swamp starts later in the afternoon. The pace slows even further, particularly as the number of wounded increases and fit men from the line are required to take the injured to the rear for treatment. When the column finally reaches an open clearing where they can pitch camp for 20,000 men, it must feel like a sweet release from the claustrophobia of the dismal forest. While the legionaries sit in their fortified camp, Varus calls a council at which Phala, Aegeus and Caionius and the rest of the senior officers are in attendance. The day's attacks have been irritating and there are some wounded and killed, but Atoll is not grievous. Such attacks are largely to be expected as the legions move into hostile territory. Varus gives the order that scouting parties are to be sent out from both the front and rear of the camp. The former is to reconnoiter the road ahead and report back the conditions and presence of hostile forces. The latter scouting party is to move back in the direction the column had traveled since leaving its summer quarters and link up with Arminius and his Cheruscian forces. Varus is relying on Arminius to undertake return attacks on the tribesmen in the forest, relieving the column and its huge supply train as it proceeds out of the terrain better suited to its fighting capabilities. The council notes that the ambushes are coming at different points along the column and from either side of the woods, thus having no single source. The Roman command is thus unwilling to commit to a running battle in the woods with its valuable legionaries, which would have the secondary consequence of leaving their baggage open to an attack from the other direction. Without their supplies, Varus' huge army would be unable to operate for long in hostile territory. It is also noted that the scouts Arminius had left with the column are now absent. Varus gives the order that if the rainstorm continues through the next day, the army is to remain in camp and await developments. Next morning, the two scouting parties depart the camp. The first leaves by the rear Porta Decumana to find Arminius and disappears down the forest path. The second leaves through the main gate, the Porta Principalis, and travels carefully ahead of the column to survey the track ahead. While the mood amongst the legionaries and the command is no longer as carefree and ebullient as it had been the morning before, the atmosphere is now likely more of grim determination rather than apprehension. The legionaries are aware that they are in for a fight, but what form that will take, only time will tell. Certainly, the legions intend to take retribution for the insults inflicted on them the previous day. By evening the forward scouts have returned and they report to Varus that the road ahead has been blocked by felled trees and other impediments. The party intended to link up with Arminius has not been seen since its departure. The situation is most likely clear to Varus at this point, he has been led into a trap. The warnings of Arminius' father-in-law might be coming back to him in his private thoughts, for he makes a fateful decision. Varus decides the column will press forward, making clear that Arminius' fate is unknown, and that a return to the Karushi territory is not a viable or safe option. If Varus doubts Arminius at this point, he keeps this to himself. Thus, the legions, cavalry and auxiliary cohorts are to march with their fewest provisions, and as many of the supply wagons and other baggage as the army can do without, are to be wrecked. Those vehicles that are going with the column the next day, are modified so that they make as little sound as possible. Bolts from the legion's scorpions are issued in place of the pilum javelins that were used in the first day's fighting. In a final mark of the sudden seriousness of the situation, the legions move out the next morning without striking the camp, and those wounded who are unable to walk, are left behind with a few carers. Varus and his officers are entering an ordeal, in which they will need every possible tactical advantage, not only for success, but for survival. The army departs the camp in silence. They are led by three of the auxiliary infantry cohorts. Two of the legions follow these advance units, with Varus and his staff in their rear. The third legion came after the commander, and a far smaller baggage train is guarded behind it by the remainder of the auxiliary infantry. One cavalry alley accompanies this main column, while Vala and the other two are the last to leave. Presumably as their greater speed will allow them to catch up with Varus once the deployment is complete. As it is, the state of the ground makes idle hopes of such thoughts. The rain has turned the track into a quagmire, and the obstacles that the enemy has laid in anticipation of the legion's arrival cause interminable delays. With the lack of space for the cavalry to manoeuvre into the woods and bog, any advantage Vala could provide is also negated. Indeed, the static and elevated cavalrymen become an easy target for the tribal raiders when they reappear early in the morning and resume their attacks on the column. The Romans have marched out ready to counter these ambushes, and the auxiliaries enjoy greater success in capturing and killing the raiding parties. Nevertheless, the strikes continue through the day. Gradually the column begins to move out of the light formation, and each legion becomes notably separated from the others. The baggage train and its auxiliary and cavalry guards have the worst of the situation, as the thousands of men from the legions have passed the already dreadful muddy track before it, and it takes a supreme effort to move the wagons and animals forward through the churned up mud, while also trying to avoid the lethal attacks of the enemy. Finally, after fighting what is in effect a moving battle for the duration of the morning and the early afternoon, the vanguard enters an area of open ground where it is possible to form up in their regular battle line and create a fortified camp. The remnants of the column limp in over the next few hours. Varus again takes stock of his situation, and sees that it has deteriorated significantly. The prefects of both the 17th and 19th legions are dead or missing, and even a cursory observation of the state of the army shows that it has been through a debilitating onslaught. Varus dispatches scouts again to the surrounding area and assess the possibilities for the next step. They report to him that a pass through the hills to the south will likely be impassable to all but the uninjured and the unencumbered. Unwilling to leave his last supplies and wounded behind for the second day running, Varus awaits the scouts from the north. They tell him on their return that there is open ground in that direction that will allow the legions to deploy in battle formation, but it will necessitate some hard going initially. After some thought and consultation with his remaining advisors, Varus makes his second fateful decision. He dispatches Vala with the remainder of the fit cavalry to this open ground in the north, with the orders that he is to alert the Roman garrisons and legions on the rein of the situation, and if possible to ask for aid from the Frisian tribe who are allied to Rome. Vala departs as ordered, but as the legions watch from their improvised stockade, a second cavalry force, unmistakable to the men in the camp, hooves into view. It is Arminius' cavalry, many of them outfitted as Roman auxiliaries. They fall upon Vala's force. In a short and brutal battle, the Roman mounted contingent is wiped out. Finally, the full extent of the catastrophe becomes inescapable to Varus and his army. Arminius has betrayed them. It was he who had orchestrated the attacks on isolated Roman units through the summer, all the while convincing the tribes of Germany that now was the time to throw off the Roman oppressor, who had taken their freedom and their wealth in the form of punitive taxes. After convincing Varus to take the route through the Angrivari lands and ensuring that the Romans were trapped like a spider in a bottle, Arminius left the column to raise his host, and he has been shadowing them ever since. Having none of the communication problems of the isolated column, he has sent word ahead to the Bructeri to launch the initial attacks, and then continue while the Angrivari join as the column goes deeper into the Calchrysa wood. After killing the scout detachment that Varus sent to him for aid on the first night, he then entered the Romans' first camp and slaughtered the wounded who could not join the march the next morning. Now supremely confident that there is no escape for Varus, he has no qualms about revealing himself. While the small number of survivors from Vala's sortie make their way back to the camp, Varus makes his third and final critical decision. No doubt aware that his command has become the most disastrous defeat of Roman forces by a foreign enemy since Crassus' army was wiped out at Carrhae, Varus is determined that he will not suffer the same ignominy of torture and death at the hand of his nemesis. That evening he and most of his staff take their own lives by the traditional Roman means of falling on their swords. The officers he has left behind attempt to burn the body and give the proper funeral rites, but they lack the necessary fuel and so Varus' body is buried after a partial cremation. The third night that the Romans spend in the field is dark indeed. The tribes constantly try to dishearten and disturb them by blowing horns, many captured from the survivors' own dead comrades, and shouting threats and warnings at the sentries. The next morning Aegis and Caionius take command of the remnants of the legions and even more depleted auxiliaries. There are still thousands of men under their command, and surrender is not an option. Roman soldiers do not discuss terms with an enemy still under arms. Aegis and Caionius intend to either keep their lives or trade them for a very high price. The two prefects divide the remaining legions between them, with Aegis taking the 18th and what remains of the 19th and the auxiliaries. Their options for movement have still not changed since the day before. With Arminius blocking the trail behind and impassable forest and bogland either side, the legions must press west, as their camp or remaining supplies are not sufficient to hold out against a sustained attack. Aegis moves with his forces first, toward the high spur of a hill that is jutting out of the Vien range in the distance, while Caionius holds in the camp with the intention to follow once Aegis' force has cleared the way. Marching in silence again, Aegis is expecting some kind of ambush immediately on leaving the confines of the camp, either from the forested Auster-Carpen slopes to the south, or from the north where Arminius' mounted troops had attacked Vala the previous day. Instead, there is no ambush, and Aegis is able to lead his men west along the edge of Calchisa for the duration of the morning. Instead of moving the obstacles laid in their way, Aegis has the men simply climb over them, the tight and disciplined formations left aside for the moment, especially as they descend once more into the dark forest paths. At some point in the mid-morning, a report is brought to Aegis of a fork in the trail ahead, and before going to survey it, he sends word back to Caionius to begin his advance from the camp. As he waits for Caionius to arrive at their position, Aegis surveys the diverging paths, and what he observes there at first seems like an apparition. Along the north ridge of the Calchisa hill, and a higher path to his path, the tribes have built a wall, a barricade consisting of earthen rampart topped with a palisade made with stakes and interwoven branches. Aegis sees the plan immediately, but again the army's position leaves him no options. The lower path from the trail has been flooded from the recent rains, and its position adjacent to the bogland, the Grosser Moor. Still unable to pick their way through the forest to the south or back where Arminius' forces lie in wait, Aegis is trapped. He orders half of his force to form a testudo and attack the rampart. It is their only hope for survival. Despite the exhaustion and fear, the legionaries commit to the assault, Aegis' hope being that they can create an opening that he can then reinforce with the remainder of his force and Caionius' on his arrival. At the same moment that Aegis' legionaries are making contact with the Germans behind the wall, Caionius has ordered his units to make their advance. Marching out from the main gate of the camp, the legion may be battered, but it is at least sure of its ground after Aegis travelled by the same route that morning. Yet again though, Arminius has wrong-footed his former compatriots, and once Caionius and his force are clear of the camp, they are attacked from both sides by howling and berserk tribesmen. From their hiding places concealed in the trees of the Osterkappeln, warriors on foot race in from the legionaries' left and crash into them on the open ground. And while Caionius struggles to order a defense and counter-attack, Arminius' mounted cavalry sweeps in from the north, as it had done to Vala. More Karusi come along by the trail to the rear of the camp to ensure that there are no escapees. Caionius' force shatters, with the units at its head breaking and running in the direction of Aegis' force, while those in the rear make a desperate retreat back to camp. Those in the middle simply cease to exist. Caionius is one of those who make it back to the camp, but his respite is short. Arminius, after clearing the battlefield, rides to the camp and summons Caionius to meet him. There he forces the defeated prefect to show him to the buried body of Varus, before ordering a general massacre. The fate of the Meanwhile, Aegis' attack on the Chalcrisa wall has failed. Though his men have fought bravely and tenaciously, killing many of the enemy, the position of the rampart, as well as their lack of heavy equipment and ever-decreasing personnel, means that the advantage lies solely with the defenders. When the injured and panicked remnants of Caionius' legion reach Aegis' command post and relates the complete destruction of their force, Aegis sees where fate and fortune have brought him, and he resolves to meet his destiny. Forming up the last torn units of what just three days previously was one of the most powerful, proud and disciplined forces of armed men on Earth, Aegis orders that the legionaries abandon attacks on the wall and attempt to get around it. Under a hail of missiles from the now regrouped Germans, the Romans run alongside the wall, taking casualties with every step, but doggedly carrying on, until the combination of attacks and terrain once again slows them to an agonizing stop. When Arminius and his forces arrive, now carrying the head of Varus as a war trophy, they crash into Aegis' rear and cause an immediate collapse of any formal structure or organization. Some of the Romans attempt to fight the tribesmen off, while others make a panicked attempt to flee over the bog, where they either drown or make for easy pickings with their slow progress. Aegis and the most stalwart cluster around the eagle to make a last stand, a heroic, yet doomed final effort. When Arminius and his own exhausted tribesmen survey the destruction from Chalcrisa, it must seem hard to comprehend in its sheer scale. Three legions and an army that stretched for over 20 kilometers wiped out over the course of three days of fighting, with battle sites ranging across scores of miles and no fewer than three ruined Roman fortifications. Arminius gives orders to his own men, their numbers also severely depleted and thoroughly exhausted, after the tribulations of the week, that word is to be sent to every tribe in Germany. The Romans are no more. In the immediate weeks and months after the cataclysm in the Teutoburg forest, Roman forces around Germania Magna are attacked and overrun. Strategically, however, while the loss of so many soldiers was embarrassing and mourned in Rome, there was no question of Arminius crossing the Rhine, or putting Rome itself under any direct threat. Given that he devoted himself to building up his forces in the wake of the Teutoburg, rather than going on the offensive, indications are that Arminius' losses in his betrayal of Varus had been costly. Greater Germania would never become a province of Rome, it is true, but the Teutoburg was a beginning rather than an end. Arminius and his tribes won a victory that will live in eternity, destroying more than 10% of the entire Roman imperial army, but one battle does not make a war. The Germans had to transform themselves into monsters in the woods of Teutoburg to tear down the legionary killing machines, but the Romans had their own beasts and even as Arminius savours his victory, one of them is preparing to march. With the muffled sounds of Augustus rending his garments and howling for his eagles stalking the corridors of the palace, Tiberius and his nephew Germanicus are consulting maps and readying themselves to march north into Germania. Death is coming with them… Support us on Patreon and get early access to our videos for as little as $1 or click the thanks button below to leave a one-time tip. As always, we'll see you in the next one.