Battle of the Teutoburg Forest |Battle of the Teutoburg Forest|
In the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9), an alliance of
Germanic tribes led by Arminius (also known in German as
Hermann), the son of Segimerus of the Cherusci, ambushed and
wiped out a Roman army of three entire Legions. Table of
contents The defeat of Varus The Roman force was led by Publius
Quinctilius Varus, a noble from an old family, who had become
the governor of Germania in AD 7. The battle is thus also known
as the Varusschlacht in German (Slaughter of Varus). His force
was made up of three legions (Legio XVII, Legio XVIII, and Legio
XIX), six cohorts and three squadrons of allied cavalry. His
opponent Arminius had lived in Rome as a hostage in his youth,
where he had received a military education and had even been
given the rank of Equestrian. After his return, he was expected
to be an ally of Rome, and behaved accordingly towards Varus. In
secret, he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had
traditionally been enemies (the Ch