 How did Rome get humiliated in a forest in Romania? And was it really Rome's greatest defeat? The Battle of Tudorburg Forest in Nignay-D sent shockwaves through an empire that had only just formed a few decades earlier in 27 BC, as previously Rome was a republic. But how did Roman legions walk into such a trap that led to the death of around 20,000 Romans? Well, this is a story of betrayal from a Roman perspective. But from a Germanic perspective, it's the story of bold resistance in the face of a foreign power. Decades prior to the Battle of Tudorburg Forest, Julius Caesar had conquered the home of Celtic civilization, Gaul, and Roman power essentially extended up to the natural boundary of that area, the Rhine River. When Caesar Augustus, or Gaius Octavius, also known as Octavian, became the first emperor of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, reigning until 14 AD. He wanted to extend Roman power beyond the Rhine and into Germania, increasing Rome's tax base in the process. Under the direction of the emperor, the Romans had managed to extend their power and had some success in Germania, starting to carve out a province of Germania. Despite a few setbacks along the way, including when a Roman legion lost their eagle standard to a local tribe, the ultimate disgrace. Subsequent campaigns were most successful, and by 7 AD, the Romans had really started to carve out some sort of province, some sort of territory of Germania for themselves. In order to control this territory, an act as a de facto governor of Germania for the Romans. They called on the Roman general Publius Quynstilius Varis, a politically connected Roman who had previously served in Syria and Africa before arriving in Germania. He was put in charge of three Roman legions, as well as some exilia and cavalry, to help control this newly formed territory, this emerging territory of Germania. Shortly after, the central character in this story enters the stage, a 25-year-old man called Arminius. He was born in Germania as a prince of the Cheruski tribe, and he would go on to serve as the chieftain of the Cheruski tribe, but he was from a Roman friendly faction of the tribe. This allowed him to go on and acquire Roman citizenship. In fact, Arminius was so embedded with the Romans that he had learned Latin, and he served as an exilia in the Roman army. He was no slouch, however, and he served with great distinction in the Roman army, including during the Great Allerian Revolt, before being sent to Germania to his homeland to help aid Varis for the Romans in controlling the Germanic tribes, or so they thought. Now, these videos take a lot of time and money to produce, from editing software to obviously my time to travel costs at points as well, so if you would like to support this work and pick up this t-shirt and many more really high quality items, please check out my merch store and use the code Celtic to get 5% off at checkout. Also check out my Patreon page for ad-free videos and other exclusive benefits, as after all, I'm not taxpayer funded like the BBC, and the more people that signed up to the Patreon page, the more benefits I will add on to that page. Thank you and now on with the video. Under Varis, there was an increasing demand for the Romans to tax the local tribes, stalking anger amongst the locals, because who likes paying their taxes after all, especially to a foreign power that many Germanic peoples didn't feel they had any right over them. Everyone hates the tax man down through history after all. But essentially, Arminius was brought in and acted as a liaison or a messenger between the Romans and the Germanic tribes on various occasions. And it was this connection that he built up, this mediator connection that allowed him to basically garner support amongst the Germanic tribes. On top of this, Arminius's knowledge of the Romans' tactical responses, their military tactics, how they fought, was a severe asset, as we would move through the story, and Arminius would eventually go on to double cross the Romans. He had obviously fought for the Roman army as an exilia in Elyria and different places, and really had that knowledge to properly counter the Romans. Now it is interesting to wonder at what point Arminius thought of double crossing the Romans. Was it simply when he went back to Germania to help Varis, and he saw the plight of his people there that he started to develop this plan to ambush the Romans? Or was it perhaps years or decades earlier? Was he simply biding his time for a matter of years? As I believe he was basically, he grew up in Rome to a large degree. He was taught Latin. He was given a Roman military scholarship to a degree. He fought in the Roman army. He was simply biding his time for a number of years to eventually get to this point. I use all that knowledge he had about the Romans to double cross them. It is interesting to be interested to hear your thoughts on that subject in the comments below. At this point in the story, the scene is set for the betrayal, but how did it unfold? Well Arminius essentially knew that fighting the Romans in an open battle would have been extremely difficult, considering how well trained the Romans were, how battle-hardened they were against the Germanic tribes. So he knew he had to get them in a particular spot and in a place they could ambush them, in a place where the ground wasn't great for the Romans, and a place basically where the Roman military advantage didn't really mean all that much. So he had to move the Romans. So he basically came up with this plan and told Varis that there was these tribes in the northwest of Germania that were planning a revolt, and he had to go with his legions to put down this potential revolt before it got out of hand. Despite a rival Germanic chieftain trying to warrant Varis of a potential betrayal, Varis believed Arminius. Why wouldn't he after all? He was a loyal subject of Rome, or so they thought. So Varis summoned the legions, summoned his troops, and from their base soon headed out westward to squash this rebellion. On the first day of the march, Arminius and the other cocan-spirits had asked Varis if they could ride ahead under the auspices of rallying support amongst the pro-Roman Germanic tribes. Varis granted this request. After a day's march, the Romans built a camp for the night, where as unknown to the Romans, Arminius was busy organising hostile Germanic tribes in the ambush that was to come. While marching for a second day, Varis's column reached the pass between a hill and a great bog. As a whole, the column consisted of roughly 20,000 men and extended 78 miles. The pass they were crossing through is reported to being heavily forested and muddy as a result of a torrential downpour. The rebel Germanic tribesmen were stationed along the hill behind a series of fortifications, organised by Arminius. From this position on the high ground, the tribesmen began to throw javelins and fire arrows into the Roman column. Some barred down the hill and fought the legionaries hand to hand. Being on disadvantaged terrain and caught by surprise, Varis's legions were enabled to take up defensive formations, and the column may have split in two. Some continued to fight their Germanic insurgents on the slope, but a large wall of sand allowed the tribesmen to repeatedly attack the legionaries and then retreat behind their fortifications. A large portion of the Roman column was shattered on this day. The remains of Varis's legions retreated to the west and camped on the nearby hill for the night. On the third day, they proceeded through some open terrain and into another woodyed area. Here they were ambushed again, suffering heavy losses. Some members of those tribes who had not initially joined Arminius chose to support his cause, and so the army of the Germanic Alliance grew. On the fourth day, Varis led the shattered survivors along a familiar road in the valley of the Eames. Wassering rains in a violent wind are said to have affected the fighting capabilities of the already exhausted soldiers, and the Germanic tribesmen pursued them to this point. Understanding that their total defeat was inevitable, Varis and his officers fell on their swords to avoid capture by Arminius's men. Many other Romans took their own lives, others surrendered and still others attempted to flee. Only a few escaped to the safety of the provinces. Those who were captured were likely enslaved or sacrificed to the gods, their ego desecrated. In total, estimates are as high as nearly 20,000 Romans were killed in this engagement, a full three Roman legions. Some say this accounted to about one tenth of the Imperial Roman army at this point, whereas Germanic losses were minimum. It was total humiliation for the Romans and a devastating defeat, and it essentially went on to stop the Romans expanding beyond the Rhine to any great degree. Augustus is said to have been so distraught upon hearing the news they did not cut his hair or trim his beard for months on end, a sign of mourning in Roman religious tradition, and he was often heard wailing, Varis give me back my legions. Despite subsequent Roman campaigns into Romania, these tended to ultimately result in Rome settling for reinforcing their defences in Easter and Gaul, west of the Rhine, as opposed to controlling east of the Rhine. Arminius fought in retaliatory campaigns from Rome as well as internal battles, but he was ultimately murdered by his own people, with Germanic nobles fearing his growing power, in 21 AD at the age of 37. The Roman defeat at the Battle of Chitterburg Forest in 9 AD reverberated for decades and centuries after the fact, and it was a source of inspiration for many native peoples that were trying to resist Roman rule. Tacitus, the Roman historian, describes that the Britons were aware of this battle and of the Roman defeat, but was it Rome's greatest defeat? Well, there are a few contenders. The Battle of Cannae is one, for example, when Hannibal led the Carthaginians and their allies to a great victory, with up to 70,000 Romans killed, another was at the Battle of Alia in 387 BC, when the Celtic leader Brennes invaded Italy and defeated the Roman army near the Alia River, going on to sack Rome itself. The Battle of Chitterburg Forest is certainly one, if not the, greatest defeat in the history of the Romans, and it potentially is the greatest given the sense of betrayal, and the fact that it was essentially an insider, someone they had thought they had converted to the Roman ways, that obviously led the rebellion and led the ambush. The battle also changed the course of European history and of Roman history, as the Romans probably would have pushed well beyond the Rhine if they weren't humiliated at the Battle of Chitterburg Forest. But what do you think Rome's greatest defeat was? Please let me know in the comments below. Perhaps there was another embarrassing defeat by a native people against the Romans that wiped out another Roman legion that the Romans never recorded? To find out more about the lost Roman legion in Caledonia, please click here. 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