25. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest (9CE)

The year was 9 CE. Autumn winds, rain, and cool air blew through the trees of western Germania’s forests. The waters of the Rhine River were beginning their annual swell in the wake of summer’s heat. Though the autumns of Germania were relatively moderate, the season was one of transition and marked by a climate subject to swift change, even week to week at times. So, it was in September in the north of the Germanic central uplands when a certain Roman general marched his men into a pass between Kalkriese Hill and dense, boggy swampland. Unbeknownst to the Romans, they were marching into a bloody, hellish gauntlet that, for them, was to characterize their last days on Earth. The days that followed were a harrowing bloodbath that destroyed three veteran Roman legions and rocked the Roman Empire, and its leader, to the core.

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Sources:

The battle that stopped Rome: Emperor Augustus, Arminius, and the slaughter of the legions in the Teutoburg Forest

https://brewminate.com/annihilation-of-a-roman-army-the-battle-of-teutoburg-forest/

Long Term Decline of the Roman Military

World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society - Long Term Decline of Roman Military (apus.edu)

A General History of Europe: The Decline of the Ancient World by A.H.M. Jones

History of the Goths by Herwig Wolfram

Dyck, Ludwig Heinrich. "Arminius." Ancient History Encyclopedia. July 12, 2019. Accessed July 14, 2019.
https://www.ancient.eu/Arminius/

Fisher, Martini. "Publius Quinctilius Varus." Ancient History Encyclopedia. July 10, 2019. Accessed July 14, 2019.
https://www.ancient.eu/Publius_Quinctilius_Varus/

"Florus on the Germanic Wars." Livius. Accessed July 14, 2019. https://www.livius.org/sources/content/florus/florus-on-the-germanic-wars/