Greig Watson at the BBC wrote a good piece on the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and was kind enough to quote me:
Three days of blood-soaked butchery in the unfamiliar forests of Germany culminated in one of the Roman Empire's darkest moments, and may have helped shape the Europe of today.
As many as 30,000 Roman soldiers, along with countless slaves and families, died at the hands of people they regarded as barbarians, who were led by a man they regarded as a friend.
Did the Varian Disaster, which took place exactly 2,000 years ago and stunned the Roman Empire into a temporary paralysis, mark a turning point in its all-conquering mindset? Does the slaughter in the Teutoburger Forest still affect us today?
Adrian Murdoch, author of a book on the battle, said the shockwaves were immense.
"The battle was not only the Roman Empire's greatest defeat, but it definitely changed European history in ways which are being felt still now," he said.
Full story here.
Not a bad article, but it had some dubious bits:
"Marching south at the end of the summer fighting season he was led into unfamiliar territory by a trusted native lieutenant, Arminius."
The troops in Varus' army had been stationed in Germania for over 20 years, so the idea that the Kalkriese area would have been "unfamiliar territory" is a bit hard to take seriously.
"But Dr Coulston feels that while the battle was significant, its long term effects have been overplayed. .... "But we have to recognise the Romans came back hard. They smashed the German armies soon after, regaining the ground and driving Arminius to his death."
How did the campaigns of Germanicus (which I assume is what Coulston is referring to here) "drive Arminius to his death"? They were ultimately failures, however much Tacitus tries to put a positive spin on them. Arminius then turned around and kicked Maroboduus' butt and dominated western Germania for years until his *success* led to his assassination.
It seems that people still can't help but talk up the Romans and downplay the achievements of Arminius. Roman fanboys uber alles.
Posted by: Tim O'Neill | October 08, 2009 at 01:24 AM