Bread and Circuses

Handel's Arminio

I have been waiting for Radio 3 to get to this. At the start of the year the station promised to play all of Handel's operas. This one is based on the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and Arminius. So successful was it that it only managed six performances! Here is Suzanne Aspden andthe Radio 3 blog on the opera:

You have to have stamina to work your way through Handel's operas.  Having enjoyed the delightful magical and pastoral scenes of the operas broadcast in the Handel Opera Cycle in the past few weeks - Orlando, Alcina, Atalanta - we're now back to more traditional heroic stuff with Arminio (1737), this week.  It tells the story (from Tacitus) of warfare between the Romans and the Germans (the barbarian invaders, in other words), with the German tribal ruler Hermann (Arminius) betrayed into captivity by the collaborator, Segestes, but ultimately triumphant. 

The German theme may have meant the opera was intended to honour the Hanoverian monarchy.  Perhaps Handel was inspired in that direction by his recent success with the delightful pastoral opera, Atalanta, written to celebrate the wedding of the Prince of Wales.  Or perhaps he was hoping to ingratiate himself for financial reward - after all, he was still doing battle himself against the so-called 'Opera of the Nobility', who were occupying the opera house, and just as keen to curry favour with the royal family. 

You can listen to the opera here. That link lasts for another couple of days. Recommended.

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest redux

A discussion in The Roman Forum of the battle. It is always flattering to be cited, but this is a spectacularly bad piece by Bryn Jenkins. The Lost Eagles is a pulp novel not a history book and it is written by the considerably less well-known Ralph Graves rather than Robert Graves. More to the point, is it too much to ask to spell the name of the battle correctly?

From 9 to 11 September memories of the infamous Battle of Teutoborg Forest in 9 AD were revived, predominantly in Germany, on its 2000th Anniversary. A major victory by Germanic tribes against Roman legions in Lower Saxony, its ultimate consequence was to restrict Roman expansion to the Rhine instead of the Elbe.

Sources of information relating to the Battle of Teutoborg Forest are substantial and the most quoted are The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus (AD 55-117). He is considered the greatest of Roman historians and, although his works were lost for centuries, a mediaeval manuscript was found during the Renaissance era and became part of the Codex Mediceus, still housed in Florence’s Laurenziana library. For the English speaking world, Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in 1788, has been described as the first “modern” history ever written. The most recent publication, The Empire Stops Here, by Philip Parker involved the author travelling 20,000 kilometres through 21 countries over a period of three years. Books that focus specifically on the Battle of Teutoborg Forest and its aftermath include The Battle That Stopped Rome (2003, by Peter S. Wells), Rome’s Greatest Defeat (2006, by Adrian Murdoch) and The Lost Eagles (1955, by Robert Graves).

Roman 'disaster' that shaped Europe

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.

Arminius and Ulrich von Hutten

Good post at Studenda Mira on Ulrich von Hutten and his 1522 work Arminius, also the first dramatic portrayal of the Cheruscan. I like the passage he quotes:

SCIPIO: Among the Romans, Arminius stands accused of breach of faith and is charged with having abused his victory over Varus by excessive cruelty.
ARMINIUS: If that accusation were to stand, Scipio, all tyrannicides and liberators would be judged faithless, most notably your own patriots who drove out the Tarquins and assassinated Julius Caesar. And yet these heroes enjoy fame and glory among you. I, for my part, call those men faithless who trim their sails to the winds of good fortune, who offer their loyalty for sale to the highest bidder. I myself was driven by the sacred merit of my nation's cause...my enemies' jealousy is responsible for the invention of this malicious calumny...I am not the first to be slandered, nor will I be the last.

More to the point, aside for the nice things he says about me, the post is entirely worth it for the description of the Cheruscan breakfast available in New Ulm.

Arminius as hero

It is standard in the English-speaking world to be ambivalent about Arminius. This is partly because of the (idealistic) British view that to win by cheating is not exactly cricket, overlaid with suspicion of anyone who has been embraced by German nationalism. Interesting, then, to see this view from the US:

In the U.S. a smaller replica of the Hermannsdenkmal was erected in Minnesota in 1991. For those who love freedom from oppression, it would be an inspiration if elected officials and CEOs magnified America’s spirit of liberty by honoring this bi-millennial victory in freedom and liberty with speeches, celebrations, ceremonies, and re-enactment documentaries throughout America. Let us respect and praise the sharp vigilance and altruistic sacrifices of patriots who cut off the corrupt and invasive grasp of tyranny.

The Varian Disaster: The battle of the Teutoburg Forest

To commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the loss of legions XVII, XVIII and XIX somewhere in northern Germany, Ancient Warfare magazine has brought out a special edition on the Varian disaster.

Contributers include:

    * Adrian Murdoch, 'The campaign of 9 AD'
    * Jona Lendering, 'The sources'
    * Jasper Oorthuys & Tony Clunn, 'The search for the battlefield'
    * Lindsay Powell, 'Augustus' campaigns in Germania'
    * Sidney Dean, 'Varus and Arminius'
    * Duncan Campbell, 'Roman fortifications of the Augustan era'
    * Ross Cowan and Christian Koepfer, 'Augustan legionaries'
    * Michael Taylor and Christian Koepfer, 'The Germanic warriors'
    * Jasper Oorthuys, 'Tips for visitors'

Varus: a capable failure

I'll go out on a limb on this one, but the Frankfurter Allgemeine is probably the world's best newspaper. It has also just published one of the best articles I have read this year on the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. It is a profile of Publius Quinctilius Varus, the general who led the Roman legions to disaster at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. 

Despite the hoopla surrounding the battle this year, the popular view remains that Varus was a deluded simpleton: venal, greedy and easily duped. In fact he was one of the most capable men the empire had at the time. It is easily forgotton that Augustus would hardly have sent an idiot to govern a fledgling province at the edge of the empire:

Wie Varus in die Nähe von Augustus kam, wissen wir nicht; das Vertrauen, das der princeps in ihn setzte, schlug sich in der Karriere nieder: quaestor Augusti, Befehlshaber der 19. Legion im Alpenfeldzug des Drusus, Konsul 13 v.Chr. zusammen mit Tiberius, proconsul der Provinz Africa (ein prestigereicher Posten) und schließlich Statthalter der Provinz Syrien. Als ein hoher Repräsentant der kaiserlichen Finanzverwaltung, der Varus rechtlich nicht unterstellt war - eine der Unwuchten des römischen Herrschaftssystems -, einen jüdischen Aufstand provozierte, reagierte der Statthalter hart, vermochte den Konflikt aber mit Umsicht zu lokalisieren. Flavius Josephus, eine auch sonst vom mainstream oft unabhängige Quelle, berichtet nichts von persönlicher Bereicherung des Varus und zeichnet stattdessen das Bild eines Mannes, der seiner Aufgabe, im Namen Roms zu herrschen, vollständig gewachsen war.

Der anschließende ‘Karriereknick' - von Varus ist länger nichts zu hören - dürfte aus seiner engen Verbindung mit Tiberius resultiert haben; der drangsalierte Sohn von Augustus' Frau aus erster Ehe verbrachte Jahre eines selbstgewählten Exils auf Rhodos in politischer Isolation.

Jedenfalls muß Augustus dem Varus wieder voll vertraut haben, als er ihn während des Pannonischen Aufstandes, der große Teile der römischen Armeen band, nach Germanien beorderte. Dort handelte Varus keineswegs eigenmächtig oder unbesonnen, sondern tat, was ihm aufgetragen war: Er schlichtete Streit und sprach Recht - römisches natürlich nur dann, wenn Römer beteiligt waren, sonst nach dem angestammten germanischen Recht; er sicherte die Arbeit der steuereintreibenden Prokuratoren durch Truppen. Wenn der Arminius-Aufstand militärisch erfolglos geblieben wäre, so hätte man Varus' Leistung, die Herrschaft Roms durch römische Zivilisation einwurzeln zu lassen, in ähnlich hymnischen Worten gepriesen, wie dies dem Iulius Agricola, der gut zwei Generationen später in Britannien wirkte, aus der Feder seines Schwiegersohnes zuteil wurde.

But best of all, Uwe Walter has added to the piece a photofit picture of Varus which looks as close as we are ever going to get. Do read the piece or get a German-speaker to translate it for you.

Image copyright FAZ:

Battle of Teutoburg Forest 2009, part 25

In no particular order, the latest Teutoburg recommendations.

More that Teutoburg didn't happen at Kalkriese. I suspect these pieces will run all year. In Welt Online.

The BZ (a German tabloid) asks whether Teutoburg was the birthplace of Germany.

Gerhard Frey at the National Zeitung asks how German Arminius actually was.

There is going to be an Arminius stamp, unveiled next week.

And the weekly magazine Focus has reached the third and final day of the battle.

Arminius and the arts

The arts in Germany are celebrating the 2,000th anniversary of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest vigorously. Grabbe's Hermannsschlacht will be staged for the first time since the end of World War II. There is a note on the Theaterkanal website. More on Hermann plays being staged at FAZ:

Als gäbe es nicht genug zu sehen. In Haltern am See, Kalkriese bei Osnabrück und Detmold erinnern die Ausstellungen „Imperium, Konflikt, Mythos“ an die Varusschlacht und stecken die Region ab, die den Römern im Jahr neun nach Christus zum Bermuda-Dreieck geworden ist. Die Theater schreiten zur szenischen Parallelaktion, gleich drei von ihnen führen „Die Hermannsschlacht“ auf: Bielefeld die des Heinrich von Kleist (1808), Detmold und Osnabrück gar die des Christian Dietrich Grabbe (1836). „Das Stück gehört in die Region“ heißt es dazu unisono seitens der Ausgräber - als hätten sie auch ohne das runde Jubiläum darauf kommen können. Auch die Dramaturgie treibt Archäologie: Fußnoten nur zur Rezeption des Mythos.

For those of a more musical bent, they could listen to Bruch's Arminius Oratorio on June 20 in Kalkriese.

Zum 2000-jährigen Jubiläum der Varusschlacht wird am 20. Juni im Museum und Park Kalkriese bei Osnabrück die Oper «Arminius-Oratorium» von Max Bruch (1838-1920) aufgeführt. Das Göttinger Sinfonie Orchester und die Rheinische Kantorei unter der Leitung von Dirigent Hermann Max werden das weitgehend unbekannte Werk am vermuteten Austragungsort der Schlacht zwischen Römern und Germanen im Jahr 9 nach Christus präsentieren, wie die Veranstalter am Mittwoch mitteilten. Das 1874 entstandene «Arminius-Oratorium» wurde letztmalig 1912 aufgeführt. «Für uns ist die Rezeptionsgeschichte zur wilhelminischen Zeit wichtig», sagte der Geschäftsführer der Varusschlacht im Osnabrücker Land GmbH, Joseph Rottmann. Dirigent Max lobte das Oratorium als «hervorragendes Werk, dessen Wiederaufführung» lohne.

Story from ddp. Background on the oratorio (in English) here.

Finally, the Lippische Landes-Zeitung has a piece on Teutoburg and Arminius in the cinema.

Battle of Teutoburg Forest 2009, part 24

Apologies for the delays in posting - it has been a much busier week than usual. There is also a terrifying amount of coverage of Teutoburg at the moment, so without further ado, some selected highlights...

German chancellor Angela Merkel did open the Imperium Konflikt Mythos exhibition. There is no doubt that it is going to be a success, both historically and commercially. More than 500,000 visitors are expected.

Many, many reviews already. Some good ones are at art,  Stern, der Westen, PAZ, Marl Aktuell (which has lovely pictures).

Focus is continuing its comprehensive series on the battle. Of especial note is its coverage of day one and day two of the battle.

An interview with Reinhard Wolters in the Nordkurier.de. 

Another new book about the battle reviewed: Hans Dieter Stöver's Der Sieg über Varus at History Magazin.

For a laugh, have a look at the Arminius quiz at Welt Online.