Myth of the Varus Battle:How did the Germans defeat the Romans?

In the year 9 AD, the Germans under Arminius defeat the troops of the Roman general Varus. Later, the battle is transfigured into myth. And there are still open questions. The Varus Battle Museum in Kalkriese has been offering insights for 20 years.

"Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!", the Roman emperor Augustus is said to have called out in the year 9 AD when he learned that more than 15,000 Roman soldiers had been massacred by the Germans. The supposedly uncivilized Germans with their leader Arminius are said to have destroyed the elite troops of the 17th, 18th and 19th legions in a brutal fight. The Romans were shocked - the Germanic tribes were previously considered "barbarians" and not equal enemies.

Arminius stylized to the first German national hero

To this day, the Varus Battle - also known as the Hermannsschlacht or Battle in the Teutoburg Forest - is considered an important military conflict in antiquity. In Germany, events in the 19th and 20th centuries were mythically exaggerated at the birth of German national history, and Arminius was stylized as the first German national hero.

The background of the Varus Battle

But what exactly happened in the Varus Battle? Why did Romans and Germanic tribes clash? Where did the battle take place? And how exactly? For decades, scientists have been trying to interpret new tracks and clues. A common theory sees the events like this:

In the year 6 AD, Emperor Augustus appoints the Roman general Quintilius Varus as supreme commander on the Rhine. By this time, the Germanic tribes were already a security problem for the Roman province of Gaul. They want to protect this province, with the Rhine as its eastern border, from the "barbarians". In addition, according to the common opinion of historians, Rome also wants to bring the Germanic settlement areas under its rule in the long term.

As governor, Varus is now to demonstrate the Roman claim to power east of the Rhine as well. He speaks Roman law and collects taxes - just as if the Germans were already part of the population of the Roman provinces. A tactic that neither Rome nor Varus used to endear themselves to the Germanic tribes - and probably one of the reasons why the Varus Battle took place.

Rome's soldiers in ambush? The thesis of the stratagem

It has long been assumed that the Roman troops under Varus were on their way from the Weser to their winter camp in Xanten am Rhein in September of the year 9 AD - accompanied by a Germanic auxiliary force. Such troops supported the Roman army in battle and also acted as scouts. The leader of the auxiliary force is 25-year-old Arminius ("Hermann"), a prince from the Cheruscan tribe. The son of a rich family has Roman citizenship, was trained as an officer in Rome and is considered a reliable ally.

But Arminius reports to Varus that a tribe is planning an uprising - a stratagem. Varus is persuaded to take a detour. According to tradition, the marching route leads over a narrow, unpaved path between mountain and swamp. No more than four legionnaires can walk side by side on the narrow route. This makes them militarily vulnerable, because the Roman legions unfold their dreaded effect primarily through their orderly battle formation. The Roman train now stretches at least 15 kilometers, is slow and unprotected on the flanks - the perfect target for a surprise attack.

Arminius and the Germans are lurking in ambush, according to the long-standing assumption. They attacked the Roman soldiers in the forest from a self-erected sod wall - a wall - from a height of about one and a half meters and a length of up to two kilometers. In the end it's man against man. After three days the Romans are destroyed.

Germanic raid on Roman camp instead of ambush?

But it may have happened quite differently. When a moat was uncovered in Kalkriese near Bramsche in the 1990s - which is considered the most likely site of the battle - the researchers initially assumed that this was the infamous Germanic ambush. But there are already considerable doubts as to whether this wall was actually built by the Germans and not by the Romans. In 2016 and 2017, more moats came to light during excavations - and the skepticism seems justified. According to archaeologists, this type of moat was typical of Roman camps. The assumption that the Romans had built a camp at Kalkriese would significantly change the previously assumed scenario of the Varus Battle. Then the Germans would not have set an ambush for the Romans there, but would have overrun the Roman camp. The Museum and Park Kalkriese has been providing information on site since 2002. Among other things, visitors can visit the reconstructed battlefield.

Place of the Varus Battle:Kalkriese or Teutoburg Forest?

The exact location of the Varus battle is still disputed among scientists. Several places advertise that they were the scene of the legendary battle. The 53 meter high Hermann Monument in honor of Arminius has stood on the Teutberg near Detmold since 1875. The builder of the statue, Ernst von Bandel, based himself on the state of research at the time, which assumed that the Varus Battle took place in the Teutoburg Forest.

Spectacular finds in Kalkriese provide arguments

Kalkriese near Bramsche is now considered a probable location by many archaeologists. Systematic excavations at Kalkriese began in 1989 after British amateur archaeologists discovered Roman coins and slingshots near the site. Between the Kalkrieser Berg and the Großer Moor, south-west of Lake Dümmer, the terrain profile corresponds quite exactly to the description that has been handed down. And a lot of evidence of a battle was found:Roman weapons and coins, human and animal bones and the aforementioned moats.

The Romans in Haltern

Archaeologists have discovered Roman military installations in Haltern am See in Westphalia, about 100 kilometers south-west of Kalkriese. Some of the Roman troops who perished in the Varus Battle are said to have been stationed there. Haltern is considered the largest location of Roman legionnaires in all of Europe around the time of the birth of Christ. A Roman museum provides information about historical finds in the region.

Battle of Varus:A myth emerges

The Varus Battle, in which the Germans, who were supposedly weaker, defeated the superior Romans, became mythical in the course of German history. Arminius in particular - first referred to as Hermann by Martin Luther - developed into the legendary liberator figure and ideal image of the German, used in the fight against Napoleon as well as in the First World War. Adolf Hitler later stylized himself as the successor of this "Germanic hero and leader".

Romans send more troops to Germania

Despite the devastating defeat in the Varus Battle, Rome did not completely withdraw from Germania:Emperor Augustus sent the military leader Tiberius and later Germanicus on massive campaigns against the Germans. Since these battles also resulted in losses for Rome, Tiberius, meanwhile a Roman emperor himself, decided in 16 AD to concentrate on the most important goal of Roman politics in Germania:securing the Rhine to protect Gaul. It was not until a good 230 years later that the Romans undertook another campaign with the Battle of the Harzhorn.