Varus Publius Quintilius (c. 46 BC - 9 AD), Roman general. In the year 7, Augustus charged him with organizing the already conquered Germania on the right bank of the Rhine. His attempt to substitute Roman law for Germanic law exasperates the populations.
Arminius, leader of the Cheruscans, was gradually accepted by Varus. The Germans seemed to want to accept Roman rule, increasingly asking, for example, Varus to judge their differences.
In the fall of 9 A.D. AD, Arminius informed Varus that an uprising had taken place in the interior lands of Germania. Immediately, the Roman general set off at the head of three legions (the XVII, XVIII and XIX) and the troops of the German Arminius. The latter was well acquainted with the Roman army, in which he had once served, and its tactical mechanisms. Once they arrived in a region of swamps and woods, the German auxiliary troops left the Romans to join other tribes:the battle of Teutoburg (or the massacre) lasted several days. The place of the battle, a place sought after by many German historians for years, was discovered and authenticated with certainty in 1989. The battle took place in Kalkriese, 15 km north of Osnabrück. The Roman troops were massacred, Varus committed suicide by throwing himself on his sword. His head was cut off, his body mutilated. His head then reached the Emperor Augustus who had this sentence:"Vare, legiones redde" "Varus, give me back my legions".
It was following this disaster, the most serious since the battle of Cannes, that the Romans reorganized their border in Germany, on the banks of the Rhine, protecting themselves behind the limes, the fortified border.