13 Dec 03

Teutoburger Wald (loosely translated, "Battle in the Forest Near the German Village"), Germanica, east of the Rhine, fall of 9AD.

Roman general, Germanicus Caesar, put it this way:

"Iberians (Spaniards) can be impressed by the courtesy of their conquerors; Gauls (French) by his riches; Greeks by his respect for the arts; Jews by his moral integrity; Nubians (Sub-Saharan Africans) by his calm and authoritative bearing.

But, Goths (Germans) are impressed by none of this! They must be struck into the dust; struck down again as they rise; struck again while they lie groaning.

Only so long as their wounds still pain them, will they respect the hand that dealt them!"

Echoed by Heinrich Heine in the Nineteenth Century AD:

"Christianity has occasionally calmed the brutal German lust for battle, but it cannot destroy that savage ecstasy. When once that restraining talisman, the cross, is broken, the old stone gods will leap to life once more."

Germans have "enjoyed" quite a reputation all these years!

After being conquered by Assyrians in 800BC, Babylonians returned the favor, and, in alliance with Medes, invaded the Assyrian capitol, Nineveh, in 600BC and burned it to the ground. In 538BC, Persians, under Cyrus the Great, overthrew Nebuchandnezzar's Babylonian Empire and rushed onto history's center stage. Between 492BC and 479BC, Persians, under Darius and Xerxes, tried their level best to stamp out the tiny flame of Western Civilization in Greece, but the valiant Greeks held them off. One hundred and fifty years later, Greeks, under Alexander the Great, turned the tables, conquering all of Persia. When Alexander died (at the age of thirty-two), his vast kingdom was ultimately split up among his squabbling generals.

Under the daring military genius, Judas Maccabeus (author of the famous Maccabian Rebellion, celebrated to this day as Hanukkah), the world witnessed (for the first time since Southern Israel had been conquered by Babylonians in 586BC) an independent Jewish State emerge in Palestine and exist there for seventy-nine years, between 142BC and 63BC. In 63BC, Judea, and all of Palestine, became a vassal state under Imperial Rome, as did all other regions in the vicinity of the Mediterranean. In fact, the entire Mediterranean became a Roman lake! A politically autonomous Jewish state would not reemerge for another 2011 years, when, in 1948AD, the modern State of Israel boldly claimed its independence.

By the year "Zero," the entire Roman world had settled down. Romans kept a tight lid on their expanding Empire, tolerating some political autonomy in vassal states (like Judea), but having no tolerance for open rebellion. Spartacus and his rebel gladiators displayed dazzling success against Roman legions for a time, but even that rebellion was finally put down for good in 71BC. Relative peace would prevail for the next two hundred years, punctuated only by a few famous battles. By far, the most famous was the debacle at Teutoburger Wald in 9AD.

Many tribes and peoples chafed under the Roman yoke, but some chafed more enthusiastically than others! Heretofore, land battles had been disorganized brawls. Romans (learning from the Greeks) brought precise organization to land warfare. So long as Roman Legions could preserve their precise organization and fight on firm ground, they were unbeatable. However, in thick, wet forests or among steep hills, where Roman commanders could not maintain visual contact with their units, they often did poorly. For example, In Britain, the southern portion was well pacified (with the exception of the short-lived Boadicean Rebellion in 60AD), but, in the hilly and rocky north (Scotland), wily Scots proved themselves so troublesome that the Romans simply built a stone wall (Hadrian's Wall), from sea to sea, all across Britain, in an effort to isolate them. Hadrian's wall, built around100AD, was tangible evidence that there were acknowledged limits to Rome's ability to extend her influence.

Another fractious area was Germanica. At the turn of the Millennium, southern Germanica was pacified west of the Rhine. However, the further north one went, the less "pacified" the territory became. East of the Rhine was the frontier, "barbarian county," and the Rhine River made a convenient dividing line. Germanica was heavily forested and occupied by Cherusci and other Gothic tribes, known for their savagery and brutality, if not their military organization. They were every bit as warlike and cruel as had been the Assyrians (to whom they were probably largely related).

In 7AD, a lawyer, Publius Quintilius Varus, due mostly to the fact that he married a grand niece of Emperor Augustus, found himself appointed governor of this ill-defined area known as Germanica. Varus had a good deal of governing experience, but scant military acumen. He had come north from comfortable and well-pacified Syria with three legions, the 17th, 18th, and 19th under his command. He grossly and foolishly underestimated the danger he and his legions were in.

By fall of 9AD, eager to establish himself, Varus decided to march his legions through contested real estate, east of the Rhine, between the Rivers Ems and Weser. It was his intention to build a fort and set up a winter camp in the area as well as establish protected supply lines back to the Rhine, laying the groundwork for a conspicuous and unmistakable Roman presence. There were reports of sporadic, local disturbances, but Varus was confident he could indiscreetly restore order.

Varus was befriended by Arminius of the Cherusci. Arminius (son of a local nobleman), with his entourage, agreed to serve as guides, scouts, and translators for the expedition. Arminius had been educated in Rome as a captive, was clever, poised, well mannered, spoke fluent Latin, and was intimately familiar with Roman military protocol and tactical doctrine. However, like Dragutin Dimitrijevic, who centuries later would engineer the start of WWI, Arminius was a cunning and duplicitous con man. He nursed a bitter, seething hatred for Romans, but was outwardly congenial and accommodating. While appearing to assist Varus, in reality Arminius had a hidden agenda. He was plotting the destruction of Varus and his entire army. "Arminius" was his adopted Latin name. His family knew him as "Hermann."

Curiously, owing to his Roman upbringing, Arminius' loyalty was never questioned. Varus was completely taken in. He was convinced by Arminius that this expedition would be a cake walk. Accordingly, Varus failed to put his legions on full, or even active, war footing and even allowed officers to bring their families along! Like naive Americans at Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, they were in hostile territory that was on the brink of open warfare, and yet they all acted as if they were on vacation! The complacency of Varus and his staff was inexcusable, and they would all pay a terrible price.

Arminius had engineered an enormous, U-shaped ambush, deep in the thick and swampy forest, deep enough so that a Roman relief column could not arrive in time. He knew an overconfident Varus would not deploy flanking units or dispatch scouting parties. Attackers could thus get close to Roman columns undetected. He also knew that a noisy and disorganized mobile city of camp followers, consisting of hoards of dependents, servants, caterers, tailors, service people of all kinds, baggage wagons, and prostitutes would follow in the column's train, slowing it to a snail's pace. Amazingly, Varus was urgently warned of the ambush by none other than Arminius' own father in law, who despised his underhanded son in law for taking his daughter. Incredibly, Varus failed to investigate the claim, casually dismissing it as nothing more than a family squabble.

Deep into the German forest, the going had been uneventful, except for a few harassing attacks by local tribesmen. Then, Varus and his staff suddenly noticed that Arminius and his entire cortege had inexplicably vanished. A short time later, lead elements of the Roman column ran into felled trees and simultaneously came under heavy attack, halting the entire formation (which was several miles long). To make matters worse, a sudden storm deluged them with heavy rain and wind, bogging down chariots and wagons alike. Without warning, the entire column was then assaulted from both sides, along its entire length. Screaming tribesmen, hurling javelins, rushed upon startled and unprepared Romans. The thick forest and mud made it impossible for Roman units to form up into their usual fighting layouts. The whole thing quickly disintegrated into a disorganized brawl, a German specialty!

A remnant of Varus' men valiantly rallied, congregating in a hastily built fort. There, they gallantly held out for two days, but, in the end, were overwhelmed. Varus himself, embarrassed and disgraced, committed suicide, along with most of his staff. Only a handful of mounted cavalrymen escaped on horseback to tell the story. Everyone else, including all dependents and camp followers were annihilated. A few who were taken captive were later used as pitiable human sacrifices to German gods. The death toll was in excess of 25,000!

Back on the Italian peninsula, Augustus was badly shaken by the news, and all of Rome with him! He had been told just weeks earlier that everything was well in hand. He was understandably shocked to discover that he had been lied to by his (now deceased) relative. New legions were dispatched to the area, and fighting continued. As the Empire imploded in the later years, Germanica was among the first areas to fall from Roman control, although persistent internal squabbling prevented any effective strategic unity of Germanic tribes against the Romans.

The Teutoburger Wald battlefield laid undisturbed for six years. When Roman units finally found it in 15AD, they discovered only skeletal remains of their comrades. They paused long enough to provide all the could find with a decent burial. Shortly thereafter, the Roman Commander, Germanicus Caesar, nearly suffered the same fate as had Varus! Another ambush, again engineered by the same Arminius, was almost successful. This time, Germanicus' was better prepared than had been Varus. He successfully withdrew, salvaging most of his force.

Arminius continued his impassioned (and ultimately doomed) defense of his homeland for another five years, only to be murdered by kinsmen as a result of internal, political intrigue. He never saw his fortieth birthday. His son grew up in Rome, having never known his father. Like Scotland, Germanica was never completely pacified.

Lessons:

Any commander can be forgiven for being defeated. No commander will ever be forgiven for being surprised. Complacency is the deadly enemy of all warriors. Be taken in at your peril!

Historians in the next century may say of our time that the greatest mistake made in the wake of WWII was allowing Germany to reunite. Even today, a reunited Germany is surrounded by seven, nervous neighbors! The "old stone gods" may indeed leap to life once more.

Passionate ideologues rarely die of old age!

/John