From the annals of Tacitus we get a one-sided vision of the
Romano-Germanic wars. More recent scholarship, including Osprey's
Teutoburg Forest Campaign book, paints a more balanced picture. Yet,
there's still a lot of ground to cover on the subject.
The reigns of Augustus and his successor Tiberius saw an epic struggle
between the Romans and local peoples for the territory between the Rhine
and Elbe rivers in what is now Germany. Following two decades of Roman
occupation, Germania Magna erupted into revolt in AD 9 following the
loss of the three legions commanded by Publius Quinctilius Varus to the
Cheruscan nobleman Arminius and an alliance of Germanic nations in the
dense forests of the Teutoburger Wald. The Romans' initial panic
subsided as it became clear that Arminius and his allies could not
continue the war into Germania Inferior on the western bank of the
Rhine, and Imperial troops poured into the region as the Romans decided
how best to resolve the situation.
In AD 14 Tiberius' adopted son, Germanicus Caesar, quelled a mutiny
among Roman forces in the area, then took his men on a quick punitive
raid into Germanic territory. In the following year he snatched the wife
and father-in-law of Arminius and located the site of the 'Varian
Disaster', where he oversaw burial of the bones of Roman dead and
erected a cenotaph. In AD 16 Germanicus set out to engage his Cheruscan
adversary and defeat him decisively with a view to tipping the balance
of power in the region as a prelude to restoring full Roman control over
territory between the Rhine and the Elbe. By that summer, the Germanicus
had tracked down Arminius to a location on the Weser River in the region
of modern-day Minden. An initial engagement - called the battle of Weser
River - ended in a draw when a Roman cavalry charge was repulsed by
Arminius' own cavalry and Germanicus withdrew his men. Having
transferred his force across the river and camped for the night, he laid
out a plan for a set-piece battle with his opponent at a place called
the Plain of Idistaviso.
Idistaviso was the first battle the Romans won against Arminius since
Teutoburg. It proved they could beat him. Despite his unique
understanding of both Roman and Germanic strategy and tactics, Arminius'
failure to anticipate the Roman defence in depth, compounded by
dissimilarities in arms and equipment, and confusion on the ground, made
this battle particularly vicious and bloody. Better led and disciplined,
and with a robust battle strategy, Germanicus' men decisively defeated
Arminius'. At the ensuing battle of the Angrivarian Wall the Romans
crushed the Germans again.
Featuring full-color artwork, specially drawn maps and an array of
revealing illustrations depicting weapons, equipment, key locations and
personalities, this study offers key insights into the tactics,
leadership, combat performance, and subsequent reputations of the Roman
soldiers and their Germanic opponents pitched into a series of pivotal
actions on the Imperial frontier that would influence Roman/German
relations for decades to come.
