History Channel Decisive Battles E10 The falling of eagle and the start of a new power, Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Lower Saxony, northeast Germany (September​, 9 AD)

Recent archaeological finds place the battle at Kalkriese Hill in Osnabrück County, Lower Saxony. On the basis of Roman accounts, the Romans must at this time have been marching northwestward from the area that is now the city of Detmold, passing east of Osnabrück; they must then have camped in this area prior to being attacked.

The Roman force was led by Publius Quinctilius Varus, a noble from a patrician family related to the Imperial family and an experienced administrative official, who was assigned to consolidate the new province of Germania in the autumn of 6 AD. In early 6 AD, before Varus was commander on the Rhine, it was Legatus Gaius Sentius Saturninus and Consul Legatus Marcus Aemilius Lepidus under Tiberius who led an army of 65,000 heavy infantry legionaries, 10,000–20,000 cavalrymen, archers, 10,000–20,000 civilians (13 legions & entourage, probably about 100,000+ men) and was planning a major attack on Maroboduus, the king of the Marcomanni, a tribe of the Suebi who had fled the attacks of Drusus I in 9 BC into the territory of the Boii, where they formed a powerful tribal alliance with the Hermunduri, Quadi, Semnones, Lugians, Zumi, Butones, Mugilones, Sibini and Langobards.

Belligerents
Germanic tribes (Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti,Bructeri, Chauci and Sicambri)	Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Arminius the German	Publius Quinctilius Varus †
Strength
Unknown, but estimates range from 12,000–32,000.	20,000–max.36,000: 3 Roman legions (XVII,XVIII/XIIX, and XIX/XVIIII); 3 alae (purely cavalry unit of the non-citizen auxilia corps); 6 auxiliary cohorts.

In 4 AD Tiberius entered Germania and subjugated the Cananefates in Germania Inferior, the Chatti near the upper Weser River, and the Bructeri south of the Teutoburg Forest and led his army across the Weser. But in 6 AD, a major rebellion broke out in the province of Illyricum. Led by Bato the Daesitiate, Bato the Breucian, Pinnes of Pannonia, and elements of the Marcomanni and known as the Bellum Batonianum, it lasted nearly 4 years. Tiberius was forced to stop his campaign against Maroboduus and recognise him as king and to send his eight legions to crush the rebellion in the Balkans.

Nearly half of all Roman legions had to be pulled together to end the revolt, which was triggered by neglect, endemic food shortages (since 22 BC, following a political crisis in 23 BC and riots in 22, 21 and 19 BC, ended after 8 AD), high taxes and harsh behavior of the tax collectors. This campaign, led by Tiberius and Quaestor Legatus Germanicus under Emperor Augustus, was one of the hardest and most critical for the Roman Empire. During the start of the rebellion in the southern part of Illyricum, Publius Quinctilius Varus, a noble from a patrician family related to the Imperial family, was named Legatus Augusti pro praetore and had only three legions available.

Varus' name and deeds were well known beyond the borders of the empire because of his ruthlessness and crucifixion of insurgents.[citation needed] While feared by the people, he was highly respected by the Roman senate. On the Rhine, he was in command of the legions XVII, XVIII (also XIIX) and XIX (also XVIIII), previously led by General Gaius Sentius Saturninus, who was sent back to Rome and had been given an ornamenta triumphalia. The other 2 legions in the winter-quarters of the army at castrum Moguntiacum (I Germanica, V Larks ) were led by Varus' nephew Second consul Lucius Nonius Asprenas and perhaps Second consul Lucius Arruntius.

Varus' opponent, Arminius, was handed over to the Romans along with his brother Flavus, as tribute by his father and chieftain of the noblest house in the tribe of the Cherusci, Segimerus the Conqueror, as result of the attacks of Drusus in 11 to 9 BC. Arminius had lived in Rome as a hostage in his youth, where he had received a military education, and even been given the rank of Equestrian.

During his absence Segimerus was declared a coward by other Germanic chieftains because he had bowed down to Roman rule – a crime punishable by death under Germanic law. Between 11 BC and 4 AD the hostility and suspicion between the Germanic tribes deepened. Trade and politics between the Germanic warlords deteriorated.

After his return from Rome, Arminius became a trusted advisor to Varus. But in secret he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had traditionally been enemies (the Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci, Sicambri, and remaining elements of the Suebi), but whom he was able to unite due to outrage over Varus' tyrannous insolence and wanton cruelty to the conquered and who had hitherto submitted in sullen hatred to the Roman dominion.

Varus decided to quell this uprising immediately and take a detour through territory unfamiliar to the Romans. Arminius, who accompanied Varus, probably directed him along a route that would facilitate an ambush. Another Cheruscan nobleman, Segestes, brother of Segimerus, father of Arminius' wife, and opposed to the marriage, warned Varus the night before the departure of the Roman forces, allegedly even suggesting that Varus apprehend Arminius along with several other Germanic leaders whom he identified as covert participants in the planned uprising. But his warning was dismissed as the result of a personal feud. Arminius then left under the pretext of drumming up Germanic forces to support the Roman campaign, but instead led his troops, who must have been waiting in the vicinity, in attacks on surrounding Roman garrisons.

Varus' forces included three legions (Legio XVII, Legio XVIII, and Legio XIX), six cohorts of auxiliary troops (non-citizens or allied troops) and three squadrons of cavalry (alae), most of which lacked combat experience with Germanic fighters under local conditions. The Roman forces were not marching in combat formation, and were interspersed with large numbers of camp-followers. As they entered the forest (probably just northeast of Osnabrück), they found the track narrow and muddy; according to Dio Cassius a violent storm had also arisen.

Now you are about to see the view that the generals wish to have, and see the the proud and upgraded Roman legions of the Emperor Augustus against the union of the Germanic tribes led by a auxiliary commander of Roman army, the fight will decide the future of Germania and borders of the Roman Empire, and the world will not be the same before!