Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

Cenotaph of Marcus Caelius, 1st centurion of XVIII, who "fell in the war of Varus" (bello Variano).
Reconstructed inscription: "To Marcus Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian district, from Bologna, first centurion of the eighteenth legion. 53½ years old. He fell in the Varian War. His bones may be interred here. Publius Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian district, his brother, erected (this monument)."

Date	circa September, 9 C.E.
Location	Osnabrück County, Lower Saxony
Result	Decisive Germanic victory. Roman Empire's strategic withdrawal from Magna Germania.

Belligerents

Germanic tribes
(Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci and Sicambri)

Roman Empire

Commanders and leaders

Arminius

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;
6 auxiliary cohorts.

Casualties and losses

Unknown.

16,000 to 20,000 dead
Some others enslaved.

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (German: Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald, Hermannsschlacht, or Varusschlacht)—described as Clades Variana (the Varian Disaster) by Roman historians—took place in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus. The anti-Roman alliance was led by Arminius, a Germanic officer of Varus' auxilia who had acquired Roman citizenship and had received a Roman military education, thus enabling him to deceive the Roman commander methodically and anticipate the Roman army's tactical responses.

Despite several successful campaigns and raids by the Romans in the years after the battle, they never again attempted to conquer the Germanic territories east of the Rhine river. The victory of the Germanic tribes against Rome's legions in the Teutoburg Forest would have far-reaching effects on the subsequent history of both the ancient Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire. Contemporary and modern historians have generally regarded Arminius' victory over Varus as "Rome's greatest defeat", one of the most decisive battles recorded in military history, and as "a turning-point in world history".

In 4 CE, the Roman general (and later emperor) 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. After these conquests, he led his army across the Weser.

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