AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 275 of 332 13 Battle of Teutoberg : The Roman Defeat in 9AD that Changed Europe Forever Mr K C R Anand Genre: History he Roman Empire had expanded and saw an era of peace during the reign of Emperor Augustus Caesar who had already ruled for over 36 years. Around 9AD, the empire stretched from the North Sea to the River Nile in Africa and from Spain in the West to River Euphrates in the East. It was a normal practice for Roman expansion strategy to form allied occupied states surrounding Rome to pay taxes and tributes. They would as part of the military strategy take possession of young healthy boys of families in these occupied territories as tribute. Mainly for 2 reasons, first, the boys when brought back to Rome would grow up learning Roman ways and culture to form part of the Roman auxiliary troops; providing the much-needed manpower to manage the huge empire. Another reason: Rome would also have an upper hand to send these groomed soldiers back to the occupied areas and help in better negotiation for lasting peace. One such campaign that took place in the depths of Germania resulted in utter disaster for Rome and made a permanent effect on Europe. This is that story. Rome had already established a few well-known garrison towns like Mainz, Bonn and Cologne, West of the River Rhine. This fresh campaign aimed to expand the empire East of the River. The region between Rhine and Elbe was considered dangerous by the Romans. Twenty years prior to 9AD, a Roman General Drusus was given the task to occupy these lands East of the River Rhine. The land belonged to a few of the most volatile Germanic tribes (Cherusci, Chatti, Frisi, Bructeri and others) who had been natives for long. No one had ventured that far, but Drusus managed to ensure a reasonable period of peace. Around 9BC, two young boys named Arminius and his brother Flavus had been sent to Rome as tribute by their father who was a respected nobleman and Chieftain of the Cherusci Tribe. Drusus later fell of his horse and died during one of the campaigns and his brother Tiberius took over to complete the task. He adopted cruel methods to extract tax threatening the tribes, thanks to Rome’s continued iron grip in the region. In the meantime, the empire had experienced a revolt down South at Illyria (close to North Balkans), so Tiberius, given his military prowess, was promptly dispatched to quell the same. Rome, then chose an exceptionally good administrator, General Publius Quinctilius Varus, who in the past managed the Syrian territory of Rome, as his replacement. He was tasked to control Germania and its tribes, between the rivers Rhine and Elbe, and ensure taxes were being paid in time and T