AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 278 of 332 campaign in that region six years later found bones of fallen Romans all over the area where the battle took place including evidence of their hands, heads or legs being cutoff and nailed to the trees. Many were also sacrificed to the forest gods by killing and dumping them into the swamps nearby. They only recovered the Eagle standards. This Roman defeat unlike all other previous battles and defeats had a profound impact on the expansion plans of the Roman Empire and changed the very shape of the empire. Rome had lost ten percent of its soldiers and the number of legions reduced from 28 to 25. Rome never raised the 3 legions for the next two hundred years. Arminius became the leader among the Germanic tribes and six years later would face General Germanicus that ended in a stalemate. He remained undefeated but it is said the Germanic tribes feared that Arminius could become king. Internal rivalry among the tribes led to his assassination some years later in 21 AD. This battle had a huge an enduring impact on the language and cultural divide in Europe with the River Rhine as its boundary. To this day West of the Rhine speak Latin influenced languages like Spanish, Italian and French while East of the Rhine it is the Germanic languages. In the late nineteenth century, Arminius’s Latin name would be dropped and would be called “Herman the German” and become a symbol of German national resistance or movement. An imposing statue would also be erected around the Teutoburg forest area which can be seen to this day. Historians have unearthed more facts in the 1980s in the region surrounding this historic battle as the learning from a military history perspective continues. About the Author Mr. Anand K C R is a Finance professional and works for a multinational bank, but an ardent lover of military history. Besides his extensive reading on the topic, he is a collector of World War memorabilia, which include miniature models of tanks, aircraft and other weaponry that adorn his living room. Anand lives in Chennai with his family and can be contacted at kcra73@yahoo.com