I am a Uyghur and a history buff. I learned about the story of Arminius and the battle of the Teutoburg forest after I left China and had access to UA-cam, and I have been fascinated by it ever since. This is a nicely presented documentary with a lot of information. Thank you! And Cheers to Arminius!
@@KiNgSaRcAsMoNe@KiNgSaRcAsMoNe China is doing what Romans did to rebellious tribes, just in secret and at a slower speed: mass detention, forced sterilization, forced relocation of Uyghurs to the inner part of China, destruction of Uyghur culture, language, heritage, and population replacement by flooding our homeland with Chinese settlers. It slow-motion genocide.
What many people don’t realize is just how wildly different the forests looked back then! Imagine a landscape so dense and overgrown that stepping into it felt like entering a primeval world. Today, we’d call it an ancient forest a magical, untouched wilderness. Back then, a staggering 85%-95% of what we now call modern Germany was cloaked in these lush, untamed woods. Compare that to today’s mere 32%.
@@freefall9832 Of course. Except for very few places today's forests are the result of cultivation, not original wild forests. 2000 years ago they were like moderate climate jungles.
@@veganbutcherhackepeterno they were not, there was never jungles in northern Europe you clown lol Unless you’re referencing the dinosaurs Most of which lived in the America’s anyhow which is where the super jungles actually were. Same with Africa.
I was there in 2009, just after the 2000th anniversary of the battle in kalkriese, and I have wonderful memories of walking through knee-deep snow across the battlefield museum grounds and marveling at how incredibly somber and still the woods all around us were.
This episode, and your channel, are absolutely spectacular. This is exactly what I expected from the history channel 30 years ago when it came out. Instead, I got ancient aliens. Bravo.
Hi. Much Thanks for the Story! I’m a German and my Home is in Minden, where you was- and Varus too. Not Far Away between the Two Mountains in Barkhausen was found the Summer-Camp of the Romans. Ad Astra!
I find the character of Arminius absolutely fascinating. When and why did he decide to turn against Rome? Did he hate them all along, even during his years there? Or did something happen to change his heart? Did he really do it out of a desire for national liberation, or simply because it served his personal ambitions? We will probably never know, of course, so I think it would be a great opportunity for a talented novelist or screenwriter to fill in the gaps and create a wonderful story.
Well I won't claim they were talented when they went about it, but "they" already produced two seasons of Barbarians on netflix with a 3rd hanging in the balance, which heavily includes Arminius and this battle. I strongly recommend watching the german version over english to hear the actors by their native tongues, with english subs of course. I am a fan of of the show so it must be better than trash, at least.
It's said that he spoke with his father Segimer, whoe hated the Romans, because the Germanic tribes including Cherusci contributed much of their property, like grains, meat and stuff. And the Romans promised to built roads, but Arminius found Germania just being exploited without any giving back from the Roman side, as if they wanted the land just when the Germans are driven out of this land. Before that it seemed they didn't want to develope this lands.
We will never know, but having studied related topics over decades, I can offer some clues to these gaps. * Germanic tribes in this era did not have prisons, nor proper taxes. If you paid something akin to taxes, it was more likely an early form of wergeld - a fine for being a criminal. If you did not have compensation (likely livestock) within a reasonable time, you would be made an indentured servant to the wronged at least until your transgression was paid. This means that two classes of people would have paid something close to "taxes" - criminals and slaves. * Now the Romans arrive and declare the Germanic people must pay them taxes. * There was a second form of punishment - execution. The Germanic people largely reserved this punishment for only the most heinous and despicable of crimes according to their culture, and it was a divine right of the priesthood to condemn an accused to this ignoble death. * Now the Romans implement their system of justice which is notoriously heavy-handed and demands death as a sentence for what would have been seen as relatively minor crimes. * As you can imagine, at this point the Germanic people must feel like they are being made into slaves, treated as criminals and dishonored, not to mention having the divine prerogatives stripped away by the Romans. * On to Varus. The show does not emphasize that during his time, he earned himself a reputation as greedy and corrupt, more than willing to line his pockets heavily while wielding power in one of the richest provinces of the Empire. But now? He is command in a land where the natives are proud but, in terms of commodities, dirt poor, living among forests and swamps. (Consider the relative poverty of the region against the new demand for taxes, as well.) * Additionally, Varus was known for being brutal and merciless to local insurgents who dared oppose him. It is quite easy to imagine that an avaricious Varus did his best to squeeze out all of the profit he could from this land, while using a system of laws that was alien and insulting to the natives - when he even bothered to apply law rather than just use military, and quite likely, lethal force. Putting all this together, it is very, very easy to imagine an occupation that was rather more blook-soaked than the Roman history books care to recall to us. Again, we may never know what Arminius' personal motivations were composed of, but some of this background information surely paints an interesting scene of what the atmosphere simmering below the surface in Germania might have been like, and no doubt it was one that impacted his mind. Here he returns to his homeland, thinking everybody ought to be impressed by Rome, only to find that his homeland is being cruelly oppressed, and all of them rightfully hate Rome. Perhaps him, too, by implication. And at the same time, he sees himself in an almost unnaturally perfect position to set Rome up for historical defeat.
@@botiemaster3356 Thank you! I was marginally aware that there was a netflix show called barbarians but I didn't know this was what it was about. Now I watched the 1st season and enjoyed it a lot. There are some modernisms that unfortunately seem inevitable these days (why does every historical show feel the need to put a woman on a battlefield effortlessly slaying men twice her size...? Do they not recognize any other way of showing a strong character?) and they could have done one more episode to better do justice to the battle itself, but on the whole it was pretty good and I liked the way they portrayed Arminius' dilemmas and his change of heart. Season 2 is said to be much worse and season 3 apparently isn't happening, but I'm still glad I found it, so thanks again for the recommendation.
As usual history hit has provided a clear, detailed and comprehensive story of a watershed moment in ancient European history. Please continue with the all the amazing content. I love this channel!
*A great series, but for the sake of it they should have found a more primeval dark forest in Germany to film, instead of that thinned out Autumn forest who did not resemble the forests of ancient Germania an ounch.*
The actual flaw was to film in a leafless winter forest. When that battle took place, the trees were still in full leaf, and underneath, the gloom of autumn remained even at noon. The birds don't sing anymore in September. In bad weather, everything is grubby and slippery, the smell of moss and rot is everywhere, and the noise of the trees can be intimidating and isolating.
There are basically no remaining old growth forests in Germany, they'd need to go to Białowieża Forest in Poland to really capture the kind of dense foliage they were dealing with
So much better than the last episode. The script and filming is just so much more professional. Not only Tristan’s presenting, but the filler too. Looking forward to more of these!
The Battle of Teutoburg Forest, also known as the "Varian Disaster," was a major Roman military defeat in 9 AD where three Roman legions, considered "lost" because of their near total annihilation, were ambushed and destroyed by Germanic tribes led by Arminius in the Teutoburg Forest, marking a significant setback for Roman expansion in Germania and leaving a lasting impact on European history; the legions involved were typically referred to as the 17th, 18th, and 19th, and were never re-established by the Romans after the battle . I had always known about the Lost Legion Legend , and there have been several videos on its possible where abouts when it happened , and this just elevates the intruigue of it all
Really a great documentary, thank you very much for this !! Great that you lead us to the original site of the final desaster, a real showdown, almost feeling being a part of it .....
I think what got Arminius killed in the end was his Roman education. Despite everything, he still envied Rome, it's strong empire and emperor. But the Germans were many tribes with many rulers, united only by a lose set of traditions and a hatred for anyone trying to interfere in their independence - be they Roman or not. And Arminius, in his arrogance, decided that after his grand victory, he was going to be the leader of all Germans and with it the next threat to Germanic independence. And so, inevitably, he was betrayed by other Germanic warlords and eventually killed - because in the end he became what he set out to defeat. Great documentary. Especially by adding the actual deep forests you can still find only a few kilometers from the modern museum. As mentioned in the film, they pretty much cleared the area of the battlesite for the excavations that are still ongoing. To get a feeling of the environement the Roman legions found themselves in, a walk through the dark German forests is highly recommended - even if there are less of them nowadays, they are not gone.
Arminius was eventually not betrayed and killed by other Germanic warlords, but assumedly murdered by relatives, who were also already known to be rivals or enemies of him within his own Cherusci tribe. After his war against the Romans, his support by the warlords got even bigger at first, when the Longobards and Semnoni joined his alliance to fight just another Germanic alliance led by the Marcomanni, which already had a Germanic king in Marbod. It's not so sure if Arminius really wanted to be king of his alliance and replace it with an actual kingdom or empire, although Marbod and a few others accused him of just that and Arminius certainly claimed leadership. The Romans never addressed him as rex, but as princeps. They too refused to be ruled by a king, but Caesar and Augustus had already shown that you don't really need to be king to have the power of a king. Arminius would have known.
Just imagine youre in that long line of legionnaires when some miles in the front there's an atack. You might not even realize it in time, nor would your numbers matter if everyone is confused and in each other's way
I remember writing a thesis about this battle at school back in the '70s after reading "I, Claudius", (no relation to the author). Arminius, or Herman, was fascinating. Graves mentions his brothers Siegmyrgth and Goldkopf, who I assume were real people, and the antipathy between them and Herman. Herman himself had a wife, Thrusnelda, and a son, also called Herman. Apparently, Herman was eventually murdered by other Germans years later after becoming tyrannical.
So cool to have the Same Name as the author. I recently read Goodbye to All That and found it so moving. Of course I Claudius and Claudius the God are superb.
I really don’t think he even considered this would end up being his most famous words 😭 imagine being the first Roman emperor ever knowing you’ll be etched in history and out of all the speeches you gave in your life in front of crowds of important people, it was some BS you yelled out in pure frustration in front of like 1 guy who writes stuff 😂 what were the odds the paper that was written on would be be found and carried on until 2024?
great video and learned a lot of the battles history.... but those of us that can't make it over to see the area if you would post at least the Lat Longs of the sites of main points like the park so we can look it up on google earth or app something like that..... thanks
I might have missed it, but the battle took place in September. The trees would have been in full foliage and it would have probably been very hot and humid. There’s a desolate beauty to that kind of area in fall, but a different kind of environment in summer.
Hot and humid? You have not lived in Germany. In September, Germany in this area would be fairly pleasant at most, but perhaps already a bit cool - especially if raining, which it would do a third of the month, and depending on cool air coming in from the North Sea. "In September in West central Germany, the average air temperature ranges from 20 °C (68 °F) during the day to 10 °C (50 °F) at night. There are 10 days of rain on average, where the rainfall is 62 mm (2.45 in)." In the shade of the forest, it would be felt to be even cooler, I imagine.
The battle of Teutenburgerwald actually happened 60 km more to the west near kalkreise. Among the fighting tribes there where 2 involved from the area that we call The Netherlands today. That means they travelled about 100 km to get there. Which shows the commitment, communication organisation and tactical capabilities of the northern tribes. And although the Batavi and Chauci where Dutch tribes that where militarily highly praised by the Romans. Famous for their cavalry, horses and skill to swim with horses and cross lakes and rivers fully packed with them (like what..?) Among with the Frisii (not Frisians) they where cleared from taxes by decre as long as they send every second son and 2 horses in the roman army. They fought throughout the empire but revolted 3 times and helped win the battle mentioned here against some of their own tribes man in roman service. I'm not sure but this might explain a lot why the Romans underestimated the battle.
The defeat of the Eastern Romans at Manzikert was arguably just as consequential as Teutoburg Forest, as it set in motion the train of events that eventually snuffed out the empire forever, and brought Islam right to the gates of Vienna.
The battle of Adrianople in 378 A.D. decisively demonstrated the military superiority of Gothic troops. The Empire never really recovered from that. It's a sobering thought that these tough Gothic warriors were (together with their families) fleeing from the Huns, who were destroying everything in their path as they moved west. Ultimately, Gothic troops ended up saving Rome (and Europe as a whole) from Attila and his Huns. Therefore, the Germanic peoples inherited the legacy of Rome in the West, legally, culturally and in religion as well. This is recognized in the creation of a "Holy Roman Empire" (recognized as such by Constantinople) by Charlemagne and his Ottonian successors. This inheritance represents the end of.a Mediterranean centered world, and the birth of Europe. Henri Pirenne is a great source on this ("Mohammed and Charlemagne").
@@SaiGirl in the following battle of Constantinople in 378 the Goths were defeated. In that period the Romans had way too many enemies that consider a tribe superior due to a single battle
If you are fascinated by this Topic, I high recommend “Eagles at War” by Ben Kane. It’s a historical fiction book from the perspective of the fighting men on both sides as well as the key historical figures in the build up, during the event and what happens after. Well researched and largely based/references on the real events. Helped me understand the history and very entertaining.
@@zipperpillow Historical fiction is a literary genre that tells fictional stories set in real historical events and time periods. Fiction is quite broad brush a category without distinguishing. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Dune are all fiction hence why I tried distingush it's relevance, particularly to people who care alot about historical accuracy.
I live nearby the border along an big side arm of the Rhine at Nijmegen. In Nijmegen the biggest Roman fortress of the North western Roman frontier was built directly after the disaster in order to control the enemy towards Kalkriese. From here troops got easy into the far reaches of the Germanic woods and vice versa. Interesting British approach to the Varus disaster. But it is just annoying how only small Roman writings about the disaster and supposed psychological input from Arminius and Varus, all of which are analysed as if there were 1000 Roman pages available about the disaster. And there aren't. So most of it is just assumption and the most even it more or less based on extensive research into how the Roman army would have possibly operated, mainly through re-enactment and the finds at Kalkriese for example. I have also done re-enactment and due to my profession researched this epic period. But it is still an assumption we are dealing with. BTW the use of the gladius laying down on the upper edge of the scutum shield is just a Hollywood approach. If you fight like this it won't work since you will hit your face when you try to block your opponent. The Roman way to place the gladius beside the right side of the shield and try to stab your opponent. Or you will try to stab from above by stabbing into the oppenent's neck or arm pit region.
Arminius was assassinated because afterall he was a roman citizen out to expand his own power. The german tribes valued their freedom and thus refused his calls for a centralized state and killed him rather then submit.
You have to remember also that lots of the Roman soldiers had never seen big, huge, dark, scary forests before in their lives. That would add an extra amount of fear in them.
Arminius didn't do it for an abstract idea of "freedom" of his people but for a very personal advantage: he wanted to get king of the german tribes in the region he originated from. And he actually did - until he was killed by a contender.
It occurs to me that the romans built fortified walls across the british isles to keep "barbarians" at bay. The germans didn't need a wall, they had the forest. That's the forest where three whole legions simply _vanished_ in the darkness between the trees.
I find it ironic, that Hitler celebrated this germanic leader for defeating the "invading empire" as Mussolini, hes big ally wanted to rebuild this same "invading empire".
I see your point, but I suppose Hitler would say to Mussolini the Romans never conquered Germania. At the time Mussolini's dreams of empire were mere fantasies, whereas Hitler's were briefly a tyrannical reality.
I live quite close to the presumed site of the battle. It is a field near a village called Kalkriese near Osnabrück. There is a huge open air museum with a lot of artefacts that is well worth a visit. You can peek into that after 44:00
Arminius and Vlad III Tepes have so much in common: 1. both were prisoners to 2 of the greatest empires of their time. 2. both were taught in the ways of the imperial culture, religion, mindset and strategies. 3. both sided with their peoples and used their gained knowledge against their "educators". 4 both inflicted heavy losses to these empires. 5. both were ultimately betrayed from within.
It is a common misconception that the Goths were "uncivilized barbarians." They were highly intelligent, highly skilled warriors. Their ancestors mostly lived a nomadic lifestyle, coming from the Caucasus region through ancient Scythia and eventually settling in Europe. Before this, they were known secularly as the "Scythians." They were very skilled horseback warriors with extremely good weaponsmithing and archery skills. Germans have been making extremely good weaponry for thousands of years and have been feared on the battlefield. To this day they make some of the finest arms in the world.
Rome’s greatest defeats were the ones they stayed quiet about in their history books, like the battle of Edessa where the Emperor Valerian with his 70,000 men army got captured by Shapur I.
Do you realise that we know those defeats by the romans, right? If they had wanted they could have not written about their defeats and nobody nowadays would know.
It's a kind of a strange coincidence that the battlefield where the former roman army of the Rhine vanished was detected first by a member of the modern army of the Rhine, the british one. In 1986 Maj. Tony Clunn asked the county archaeologist in Osnabrück for a permission to examine the narrow landscape as he had done before in Britain. Soon afterwards he found the first roman coins shown here in this video.
I hate to be 'that guy' as no-one else has said it; I have to. Woger and Woderwik were weleased to be there, along with Flatulent Maximus. Biggus Dickus had long since retired by 9CE Hahahaha
We can estimate the true size of Teutoburg forest back then. Also some if not all spots of the fightings. A map of those 2 findings overlapped would be great to see. I have no idea if going forward would be a better option for Varus, instead returning the way they came. Or maybe changing direction to the closest edge of the forest.
I just wrote a much more offensive comment, with a similar thrust. Cannae was especially devastating, coming as it did, on the heels of the defeats at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, where the Roman armies were almost entirely annihilated at each!
Plus the mighty Hannibal stayed on the peninsula for 10 whole years! Unchallenged and beating an entire generation of Roman armies. One of the most underrated generals in history who fought for the wrong side. If he was Roman, he would be a Caesar level figure without question.
Vincengetorix united the Gauls but was defeated by the Romans. Boudica united the Britons but was defeated by the Romans only Arminius united the Germans and the defeated the Romans. They were never conquered by Rome.
@@labouraredangerous no they didn't, Germania stayed free. The Romans just went on a genocidal mania in Germania slaughtering women and children and the elderly and attempting to genocide the tribes that freed themselves from Rome, but they failed and called it quits. No one was conquered
@@labouraredangerous Incorrect. The Romans just returned some years later for some revenge attacks a little bit of genocide and to retrieve a couple of their fancy sticks.
Why a traitor? Because he stood by his own people? He was a hostage of the romans. They tore him away from his parents and his people as a child. Yes, he was then trained by the Romans, but would you fight against your own people if you were given the opportunity to fight your captors in favour of your people of origin?
@ even if he was a hostage, he was educated by romans, he was treated as a nobleman, and he had the respect and the trust of one of the most important roman generals. He probably had roman friends. At the end he bites his master’s hand. You have to be a traitor to betray trust, even if it comes from your enemy. I think there were more causes for his betrayal other than the fight for freedom. Life is complicated and does not fit simple interpretations.
I believe people nowadays do not appreciate the British museum. They say they stole, but I say they uncovered and preserved history better than the natives. And many things we know is thanks to that museum.
i think its good to know that arminius won due to a lot of good circumstances (as well as his own leadership), but that rome could easily beat him in an actual battle, and they did several times the following years. its not known how many german casualties there were after the campaigns to avenge varus but its suspected to be a lot higher than the roman casualties were in the first battle. also the romans didnt decide to not invade germania because they couldnt, but because they realised it would be way too much effort with very little to gain.
They did invade germania and failed. That it was not worth it was their excuse after 15 years of carnage where they had tried to do precisely that and failed
Rome successfully wiped "Germania" of tribes, and marched them to Rome as slavs to pay for the effort, since there were no mines, or herds to plunder or even farms. These tribes were very poor.
1:11:20 The scholar points out that the memorial to Arminius is not actually at the site of the battle. (They hadn't yet done the necessary archeology by the time of German nationalism of the late 1800's.) While Arminius, a traitor to the Romans who caused 3 legions to be lead into an ambush, definitely represents German tribes' successful fight for freedom from becoming Roman subjects, one should consider that when Rome collapsed and German tribes took over portions (such as the Franks taking over part of what would be France and Germany), they always said that they were perpetuating Rome, and indeed strived repeatedly to reconstitute Rome, even naming their confederation of Dukes and Princes as the Holy Roman Empire. While we all like our independence, we also respect the strengths of others, the Romans being the wealthiest in human history, more intellectually refined, and most of all, bringing peace within their large empire to those who were conquered.
The Romans were like the original Nazis, but way more cruel and inhumane. They committed several holocausts or genocides and considered themselves a master race superior to just everybody else, free to enslave or kill and destroy whoever opposed them. Ironically, German politicians and generals proved way more competent and successful in ruling over united Germans and Romans, like Theoderic the Great, Clovis or the Visigoths in Spain, while most of the late Roman emperors were just glorified selfish idiots wasting Rome's wealth and were mostly just bad in just everything. Even more ironically, between Theoderic and the Franks, Italy was suddenly ruled by the Langobards, who happened to be one of the tribes that had joined the alliance of Arminius and helped him to stop the Marcomanni alliance of Marbod. The world was not at all about only the Romans, even if the records and historians of the Romans used to suggest that.
@ I agree that Rome fell to Germanic tribes because the Germanic tribes could govern better than the weakened Rome and this is because first and foremost a government must protect their subjects and the Germanic tribes met that standard. The emperor was an expense to Romans especially those far from Rome and did not provide them with a return. I also strongly believe the Germans are not fairly portrayed as barbarians and their productivity in weapons was first rate and whatever they had time to work on. I just can’t help but notice that their leaders said they were perpetuating Rome and why did they? They could have viewed Rome as evil! Or inferior. I think that they admired what resulted from the peace within that empire. Art, style, culture, religion, architecture, classical knowledge and writings. Things like jewelry are minor adornments now and art is a minor entertainment now but in the ancient world it was priceless and jewels would be passed down and distinguished nobles and royalty. So the Germans justified their victory as perpetuating Rome.
@@FoundingFathersUSA Germanic tribes differed and changed quite a lot. Some of them were actual barbarians or would always stay enemies of the Romans, while others would become romanized and suddenly care even more about the empire than most of the Romans themselves did. If you think of just the Ostrogoths and the Franks, both had different origins and histories, but both alike learned a lot about the Romans, sometimes as mercenaries, as enemies and allies of Romans alike and evolved very much within a very short time. Both alike became even part of the Huns under Attila and fought Romans allied with Visigoths and other Germanics. Only half a century later, Clovis was not only king but also officially a Roman consul, while Theoderic had basically become Caesar in everything but name, vice emperor below only the Augustus or senior emperor in the east. Who else could perpetuate Rome?
@@FoundingFathersUSA It depends on your point of view. One could say in 476, when Odoacer dethroned Romulus Augustulus and declared the western empire obsolete. But the last western emperor that was officially accepted by the eastern emperor too was still Julius Nepos, so you could just as well say either in 475, when Nepos had to flee from Italy, or that he was officially still emperor until he died in 480.
Sword belt is hanging way too low. The armour needs a modicum of padding under it to minimize the discomfort of metal digging into the shoulders. Great reconstruction though.
Lol, lot of Carrhae fans here in the comments, whining their defeat was bigger. Maybe you take the aftermath of the battle into account. It's the entire retreat of Rom back to the Rhine, that gives Teutoburg its significance.
The Romans came back later, led by Tiber, and they took their revenge.they buried their dead, recovered the 3 eagles and went as far as the border of today's Poland.Arminius was later killed by Germans.the Roman influence imposed itself and many tribes, like the Franks, entered the service of Rome.southern Germany, like Bavaria, was also Romanized.
Legionnaires wore their caps backwards cos like they we’re being street .. which is saying a lot in a time where actual streets werent exactly the norm in most places.
The major problem the Romans, not mentioned in this documentation, caused, was to enforce Roman law & taxes, sometimes punished with crucifications. In Germanic law there were no taxes & no regular death sentences. For example in a case of manslaughter, the slaughterer had to pay alimonies for the family of the victim. Here we find the main reasons for a Germanic resistance. Arminius was very British in his behaviour. And the monument is obviously in the right place. Sometimes scientists are stupid, too.
It is indeed the greatest Roman defeat of all time but what is important to mention is that someone had to survive because those then told the story about their survival and what happened.
Even nowadays, soldiers have assistance when putting on their own kit. You do the buddy system and check your mate's kit and other actions such as reaching into pouches and pockets on bergens inaccessible by the wearer when they're wearing it.
The pilum isn't in steel but in iron. When you thraugh it and you miss, it's falling down, the head is in the ground. So, because it's weight its bent and the iron part is very often broken, the enemy cannot take it back against you. Very clever.
At the Battle of Cannae 216 BC the Romans lost circa 70,000 to Hannibal and at the Battle of Carrhae 53 BC the Tlhe Romans lost circa 30,000 to the Parthians. These loses were much greater than Tuetenberg 9 AD Moreover Augustus had circa 40 legions at his disposal. In percentage terms Tuetenberg was the greatest shock but not the greatest defeat.
If one accounts only for number of lives lost. But in repercussions in history, I would say this was the worst of them all. This defeat, in ultimate consequence, leads to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Tiberius was only 420 miles away from Teutenburg with six legions ,he decided not to go to Teutenburg and annihilate the Cheruschi and allies . In those times those regions were extremely poor and not economically interesting .Rome paid an expencive price for that battle and decided that the price was too much for the benefits. we forgot to mention the cymbrian teutonic wars , rome lost 100000 people in arausio in one single battle against german tribes than later eliminated both german tribes ,200.000 people in open battlelfield with an extremely inferior number of soldiers.Numbers are likely exagerated in an europe that had then only 27 million inhabitants. Hannibal correctly was the real nightmare of rome and defeated romans several times with less soldiers and fighting abroad. Teutenburg is not at all the worst roman defeat .
What is Teutenberg? And the Punic had a real military organisation, the same as the Parthians. The Germans were just ›Barbarians‹ with everyday men who just followed their leaders out of loyalty. No army training and so on. So 15k men almost all slaughtered by those ›casual untrained men‹ is a huge shock.
@@nazarenoorefice2104do you mean the Marcomanni wars that followed after three legions were crushed? There are several of them, because Rome did not accept that the German tribes would not easily conquer them.
The battle "Teutoburg Forest" described here lasted about 3 days and cost the lives of 15,000 Roman legionnaires and their entourage. This was not a battle, it was a slaughter. And this defeat was inflicted on the Romans not by a trained army of a great enemy, but by a few Germanic tribes who were briefly united. This was a very remarkable turning point and turning point for Roman domination. That was one of the beginnings of the end of the Roman Empire.
We must be aware that this battle is one of the most determining events in human history. Because of this battle the Romans decided to make the river Rhine the definitive boundary of the Empire. This caused eventually the divide between the romanic and the germanic peoples. Causing ever continuing competition between these two distinct worlds culminating in both world wars in the 20th century.
Varus was not "well trained, and experienced", he was a politician, had no meaningful Military Campaigns to his name and was singularly focused on enriching himself and those in Rome who he had aligned himself with. He was despised by the Germanic Tribes and commanded no respect from the Legionnaires, he imposed heavy taxes on the Tribes, plundered Grain stores which they depended on through the harsh Winters, Varus was not a "Great Roman General"....
I've always believed that this massacre changed the coarse of German history by giving strength to all the Germanic Tribes and subsequently the rise of powerful Barron's and eventually the Nazis.
I am a Uyghur and a history buff. I learned about the story of Arminius and the battle of the Teutoburg forest after I left China and had access to UA-cam, and I have been fascinated by it ever since. This is a nicely presented documentary with a lot of information. Thank you! And Cheers to Arminius!
So what is happening in china to your brother and sisters?
How dare you thank Arminius. This man was a traitor to Rome.
@@KiNgSaRcAsMoNe@KiNgSaRcAsMoNe China is doing what Romans did to rebellious tribes, just in secret and at a slower speed: mass detention, forced sterilization, forced relocation of Uyghurs to the inner part of China, destruction of Uyghur culture, language, heritage, and population replacement by flooding our homeland with Chinese settlers. It slow-motion genocide.
@@Oath_Keeper1979 "One man's traitor is another man's patriot".
Welcome to UA-cam, so much history for you to discover for the first time!
This brings history alive. Many thanks!
What many people don’t realize is just how wildly different the forests looked back then! Imagine a landscape so dense and overgrown that stepping into it felt like entering a primeval world. Today, we’d call it an ancient forest a magical, untouched wilderness. Back then, a staggering 85%-95% of what we now call modern Germany was cloaked in these lush, untamed woods. Compare that to today’s mere 32%.
Even those remaining forests arent as dense as they once were
I've been in the wilderness, and German forest is tame.
@@freefall9832 Of course. Except for very few places today's forests are the result of cultivation, not original wild forests. 2000 years ago they were like moderate climate jungles.
@@veganbutcherhackepeterno they were not, there was never jungles in northern Europe you clown lol
Unless you’re referencing the dinosaurs
Most of which lived in the America’s anyhow which is where the super jungles actually were. Same with Africa.
Same with UK
I was there in 2009, just after the 2000th anniversary of the battle in kalkriese, and I have wonderful memories of walking through knee-deep snow across the battlefield museum grounds and marveling at how incredibly somber and still the woods all around us were.
The Legionnaires what are seen in this Video are from Germany. The COH I LEG XIX from the Roman Museum Haltern in Germany. Our Reenactment Group.
No it's not! This is the Cleveland Police 3rd district that you have
@@GregoryShtevenshno doubt
Well done. Very convincing and helpful to visually tell the story. 💪🏼👍🏼
......that/who are seen...
Min? sec? Ich lebe am Ort wo es gewesen sein könnte. Doch es war vermutlich Kalkriese.
Tristan always does such a wonderful job presenting, well done mate. Cheers from outback Queensland Australia 😊
Very interesting retelling, and I love the comical shots of Tristan walking through the streets for no reason.
This episode, and your channel, are absolutely spectacular. This is exactly what I expected from the history channel 30 years ago when it came out. Instead, I got ancient aliens. Bravo.
Oh the scene for testing your graphics on Total War: Rome II... "Varus, give me back my legions!" echoes in my head to this day.
Hi. Much Thanks for the Story! I’m a German and my Home is in Minden, where you was- and Varus too.
Not Far Away between the Two Mountains in Barkhausen was found the Summer-Camp of the Romans.
Ad Astra!
I find the character of Arminius absolutely fascinating. When and why did he decide to turn against Rome? Did he hate them all along, even during his years there? Or did something happen to change his heart? Did he really do it out of a desire for national liberation, or simply because it served his personal ambitions? We will probably never know, of course, so I think it would be a great opportunity for a talented novelist or screenwriter to fill in the gaps and create a wonderful story.
Well I won't claim they were talented when they went about it, but "they" already produced two seasons of Barbarians on netflix with a 3rd hanging in the balance, which heavily includes Arminius and this battle. I strongly recommend watching the german version over english to hear the actors by their native tongues, with english subs of course. I am a fan of of the show so it must be better than trash, at least.
It's said that he spoke with his father Segimer, whoe hated the Romans, because the Germanic tribes including Cherusci contributed much of their property, like grains, meat and stuff. And the Romans promised to built roads, but Arminius found Germania just being exploited without any giving back from the Roman side, as if they wanted the land just when the Germans are driven out of this land. Before that it seemed they didn't want to develope this lands.
We will never know, but having studied related topics over decades, I can offer some clues to these gaps.
* Germanic tribes in this era did not have prisons, nor proper taxes. If you paid something akin to taxes, it was more likely an early form of wergeld - a fine for being a criminal. If you did not have compensation (likely livestock) within a reasonable time, you would be made an indentured servant to the wronged at least until your transgression was paid. This means that two classes of people would have paid something close to "taxes" - criminals and slaves.
* Now the Romans arrive and declare the Germanic people must pay them taxes.
* There was a second form of punishment - execution. The Germanic people largely reserved this punishment for only the most heinous and despicable of crimes according to their culture, and it was a divine right of the priesthood to condemn an accused to this ignoble death.
* Now the Romans implement their system of justice which is notoriously heavy-handed and demands death as a sentence for what would have been seen as relatively minor crimes.
* As you can imagine, at this point the Germanic people must feel like they are being made into slaves, treated as criminals and dishonored, not to mention having the divine prerogatives stripped away by the Romans.
* On to Varus. The show does not emphasize that during his time, he earned himself a reputation as greedy and corrupt, more than willing to line his pockets heavily while wielding power in one of the richest provinces of the Empire. But now? He is command in a land where the natives are proud but, in terms of commodities, dirt poor, living among forests and swamps. (Consider the relative poverty of the region against the new demand for taxes, as well.)
* Additionally, Varus was known for being brutal and merciless to local insurgents who dared oppose him. It is quite easy to imagine that an avaricious Varus did his best to squeeze out all of the profit he could from this land, while using a system of laws that was alien and insulting to the natives - when he even bothered to apply law rather than just use military, and quite likely, lethal force.
Putting all this together, it is very, very easy to imagine an occupation that was rather more blook-soaked than the Roman history books care to recall to us. Again, we may never know what Arminius' personal motivations were composed of, but some of this background information surely paints an interesting scene of what the atmosphere simmering below the surface in Germania might have been like, and no doubt it was one that impacted his mind. Here he returns to his homeland, thinking everybody ought to be impressed by Rome, only to find that his homeland is being cruelly oppressed, and all of them rightfully hate Rome. Perhaps him, too, by implication. And at the same time, he sees himself in an almost unnaturally perfect position to set Rome up for historical defeat.
@@botiemaster3356 Thank you! I was marginally aware that there was a netflix show called barbarians but I didn't know this was what it was about. Now I watched the 1st season and enjoyed it a lot. There are some modernisms that unfortunately seem inevitable these days (why does every historical show feel the need to put a woman on a battlefield effortlessly slaying men twice her size...? Do they not recognize any other way of showing a strong character?) and they could have done one more episode to better do justice to the battle itself, but on the whole it was pretty good and I liked the way they portrayed Arminius' dilemmas and his change of heart. Season 2 is said to be much worse and season 3 apparently isn't happening, but I'm still glad I found it, so thanks again for the recommendation.
@@headhunter1945
The Romans stole their belongings.
theft it was, and still is.
They took Germanic women as slaves.
Tristan Hughes is my favourite historian. Always great content and enthusiasm 😊
As usual history hit has provided a clear, detailed and comprehensive story of a watershed moment in ancient European history. Please continue with the all the amazing content. I love this channel!
Well said! 👏
Thanks History Hit. This is fascinating. I love your channel and what you do so so much. Thanks!
*A great series, but for the sake of it they should have found a more primeval dark forest in Germany to film, instead of that thinned out Autumn forest who did not resemble the forests of ancient Germania an ounch.*
The actual flaw was to film in a leafless winter forest. When that battle took place, the trees were still in full leaf, and underneath, the gloom of autumn remained even at noon. The birds don't sing anymore in September. In bad weather, everything is grubby and slippery, the smell of moss and rot is everywhere, and the noise of the trees can be intimidating and isolating.
Ha!Ha!Ha!
bayrischer wald on the edge of the tchek border.
There are basically no remaining old growth forests in Germany, they'd need to go to Białowieża Forest in Poland to really capture the kind of dense foliage they were dealing with
@@eliburry-schnepp6012 bayrischer wald nationalpark.
So much better than the last episode. The script and filming is just so much more professional. Not only Tristan’s presenting, but the filler too. Looking forward to more of these!
Wow! Thanks Steven Speilberg, your criticism is so valuable 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@fitzfitzchivalry4538 Wow! Thanks nobody, your comment is so enlightening ...
@@fitzfitzchivalry4538 Just wonder if you can clean up all by yourself in the bathroom,
or if you still need someone to help you?
@@adambane1719 why are you interested in that sort of stuff? Weirdo
I live in cologne. Or Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. Here we have many traces of the ancient Romans below street level.”
Not only that, but the city layout of Cologne's City Center is still Roman. You can clearly see the old city layout from a satellite picture.
The Battle of Teutoburg Forest, also known as the "Varian Disaster," was a major Roman military defeat in 9 AD where three Roman legions, considered "lost" because of their near total annihilation, were ambushed and destroyed by Germanic tribes led by Arminius in the Teutoburg Forest, marking a significant setback for Roman expansion in Germania and leaving a lasting impact on European history; the legions involved were typically referred to as the 17th, 18th, and 19th, and were never re-established by the Romans after the battle .
I had always known about the Lost Legion Legend , and there have been several videos on its possible where abouts when it happened , and this just elevates the intruigue of it all
Thanks GPT
My father and I visited the museum at Osnabrück where the remnants of the battle are located. It was an amazing experience.
Really a great documentary, thank you very much for this !! Great that you lead us to the original site of the final desaster, a real showdown, almost feeling being a part of it .....
That was the best video I've seen about the war at that time explained!!!!!!!! THX
I think what got Arminius killed in the end was his Roman education. Despite everything, he still envied Rome, it's strong empire and emperor. But the Germans were many tribes with many rulers, united only by a lose set of traditions and a hatred for anyone trying to interfere in their independence - be they Roman or not.
And Arminius, in his arrogance, decided that after his grand victory, he was going to be the leader of all Germans and with it the next threat to Germanic independence. And so, inevitably, he was betrayed by other Germanic warlords and eventually killed - because in the end he became what he set out to defeat.
Great documentary. Especially by adding the actual deep forests you can still find only a few kilometers from the modern museum. As mentioned in the film, they pretty much cleared the area of the battlesite for the excavations that are still ongoing. To get a feeling of the environement the Roman legions found themselves in, a walk through the dark German forests is highly recommended - even if there are less of them nowadays, they are not gone.
Arminius was eventually not betrayed and killed by other Germanic warlords, but assumedly murdered by relatives, who were also already known to be rivals or enemies of him within his own Cherusci tribe. After his war against the Romans, his support by the warlords got even bigger at first, when the Longobards and Semnoni joined his alliance to fight just another Germanic alliance led by the Marcomanni, which already had a Germanic king in Marbod. It's not so sure if Arminius really wanted to be king of his alliance and replace it with an actual kingdom or empire, although Marbod and a few others accused him of just that and Arminius certainly claimed leadership. The Romans never addressed him as rex, but as princeps. They too refused to be ruled by a king, but Caesar and Augustus had already shown that you don't really need to be king to have the power of a king. Arminius would have known.
Thanks for me that was a sensational insight into a story I knew a little of, but this video was so much more.
The quality of these videos are absolutely insane. Great video as always. Nice to see Tristan in another one 🙏
Just imagine youre in that long line of legionnaires when some miles in the front there's an atack. You might not even realize it in time, nor would your numbers matter if everyone is confused and in each other's way
Great channel, another hurrah from me.
I remember writing a thesis about this battle at school back in the '70s after reading "I, Claudius", (no relation to the author). Arminius, or Herman, was fascinating. Graves mentions his brothers Siegmyrgth and Goldkopf, who I assume were real people, and the antipathy between them and Herman. Herman himself had a wife, Thrusnelda, and a son, also called Herman. Apparently, Herman was eventually murdered by other Germans years later after becoming tyrannical.
So cool to have the Same Name as the author. I recently read Goodbye to All That and found it so moving. Of course I Claudius and Claudius the God are superb.
Quintilius Varus Give me back my Legions!!!
No.
😂😂😂
"I want my money back!" M. Tatcher.
Quintilii Varii Legionis readii
I really don’t think he even considered this would end up being his most famous words 😭 imagine being the first Roman emperor ever knowing you’ll be etched in history and out of all the speeches you gave in your life in front of crowds of important people, it was some BS you yelled out in pure frustration in front of like 1 guy who writes stuff 😂 what were the odds the paper that was written on would be be found and carried on until 2024?
excellent documentary, well done!
great video and learned a lot of the battles history.... but those of us that can't make it over to see the area if you would post at least the Lat Longs of the sites of main points like the park so we can look it up on google earth or app something like that..... thanks
How I love History ❤
I might have missed it, but the battle took place in September. The trees would have been in full foliage and it would have probably been very hot and humid.
There’s a desolate beauty to that kind of area in fall, but a different kind of environment in summer.
Hot and humid? You have not lived in Germany. In September, Germany in this area would be fairly pleasant at most, but perhaps already a bit cool - especially if raining, which it would do a third of the month, and depending on cool air coming in from the North Sea. "In September in West central Germany, the average air temperature ranges from 20 °C (68 °F) during the day to 10 °C (50 °F) at night. There are 10 days of rain on average, where the rainfall is 62 mm (2.45 in)." In the shade of the forest, it would be felt to be even cooler, I imagine.
Hot and humid in Germany in September, holy shit you are dumb if you actually believe that lol
It literally snows in fall Northern Europe
The battle of Teutenburgerwald actually happened 60 km more to the west near kalkreise. Among the fighting tribes there where 2 involved from the area that we call The Netherlands today. That means they travelled about 100 km to get there. Which shows the commitment, communication organisation and tactical capabilities of the northern tribes.
And although the Batavi and Chauci where Dutch tribes that where militarily highly praised by the Romans. Famous for their cavalry, horses and skill to swim with horses and cross lakes and rivers fully packed with them (like what..?) Among with the Frisii (not Frisians) they where cleared from taxes by decre as long as they send every second son and 2 horses in the roman army. They fought throughout the empire but revolted 3 times and helped win the battle mentioned here against some of their own tribes man in roman service. I'm not sure but this might explain a lot why the Romans underestimated the battle.
Chauki are not Dutch. Batavi ok, but not the Chauki tribe.
@@DerHilti Any Frisii involved ? 😁
The defeat of the Eastern Romans at Manzikert was arguably just as consequential as Teutoburg Forest, as it set in motion the train of events that eventually snuffed out the empire forever, and brought Islam right to the gates of Vienna.
The battle of Adrianople in 378 A.D. decisively demonstrated the military superiority of Gothic troops. The Empire never really recovered from that. It's a sobering thought that these tough Gothic warriors were (together with their families) fleeing from the Huns, who were destroying everything in their path as they moved west. Ultimately, Gothic troops ended up saving Rome (and Europe as a whole) from Attila and his Huns. Therefore, the Germanic peoples inherited the legacy of Rome in the West, legally, culturally and in religion as well. This is recognized in the creation of a "Holy Roman Empire" (recognized as such by Constantinople) by Charlemagne and his Ottonian successors. This inheritance represents the end of.a Mediterranean centered world, and the birth of Europe. Henri Pirenne is a great source on this ("Mohammed and Charlemagne").
@@SaiGirl in the following battle of Constantinople in 378 the Goths were defeated. In that period the Romans had way too many enemies that consider a tribe superior due to a single battle
If you are fascinated by this Topic, I high recommend “Eagles at War” by Ben Kane.
It’s a historical fiction book from the perspective of the fighting men on both sides as well as the key historical figures in the build up, during the event and what happens after.
Well researched and largely based/references on the real events. Helped me understand the history and very entertaining.
All you had to say was "fiction".
@@zipperpillow
Historical fiction is a literary genre that tells fictional stories set in real historical events and time periods.
Fiction is quite broad brush a category without distinguishing. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Dune are all fiction hence why I tried distingush it's relevance, particularly to people who care alot about historical accuracy.
I live nearby the border along an big side arm of the Rhine at Nijmegen. In Nijmegen the biggest Roman fortress of the North western Roman frontier was built directly after the disaster in order to control the enemy towards Kalkriese. From here troops got easy into the far reaches of the Germanic woods and vice versa. Interesting British approach to the Varus disaster. But it is just annoying how only small Roman writings about the disaster and supposed psychological input from Arminius and Varus, all of which are analysed as if there were 1000 Roman pages available about the disaster. And there aren't. So most of it is just assumption and the most even it more or less based on extensive research into how the Roman army would have possibly operated, mainly through re-enactment and the finds at Kalkriese for example. I have also done re-enactment and due to my profession researched this epic period. But it is still an assumption we are dealing with. BTW the use of the gladius laying down on the upper edge of the scutum shield is just a Hollywood approach. If you fight like this it won't work since you will hit your face when you try to block your opponent. The Roman way to place the gladius beside the right side of the shield and try to stab your opponent. Or you will try to stab from above by stabbing into the oppenent's neck or arm pit region.
Arminius was assassinated because afterall he was a roman citizen out to expand his own power. The german tribes valued their freedom and thus refused his calls for a centralized state and killed him rather then submit.
He was stabbed to death by a relative. Your fantasy is not factual.
You have to remember also that lots of the Roman soldiers had never seen big, huge, dark, scary forests before in their lives. That would add an extra amount of fear in them.
Thanks for making this docu ! you looked verry good in that roman uniform ...
Brian blessed talking loudly
Arminius didn't do it for an abstract idea of "freedom" of his people but for a very personal advantage: he wanted to get king of the german tribes in the region he originated from. And he actually did - until he was killed by a contender.
"Arminius didn't do it for an abstract idea of "freedom" of his people"
How do you know? Did you talk to him?
Great video!
Just amazing, incredible story. Roman did not go further. But German people did get into Rome, Spain…
Truth is, Germania was not worth the hassle. Too bloody cold. The Romans only held the fairest parts of Europe.
The Romans were a Mediterranean civilisation, based on, among others, the culture of the wine and olive.
It occurs to me that the romans built fortified walls across the british isles to keep "barbarians" at bay.
The germans didn't need a wall, they had the forest.
That's the forest where three whole legions simply _vanished_ in the darkness between the trees.
A genious act of military history really
...'fortunate son'-vibes intensifies...!
The trees speak German.
Yes they do 😊 they sing a song - watch - tube - Dr Ludwig - """Wir rufen deine Wolfe ""'. Enjoy 😊
@@mrkus-nc7od… ja , stimmt !
Brilliant, thank you.
I find it ironic, that Hitler celebrated this germanic leader for defeating the "invading empire" as Mussolini, hes big ally wanted to rebuild this same "invading empire".
I see your point, but I suppose Hitler would say to Mussolini the Romans never conquered Germania. At the time Mussolini's dreams of empire were mere fantasies, whereas Hitler's were briefly a tyrannical reality.
Hitler got alot of things wrong. Including history.
I live quite close to the presumed site of the battle. It is a field near a village called Kalkriese near Osnabrück. There is a huge open air museum with a lot of artefacts that is well worth a visit. You can peek into that after 44:00
I was born in Minden und grew up next to it. It is so strange to see this little town in a British tv serie.
Thank you very much. Philadelphia USA 🇺🇸 Nostrovia 🙏🌎🏥⚡️
Arminius and Vlad III Tepes have so much in common:
1. both were prisoners to 2 of the greatest empires of their time.
2. both were taught in the ways of the imperial culture, religion, mindset and strategies.
3. both sided with their peoples and used their gained knowledge against their "educators".
4 both inflicted heavy losses to these empires.
5. both were ultimately betrayed from within.
It is a common misconception that the Goths were "uncivilized barbarians." They were highly intelligent, highly skilled warriors. Their ancestors mostly lived a nomadic lifestyle, coming from the Caucasus region through ancient Scythia and eventually settling in Europe. Before this, they were known secularly as the "Scythians." They were very skilled horseback warriors with extremely good weaponsmithing and archery skills. Germans have been making extremely good weaponry for thousands of years and have been feared on the battlefield. To this day they make some of the finest arms in the world.
Rome’s greatest defeats were the ones they stayed quiet about in their history books, like the battle of Edessa where the Emperor Valerian with his 70,000 men army got captured by Shapur I.
good point.
...of couse!
A Roman EMPEROR (!!) captured on the field of battle. Incredible....
And the battle of Carrhae where a clueless Marcus Crassus led 30,000 legionnaires to death.
Do you realise that we know those defeats by the romans, right? If they had wanted they could have not written about their defeats and nobody nowadays would know.
It's a kind of a strange coincidence that the battlefield where the former roman army of the Rhine vanished was detected first by a member of the modern army of the Rhine, the british one. In 1986 Maj. Tony Clunn asked the county archaeologist in Osnabrück for a permission to examine the narrow landscape as he had done before in Britain. Soon afterwards he found the first roman coins shown here in this video.
Lleonidas shouted: This is Sparta!
Arminius shouted: This ist Ostwestfalen!
Was Biggus Dickus in this battle?
Yes. He wrote this episode.
@@zipperpillowNo, his wife, Incontinentia Buttocks, wouldn’t let him.
Yup, she went off with Connie Lingus @@jonesyjones7626
I hate to be 'that guy' as no-one else has said it; I have to. Woger and Woderwik were weleased to be there, along with Flatulent Maximus. Biggus Dickus had long since retired by 9CE
Hahahaha
Great video
We can estimate the true size of Teutoburg forest back then. Also some if not all spots of the fightings. A map of those 2 findings overlapped would be great to see. I have no idea if going forward would be a better option for Varus, instead returning the way they came. Or maybe changing direction to the closest edge of the forest.
"where are my eagles" I claudius
lostdius is still looking for them Claudius
we must send finddius the great looker of looking up 👀
UA-cam has become unwatchable with too many ads.
But sadly a small price to watch a decent documentary.
I always thought Cannae was the worst defeat, 75,000 Romans lost.
I just wrote a much more offensive comment, with a similar thrust.
Cannae was especially devastating, coming as it did, on the heels of the defeats at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, where the Roman armies were almost entirely annihilated at each!
Plus the mighty Hannibal stayed on the peninsula for 10 whole years! Unchallenged and beating an entire generation of Roman armies. One of the most underrated generals in history who fought for the wrong side. If he was Roman, he would be a Caesar level figure without question.
Yeah, but the Romans conquered and destroyed Karthago, but not Germania Magna.
That was also before the Roman Army became Professional.
It certainly was!
everyone is gangster until the trees start chanting germanic
Vincengetorix united the Gauls but was defeated by the Romans. Boudica united the Britons but was defeated by the Romans only Arminius united the Germans and the defeated the Romans. They were never conquered by Rome.
There was nothing to conquer.
Romans went back after this battle and conquered all the tribes who went up against them
Arminius was defeated... by his own countryman btw...
@@labouraredangerous no they didn't, Germania stayed free. The Romans just went on a genocidal mania in Germania slaughtering women and children and the elderly and attempting to genocide the tribes that freed themselves from Rome, but they failed and called it quits. No one was conquered
@@labouraredangerous Incorrect. The Romans just returned some years later for some revenge attacks a little bit of genocide and to retrieve a couple of their fancy sticks.
My Latin master used to call him "Herman the German"
Clever and brave, but also traitor Arminius. Excellent documentary
Why a traitor? Because he stood by his own people? He was a hostage of the romans. They tore him away from his parents and his people as a child. Yes, he was then trained by the Romans, but would you fight against your own people if you were given the opportunity to fight your captors in favour of your people of origin?
@ even if he was a hostage, he was educated by romans, he was treated as a nobleman, and he had the respect and the trust of one of the most important roman generals. He probably had roman friends. At the end he bites his master’s hand. You have to be a traitor to betray trust, even if it comes from your enemy. I think there were more causes for his betrayal other than the fight for freedom. Life is complicated and does not fit simple interpretations.
Roman was a slave society. He decided not to be a Romen slave.
i just love fact that british museum literally have everything
Took everything yes
Yes, museum of thieves. They have except pyramids. Hahaha.
I believe people nowadays do not appreciate the British museum. They say they stole, but I say they uncovered and preserved history better than the natives. And many things we know is thanks to that museum.
If the "natives" were not taking good care of their heritage how was it there for the British to take?
@@uningenieromas Yes, and most of it was given or traded for, if not found. But these idiots only learn about history from hollywood and tiktok.
How am I this early
Same. 😂
Our narrator calls it the teutoburg forest disaster..im guessing hes not german
Eh disaster works for both. The Germans did kinda get brutally pacified after the battle.
"Als die Römer frech geworden,gingen sie in T/Deutschlands Norden."
i think its good to know that arminius won due to a lot of good circumstances (as well as his own leadership), but that rome could easily beat him in an actual battle, and they did several times the following years. its not known how many german casualties there were after the campaigns to avenge varus but its suspected to be a lot higher than the roman casualties were in the first battle. also the romans didnt decide to not invade germania because they couldnt, but because they realised it would be way too much effort with very little to gain.
They did invade germania and failed. That it was not worth it was their excuse after 15 years of carnage where they had tried to do precisely that and failed
Your comment is so inaccurate its actually hilarious !
Rome successfully wiped "Germania" of tribes, and marched them to Rome as slavs to pay for the effort, since there were no mines, or herds to plunder or even farms. These tribes were very poor.
1:11:20 The scholar points out that the memorial to Arminius is not actually at the site of the battle. (They hadn't yet done the necessary archeology by the time of German nationalism of the late 1800's.) While Arminius, a traitor to the Romans who caused 3 legions to be lead into an ambush, definitely represents German tribes' successful fight for freedom from becoming Roman subjects, one should consider that when Rome collapsed and German tribes took over portions (such as the Franks taking over part of what would be France and Germany), they always said that they were perpetuating Rome, and indeed strived repeatedly to reconstitute Rome, even naming their confederation of Dukes and Princes as the Holy Roman Empire. While we all like our independence, we also respect the strengths of others, the Romans being the wealthiest in human history, more intellectually refined, and most of all, bringing peace within their large empire to those who were conquered.
The Romans were like the original Nazis, but way more cruel and inhumane. They committed several holocausts or genocides and considered themselves a master race superior to just everybody else, free to enslave or kill and destroy whoever opposed them. Ironically, German politicians and generals proved way more competent and successful in ruling over united Germans and Romans, like Theoderic the Great, Clovis or the Visigoths in Spain, while most of the late Roman emperors were just glorified selfish idiots wasting Rome's wealth and were mostly just bad in just everything.
Even more ironically, between Theoderic and the Franks, Italy was suddenly ruled by the Langobards, who happened to be one of the tribes that had joined the alliance of Arminius and helped him to stop the Marcomanni alliance of Marbod. The world was not at all about only the Romans, even if the records and historians of the Romans used to suggest that.
@ I agree that Rome fell to Germanic tribes because the Germanic tribes could govern better than the weakened Rome and this is because first and foremost a government must protect their subjects and the Germanic tribes met that standard. The emperor was an expense to Romans especially those far from Rome and did not provide them with a return. I also strongly believe the Germans are not fairly portrayed as barbarians and their productivity in weapons was first rate and whatever they had time to work on. I just can’t help but notice that their leaders said they were perpetuating Rome and why did they? They could have viewed Rome as evil! Or inferior. I think that they admired what resulted from the peace within that empire. Art, style, culture, religion, architecture, classical knowledge and writings. Things like jewelry are minor adornments now and art is a minor entertainment now but in the ancient world it was priceless and jewels would be passed down and distinguished nobles and royalty. So the Germans justified their victory as perpetuating Rome.
@@FoundingFathersUSA Germanic tribes differed and changed quite a lot. Some of them were actual barbarians or would always stay enemies of the Romans, while others would become romanized and suddenly care even more about the empire than most of the Romans themselves did. If you think of just the Ostrogoths and the Franks, both had different origins and histories, but both alike learned a lot about the Romans, sometimes as mercenaries, as enemies and allies of Romans alike and evolved very much within a very short time. Both alike became even part of the Huns under Attila and fought Romans allied with Visigoths and other Germanics. Only half a century later, Clovis was not only king but also officially a Roman consul, while Theoderic had basically become Caesar in everything but name, vice emperor below only the Augustus or senior emperor in the east. Who else could perpetuate Rome?
@@reinercelsus8299 What became of the emperor (of the western Roman Empire)? When did he officially cease to exist?
@@FoundingFathersUSA It depends on your point of view. One could say in 476, when Odoacer dethroned Romulus Augustulus and declared the western empire obsolete. But the last western emperor that was officially accepted by the eastern emperor too was still Julius Nepos, so you could just as well say either in 475, when Nepos had to flee from Italy, or that he was officially still emperor until he died in 480.
Sword belt is hanging way too low. The armour needs a modicum of padding under it to minimize the discomfort of metal digging into the shoulders. Great reconstruction though.
10:39 thats a bad turn :( (but otherwise great content, thanks)
Gorgeous ring.
Lol, lot of Carrhae fans here in the comments, whining their defeat was bigger. Maybe you take the aftermath of the battle into account. It's the entire retreat of Rom back to the Rhine, that gives Teutoburg its significance.
The Romans came back later, led by Tiber, and they took their revenge.they buried their dead, recovered the 3 eagles and went as far as the border of today's Poland.Arminius was later killed by Germans.the Roman influence imposed itself and many tribes, like the Franks, entered the service of Rome.southern Germany, like Bavaria, was also Romanized.
And the Germans came back and took over the whole western roman empire 😂
Rome was sacked twice by Germanics.
@@cmd7930 Rome won many times against the Germans and lost too. that's life. what remains is Rome's heritage, which forms the basis of the West.
@@kurt8597 As does the germanic heritage, it is a combination of the two. Neither one could overtake the other completely.
Legionnaires wore their caps backwards cos like they we’re being street .. which is saying a lot in a time where actual streets werent exactly the norm in most places.
The major problem the Romans, not mentioned in this documentation, caused, was to enforce Roman law & taxes, sometimes punished with crucifications. In Germanic law there were no taxes & no regular death sentences. For example in a case of manslaughter, the slaughterer had to pay alimonies for the family of the victim. Here we find the main reasons for a Germanic resistance. Arminius was very British in his behaviour. And the monument is obviously in the right place. Sometimes scientists are stupid, too.
Brilliant video; subscribed, but must say that the turn at 10m40s was not very Germanic... 😂😉
36:00 What statue is that? Looks like the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty! 🤔
The world doesn't revolves around everything American 😅
Romes greatest defeat in terms of numbers was surely the masacre at Canae by Hanibal. The tactics are still taught in military staff colleges today
It is indeed the greatest Roman defeat of all time but what is important to mention is that someone had to survive because those then told the story about their survival and what happened.
Thannk you.
The real winner of this video is Tristan's Teutoburg one-star review by Publius shirt.
Why would it be at Teutoburg Forest and not in Teutoburg Forest?
It’s funny how there seem to be more videos about this one defeat than about all the conquests Rome achieved!
Even nowadays, soldiers have assistance when putting on their own kit. You do the buddy system and check your mate's kit and other actions such as reaching into pouches and pockets on bergens inaccessible by the wearer when they're wearing it.
Where would I get Dr. Ball's study? Seems interesting.
The pilum isn't in steel but in iron. When you thraugh it and you miss, it's falling down, the head is in the ground. So, because it's weight its bent and the iron part is very often broken, the enemy cannot take it back against you. Very clever.
At the Battle of Cannae 216 BC the Romans lost circa 70,000 to Hannibal and at the Battle of Carrhae 53 BC the Tlhe Romans lost circa 30,000 to the Parthians. These loses were much greater than Tuetenberg 9 AD
Moreover Augustus had circa 40 legions at his disposal. In percentage terms Tuetenberg was the greatest shock but not the greatest defeat.
If one accounts only for number of lives lost. But in repercussions in history, I would say this was the worst of them all. This defeat, in ultimate consequence, leads to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Tiberius was only 420 miles away from Teutenburg with six legions ,he decided not to go to Teutenburg and annihilate the Cheruschi and allies . In those times those regions were extremely poor and not economically interesting .Rome paid an expencive price for that battle and decided that the price was too much for the benefits.
we forgot to mention the cymbrian teutonic wars , rome lost 100000 people in arausio in one single battle against german tribes than later eliminated both german tribes ,200.000 people in open battlelfield with an extremely inferior number of soldiers.Numbers are likely exagerated in an europe that had then only 27 million inhabitants.
Hannibal correctly was the real nightmare of rome and defeated romans several times with less soldiers and fighting abroad.
Teutenburg is not at all the worst roman defeat .
What is Teutenberg? And the Punic had a real military organisation, the same as the Parthians. The Germans were just ›Barbarians‹ with everyday men who just followed their leaders out of loyalty. No army training and so on. So 15k men almost all slaughtered by those ›casual untrained men‹ is a huge shock.
@@nazarenoorefice2104do you mean the Marcomanni wars that followed after three legions were crushed? There are several of them, because Rome did not accept that the German tribes would not easily conquer them.
The battle "Teutoburg Forest" described here lasted about 3 days and cost the lives of 15,000 Roman legionnaires and their entourage. This was not a battle, it was a slaughter. And this defeat was inflicted on the Romans not by a trained army of a great enemy, but by a few Germanic tribes who were briefly united. This was a very remarkable turning point and turning point for Roman domination. That was one of the beginnings of the end of the Roman Empire.
Tristan is almost the opposite of my type but damn.. there’s something about him.
Chill Bro
We must be aware that this battle is one of the most determining events in human history. Because of this battle the Romans decided to make the river Rhine the definitive boundary of the Empire. This caused eventually the divide between the romanic and the germanic peoples. Causing ever continuing competition between these two distinct worlds culminating in both world wars in the 20th century.
germans and romans were allies durin ww2 lol
Varus was not "well trained, and experienced", he was a politician, had no meaningful Military Campaigns to his name and was singularly focused on enriching himself and those in Rome who he had aligned himself with. He was despised by the Germanic Tribes and commanded no respect from the Legionnaires, he imposed heavy taxes on the Tribes, plundered Grain stores which they depended on through the harsh Winters, Varus was not a "Great Roman General"....
Fun fact: The first artefacts of the battle near Kalkriese were discovered by a british army Major and amateur historian.
Tony Clunn RIP
Let me guess where it ended up then😂
@@tombrunner81810:17
Was Arminius the progenitor of the rebellion, or did his conversations with the tribes actually prevail upon him?
Yes. The Cherusci and some of their allies eventually united again and became the Saxons.
Might fit a few more ads if you tried harder
I've always believed that this massacre changed the coarse of German history by giving strength to all the Germanic Tribes and subsequently the rise of powerful Barron's and eventually the Nazis.
no
🗿 Твоё лицо, когда ты идёшь с друзьями по Тевтобургскому лесу и вдруг слышишь:
~ Гуттэн таг, комрадэн... 👋☺️