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Clades Variana
(The Varus Disaster)
Dramatis Personae
The Setup
The First Dat and Ambush
The Second Day
The News Reaches Rome
Links About The Battle
The Battlefield at Kalkriese
The Setup:
Roman Forces
For the defense of Germany, Varus had available:
Three veteran legions, Legio XVII, Legio XVIII and Legio XIX with 5,000 men each.
2 Roman cavalry alae and 1 Gallic alae with 500 men and cavalry troops each.
There were also 6 auxiliary cohorts made up of local recruits (or possibly recruits from Gaul) with a nominal strength of 500 men each. These troops were used to garrison the Roman forts and strongpoints throughout Germany.
For the battle, Varus had the 3 legions, 3 cavalry alae and possibly some of the auxiliary cohorts.
The remainder of the auxiliaries were on garrison duty and took no direct part in the battle, but were involved in the general uprising. The total number of men in the legions under Varus has been estimated at a low of 6,000 men to a high of 18,000. The cavalry alae have been estimated at between 400 and 800. (We are not sure if these estimates are for the horse compliment only or all riders and support troops.) If we accept the normal strength of the time for the legions and alae, then Varus would have had 16,500 men under his command at the time of battle.
Two of the legionary Praefects were Lucius Eggius and Ceionius. The cavalry were under Praefect (praefecti equitum) C. Numonius Vala. More about them (and particularly Vala) later.
German Tribes
Initially, there were 3 tribes involved on the German side, the Cherusci, Chaucii and Marsii. As the battle turned against the Roman, more tribes joined the attack. The exact number of men and tribes involved is not known. We do know that at least one tribe, the Marcomanni, remained neutral during the fight. However, it can be reasonably assumed that the numbers would at least equal the strength of the Roman force.
The Setup:
By some accounts, Arminius put together a subtle plan to draw the Romans out of their fortifications and into an area that heavily favored the attacking Germans. At the same time, the Roman forts north of the Rhine would be attacked. A report was given to Varus that a tribe in the far north had revolted. Varus would have to march a long distance through supposedly friendly territory to get there. The route he would take goes through the Teutoburg Forest (an area roughly 70 miles across between modern Osnabruck and Paderborn) which was a deeply wooded area full of tall trees, dense underbrush, almost impassible ravines and dank swamps.
Curiously, Varus was warned about the coming attack by Segistes, a Cherusci, who was the father-in-law to Arminius. Segistes apparently opposed the marriage of Arminius and his daughter Thusnelda. That opposition caused acrimony and was to play a part in the downfall of Arminius years later. Varus chose to ignore the warning.
From Cassius Dio, "The Roman History", Book LVI:19
He thus became complacent to the point of rashness, and since he expected no harm, he not only disbelieved all those who suspected what was happening and urged him to be on his guard, but actually reproved them for being needlessly alarmed and for slandering his friends. Then an uprising broke out, the first to rebel being those peoples who lived at some distance from him. This had been deliberately contrived to entice Varus to march against them, so that he could the more easily be overwhelmed while he was crossing what he imagined to be friendly territory, instead of putting himself on his guard, as he would do in the event of the whole country taking up arms against him simultaneously.
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