Avenging Varus - Battle of the Angrivarian Wall (16 AD)
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- The Germanic tribes prepare to make their final stand against the Roman Army at the Battle of the Angrivarian Wall in 16 AD. Claim your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: try.magellantv.... Start your free trial TODAY so you can watch "Germany From Above" about the incredible landscape of Germania, and the rest of MagellanTV’s documentary collection: www.magellantv...
This history documentary is a continuation of our Avenging Varus series.
The Roman Army of Germanicus had just defeated Arminius in the colossal battle of Idistaviso in 16 AD. Tens of thousands lay dead and by any stretch of the imagination, that was the end of the war. However the arrogance of the Roman legions in erecting a massive trophy deep within Germanic lands served as a lightning rod for renewed opposition forces. These now made ready for one last stand at the Battle of the Angrivarian Wall!
Be sure to check out these other history documentary episodes from our Avenging Varus series which covers the prior chapters of the Roman Germanic War:
Avenging Varus Part 1 - Campaigns of Tiberius (10-14 AD)
Avenging Varus Part 2 - Campaigns of Germanicus (14-15 AD)
Avenging Varus Part 3 - Battle of the Long Bridges (15 AD)
Avenging Varus Part 4 - Battle of Idistaviso (16 AD)
Bibliography and Suggested Reading:
"Campaigns of Germanicus, 13-16 AD" by Ilkka Syvänne
"The Annals" by Cornelius Tacitus
"Roman Soldier Vs Germanic Warrior: 1st Century AD" by Osprey Publishing
"In the Name of Rome" by Adrian Goldsworthy
Research: Chris Das Neves and Eric Tenwolde
Writing: Chris Das Neves
Narration: Invicta
Production: Penta Limited
#Rome
#History
#Documentary
If you are just joining us for this series. Here are the previous episodes:
Part 1 - th-cam.com/video/7uV-n_LNQ6Y/w-d-xo.html
Part 2 - th-cam.com/video/V9EJXiS4UL8/w-d-xo.html
Part 3 - th-cam.com/video/BB1ccKhC6iE/w-d-xo.html
Part 4 - th-cam.com/video/aYBR0-iVDnI/w-d-xo.html
An idea for a future video: How scouting works?
Often in many videos scouting is quickly mentioned as this simple thing everyone did which had a major impact on wins and losses, but how was this carried out? How did scouts find what they where looking for? Avoid capture and death and being the ones riding into blind territory, how did they so effectively remain the eyes of an army? Its something I feel is often glossed over here on youtube and it would be neat to learn more extensively how scouting worked
You should add these to a Playlist man
exquisite videos, mate. thank you.
Questions are welcome, so... why: " 'transphobia' will you get you banned"? I mean, why this specific phobia alone? Isn't it a sign of discrimination that just this single phobia is named, suggesting other phobias are of lesser importance?? So it is indirectly encouraged to be, say, racist, as long as it is not transphobic racism???
Armies would use horns, trumpets, drums, certain flags or banners and battle messenger or runners via foot or horse to inform ranking members of battle needs.
I may have missed something in this list. War cries or chants were sometimes used by certain races/groups but more larger armies had an official means as they were trained to what each thing meant.
Take a shot every time the Roman fleet sails into a storm.
Damn dude, we're trying to get drunk not die
Well the Romans are known for their army, not their navy.
and seperated from food supplies xD
@@phetproductions5818 Which is rather ironic because the army usually suffered the more emberassing defeats while the roman navy crushed every opposition it ever had and defeated a technologically more advanced and far better trained carthaginian navy with ingenuity and absolute iron will (cause Neptune loves to sink their fleets).
the roman navy was at least equally impressive comparred to the roman army, after the establishment of roman dominance over the mediterranian it simply lost its purpose compared to the army defending the giant land borders. At its peak the roman navy won Rome the first punic war despite their fleet getting fucked by storms twice.
I think sea storms and Rome are enemies like NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox. They can't live without each others
"But the enemy is behind a massive wall,sir!".." This is the way"
Roman soldier: Are you sure this is the best option-
Germanicus: I have spoken
This is the Way
Caesar nodding in approval
Romans of this period looked at strong fortifications held by the enemy as a way of keeping it from getting _too_ easy. (See also: Masada.)
Disney is a pedophile company.
Weinstein
Epstien
Disney
Ah yes back when the Praetorian Guard wasn't a bunch of backstabbing assholes but actually a effective fighting force.
Pay them well enough, unfortunately you had some emperors feel it not necessary to pay them at all.
@@kriseats2158
- Be Aurelian
- Single handedly pulls the Roman Empire out of the Crisis of the 3rd century in 5 fucking years
- Really fucking nice to everyone that isn't a babarian.
- Even praises the sun.
- Gets offed by Praetorians cause they are jealous weak chin boiz.
And this is only one of their many fuck ups.
They are straight up one of several main reasons why the Roman Empire declined. They killed all the decent emperors and put idiots on the throne until Constantine finally got rid of them.
Backstabbing assholes? When an emperor deserves to get wacked, it takes real men to do the job.
@@agentcooper6179 not to sound like a asshole but, oh yeah lets backstab the one emperor that is saving our asses(Aurelian) from a major fucking crisis what a briliant idea, oh yes lets kill Caracalla who's leading a major campaign against the Parthians the man that was very much pro-soldiers. they killed alot of decent emperors but these are just 2 very decent ones i could pick out.
@@agentcooper6179
I wouldnt say it takes a real man to kill someone lol
Could you do a video on how ancient armies communicated during battle? How would commanders give orders to a large number of men in the midst of a raging, chaotic battle? This seems like the kind of subject you guys to videos on and I think a look at it would be really interesting
Roman's used trumpets. The Parthians used war drums as well as the mongols, Ottomans etc. Also u have runners
@@Daylon91 they also had very famous war cries. These were so used that even after the fall of the western empire and long into the bizantine era the pattern of war cries was so universal for the legions that they still used the original words in latin even in a greek speaking era.
@@danielchequer5842 This is gross misrepresentations. The Roman army had a distinct command language, not war cries. This stayed Latin indeed well into the Byzantine era. "Communication in battle" means communication over a distance, from central command to unit. THIS was done by trumpets and ONLY trumpets.
The Roman army was famous for advancing in total silence, only interrupted by trumpet commands. And ONLY when the command to charge came (trumpet again) would they usher a war cry. Barbarians who encountered this the first time where usually mortified.
The best cinematic representation is this scene from Spartacus. No Special effect. Just thousands of extras from the Italian army.
th-cam.com/video/ejW5Hg_lrV0/w-d-xo.html
@@michaelrenper796 thanks for the correction. I didn't wanted to use the term war cry as I know it's incorrect but I'm a native english speaker and that was the first thing that came to mind.
@@danielchequer5842 you mean "not a native speaker" - no problem. A war cry implies something emotional. The Romans had them as well, but the exact wording depended on circumstance.
We have detailed descriptions from the Byzantine era.on how people went to battle. First a prayer, some final commands. Then a "Silentio"
Germanic tribes: let's build walls like the Roman's do.
Roman's: look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power.
Hahaha the meme i had in mind.
Jokes aside, the germans learned a lot from their roman neighbors
funny but building a defensive wall is hardly a roman thing
@@sephiroaone-of-nine101 building them all the time everywhere they go is roman thing
@@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014 ⁸p
@@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014 Also Arminius became a Roman officer so thats how he knew what to do.
I'm getting sucked into the Roman history trap like a galaxy getting sucked into a black hole; gradually, immutably. I know it, I've got friends who have gone so deep into it that they would carry SPQR standards and eagles with them IRL, celebrate Lupercalia, and saturnalia if left unchecked. I don't want to follow them but, dammit, it's so interesting.
I wonder where the event horizon is? Where you start feel personally angry about the punic wars.
How do you feel about the… GAULS?
@@maxtafolla6206 GODS! I hate Gauls! My grandfather hated them too.... even before they put out his eyes.
@@maxtafolla6206 it's those rotten nervii bastards that are the problem...oh no it's begun
Galaxies have black holes in them.
It has begun. I tell carthago delenda est all opportunities and am celebrating saturnalia this winter. Let the die be cast I suppose.
FINALLY a video about this battle! I was getting tired of the Teutoburg battle.
I think what the romans did after that battle is actually as interesting as the battle itself if not even more.
I think what makes this so interesting is that everyone goes on about how the Germanic tribes were geniuses because they beat a smaller army by catching them completely off guard. While it should be obvious that the ‘Germans’ should have won.
The Romans however, attacked into lands their enemies knew better, and into carefully crafted lines and fortifications, and won anyway.
But a lot of people just brush off the Roman victories cuz “well it is Rome”.
@@MrShitthead The Romans outnumbered the Germans at Teutoburg, had a 7:2 advantage at Angrivarian Wall, and probably equaled Arminius' forces at Idistaviso, according to Roman sources. Get your facts right.
@@MrShitthead The romans were numerically supirior at Tuetoburg forest though. Most Germanian tribes only joined the fight at the last day or shortly after the battle to take part in the spoils. Arminius basically only had the hardcore anti roman faction at his disposal during that battle with the majority of germanian tribes waiting to see how the battle would go without risking their onw necks.
The fact that it took the germanian forces days to grind the roman army slowly down should speak volumes by itself. If they were numerical supirior they would have crushed the roman force during the first assault were suprise was absolute and the roman line the most stretched out. The entire battle was ecentially the germanians leading the romans into a position that would weaken them for a few days so they could slowly and part by part grind down the larger force.
There is a reason why the romans themselfs were so utterly supirsed by this defeat. They didnt expect there to even be a germanian army able to resist a few legions to begin with.
@@noobster4779 Not to mention that the Romans don't count encirclement and destruction of their auxiliaries at Idistaviso, prior to the battle, as a separate engagement to preserve the myth of Germanicus being "undefeated". Or that in the immediate aftermath of Teutoburg, all Roman garrisons between the Rhine and Elbe were wiped out and hence we do not have a historical account telling us what happened to them.
funny how studying history has so much more to it than just little boys day dreaming about war
10:58 "So that's Mars, Jupiter and Augustus. Are we missing anyone?" "No, that should be the lot. I don't think there are any important gods who have been left off the inscription. Now let's prepare for our long and dangerous sea voyage." I mean really, what's the point of a classical education if you can't remember your _Odyssey_ at a time like that? ;)
Drowning Romans be like "Holy shit we forgot Neptune!"
@@gerardjagroo Actually they be like "Holy shit we forgot Neptu-glurp glurp" *dies*
One has to wonder how the Germanic peoples would have developed had they undergone Romanization centuries earlier, through Germanicus' campaign. By the time of the Western Roman Empire's fall, there were plenty of Romanized German tribes (like the Vandals, the Goths, and perhaps most famously, the Franks), but I can't help but speculate on how Germany and the adjacent Scandinavia and Baltics would have been affected if the Romanization had occurred many centuries earlier.
a lot of horrible, evil Germanic nationalism arose as a result too. everyone loves to mythologize why they are the special ones chosen by history..............
@@beepboop204 "let Germanicus conquer Germania, goddammit!" said Winnie the Pooh, with concerned voice
Rome would have never been looted and the western Roman Empire wouldn’t have fallen
It is different. If they had been conquered they would have disappeared like the Gauls. The Franks and Goths got romanizes as rulers of Roman lands, it is not the same.
@@beepboop204 The Roman were such splendid neighbors weren't they?
It would be interesting to hear about the cost for Rome. it seams like Tiberius thought it took to much resources, money and lost men to continue the war. Even the victories resulted in losses especially at sea. Maybe they had to bring all food and fodder as well from the Empire because Germania was too poor to support an army of 70 000 people and horses.
Military campaigns are incredibly expensive. And Germania was so poor that the Romans got very few spoils and booty, compared to campaigns in the east or in places like dacia that had several gold mines.
Another factor would be Tiberius’s fear that giving his general the time, money, and men to bring this campaign to a successful conclusion would create a powerful rival to his rule.
alice you hit it on head , the cost was high ,, the reason augustus wanted to start taxing Germania was 17th and 18th and 19th legions were only going to be Legions station in Germania , unlike others on Rhine they were tax and paid for by Gauls and belgians ! Even Germanicus Campaigns ,the cost of shipping food and supplies was costly ! The only thing Tibierius wanted was wage Total War to make sure there be no threat ! and in that Germanicus succeded what Germanicus wanted was bring Germania in the Empire like his father done !
Tiberius never wanted to annex Germania he Opposed Drusus and Augustus and latter Germanicus .
@@dayros2023 They had booty at home.
@@cliffordjensen8064 is that actually documented anywhere? I mean Germanicus was his heir anyway and augustus' nephew. He already was highly revered by everyone no matter the outcome of the campaign.
Claudius wrote a book about him fanboying hard in it.
I’m no sailor but the amount of times entire fleets were devastated by storms seems very high. I wonder if admirals or sailors had any way of combating them.
Well they had no meteorological service to predict storm. And the way the Romans quickly rebuilt their fleets make me think that the effects of the storms were probably exaggerated by roman writers.
The did not combat them. That is why sailors were considered amongst the most superstitious within any given society until modern times.
It is still a bad explanation for such ship losses. I'm no sailor either, but these ship losses cannot be accepted rhat easily.
In my opinion should just go along the beach and when they see the cloudy sky and raining just go towards the shores and wait it out. Sure time be wasted but better waste times than lives of veterans who could be put to great use in future.
Just look up some videos of the North Sea today..It’s insane to cross it today sometimes with modern ships..The North Sea has always been dangerous and the Romans knew there was always a risk trying to navigate it.
Germanicus was an exceptional general. I just bought the only book written on this commander by Lindsay Powell. Looking forward to reading it.
A great "what if" of Roman history, he died far too young.
@@bobbyfeet2240 the Latin Alexander
@Alfie Coleman Germanicus did is best. He wanted to avenge Rome. Don’t say he’s a bad general because he isn’t
The meaning of the battle is unclear. The Romans had claimed the battlefield, but did not achieve their real goal, the annihilation of the opposing tribes, above all the Cherusci. Possibly the battle contributed to the fleet starting the return journey too late and thus getting into fatal autumn storms. What is certain is that Tiberius stopped the fighting after 16 AD and sent Germanicus to the east of the empire. A great triumphal procession should keep the form. However, the emperor had already pushed for the end of the offensives in Germania last year, and the battle at the Angrivarian Wall was by no means the trigger for the imperial decision.
@@elliemin2282 Germanicus had claimed the battlefield, but then ordered the return to the winter quarters on the Rhine "since the summer was already drawing to a close". This measure seems strange in view of the victory and the pressure to succeed that weighed on Germanicus. Research has given several reasons. For example: A reoccupation of the attacking wall by the Teutons in the night or the threatening advance of the defeated but not destroyed Arminius army in the direction of the naval base. It may have been a precautionary measure to avoid falling into autumn storms when returning troops by ship.
After arriving at the Ems, the return journey across the North Sea followed. In fact, the fleet got caught in a severe storm, resulting in high losses of people and material.
Germanics:we beat romans what are our battle plans in the future?
Leaders: let us face them in open field.
Germanics: uh okay?
They lose.
Arminius:let us go back to forrests and swamps.
Mama, always said fightin' Romans was best done in da swamps.
Hey Pullo, we made it. We survived the campaign season and we can finally get some rest. Woot. I’m going to go back to Rome to see my wife and kids.
Hey Lucius, is that storm clouds I see on the horizon?
PULLO, FORMATION!
Most of them didn't die tho, it just made a huge mess and fucked the evacuation.
I want to be Pullo in the end.
@@handles4days69 GET BACK IN FORMATION, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL.
Well uhm, Vorenus, your wife.. You see..
Need more roman war stories like these delivered in this type of fashion, detailed description, detailed visual graphics from this channel. Great work with this series.
You have to imagine the pure joy and Roman stiffy the legions got when they heard "the enemy has decided to fortify." Just think of the centurions eyes glowing red and the artillery men just grinning like fools.
My favourite part about the Roman Legions was their go to coping mechanism in times of stress was to build fortifications no matter the time or place lol
@@BM-wf9uf sunset? Fort. Enemy? Fort. Hotel? Fort.
@@MrPlainsflyer Legio? Trivago.
@@BM-wf9uf Lol! Like an antistress thing to do. You're overworked? Build a fort!! it will make you feel better instantly
@@jakobinobles3263 300 years later that would come round to bite them in the butt.
I believe it was Lycurgus who warned the Spartans against fighting the same enemy too often lest they teach them the art of war.
I just love this series, its one of the more unheard of parts of roman History
Varrus wasn't worth the avenging, but I am glad glad he was because this series was ace
It was more because of the heavy casualties in losing 3 legions behind enemy lines I’m sure. As an empire you would be pissed knowing your brothers were dismantled in dark forests full of barbarians.
cuantas copas tienes?
is it really one of the more unheard parts of roman history?
lol, that little pivot of the figurine at 13:07
Like: "YOU FUCKIN' WOT MATE?"
Best historical Roman series on TH-cam.
I think you should group the videos related to Varus in a playlist, in the order to be watched
It's a very interesting series and it would allow me to share it more easily.
0:06 Twitterburg forest??? WTF?
@@uhtred7860 That was Teutoburg Forest. One has to allow for each speaker's accent...
This part of history between romans and germans is so funny;
> Rome strikes fear into the Germans
> Germans surrenders
> Some unfortunate thing happens to Rome
> Germans revolt
> Rome comes back with a bigger army
> Repeat the first step
Well when it reaches desperation they got to lower their heads a bit as in my country Bulgaria we got a saying. It goes like "A bowed head, sword doesnt cut it" which is the logical tactic there. Let's please the Romans so they cool down gtfo majority of their force and when their fortunes are on bad luck we show up again. Simple.
@@ivokantarski6220 Negative, It's still stupid af. Rome was a big empire, if one army failed it didn't matter they had multiple. Same goes with troop replenishment, they could raise new armies no problem really.
The germans knew (and if they didn't they were stupid) that angering a bigger nation, with better technology, equipment and soldiers would not be a great idea.
They should've done one of two things;
Either submit to Rome
Or go all out a 100% and never surrender and keep on fighting.
They did neither and tried to play both options, it was a pain in the ass for both parties.
@@ishitrealbad3039 Why would they do any of these things? The tribes didn't fight some kind of ideological total war that had to end in triumph or annhilation. Fighting as long as it makes sense and submitting when it is needed until the pressure is away once more is logical. Why would the tribal chiefs hand over their power when there was a chance to keep it and why would they throw away their lifes in a hopeless situation when they could negotiate with the enemy? The same also goes for the Romans as well as all other empires who have border regions full of unruly tribal people. You keep them as clients and pay them some amount of money so they don't get to annoying. If they get to aggressive or strong you whack them over the head so that they know their place. Wiping them out would only mean that other tribes could fill in that place that is now open and conquering such a poor region means that you now have a new border on which new tribes border which means the process starts anew. It is therefore less costly to have someonewhom you know and who only sometimes start a bit of trouble instead of fighting costly foreverwars in some underdeveloped hinterland.
@@Xfire209 holy hell, do you not know how to organise text or are you still in school?
Epic yes, but in the end nobody won anything, they just slaughter each other
pyrrhic victory
The Romans got to clean their name after their defeats and Arminius was taking one L after the other, that's winning enough for me.
@@NautilusSSN571 Arminius followed that “L” with a “W”
Clean their name? Even after all this time we remeber Teutoburg an no Rome vengeance, they did no clean anything it was just senseless butchering between the two. But if we are speaking about vengeance, the Germans sacked and conquered Rome in the end no?
@@axell7263 "senseless butchering between the two" same thing could be said about the Teutoburg massacre, Rome did what any superpower in history has done whenever something like that happens, they're not just gonna run with the tail between their legs and leaving the Germans feel like they've won, of course they were going to take revenge and they did, in the end the ones that clearly won nothing from this were the germs, entire tribes were slaughtered and they were never able to unify as a nation until the Franks kicked in. Also by the end the Germans didn't manage to conquer all of Rome(not like they did it alone anyways, a lot of problems had been packing up for it to be possible, had Rome been in it's peak it would have just been another failed pillaging attempt like their other ones) and they would get their asses swooped by Justinian not long after.
I finished watching "Barbarians" on Netflix, and though a very good series, it doesn't completely capture the whole context and fantastic detail this series has shown. Don't get me wrong, "Barbarians" is great, but with this series on Avenging Varus, we have a fuller and much richer picture of events. I think both complement each other, and make me appreciate so much more this chapter of Roman and Germanic history, but your series on Avenging Varus is the complete epic.
Loving this Series man keep it up
Hey invicata man can you please make a youtube playlist of that series so the fans of ancient times can watch with ease
Chronological order if you will
@@leofwulf268 EXACTLY SIR"" EXACTLY ""
Agree
The wars of Rome have always fascinated me , from Carthage , to Parthia to ancient Britain. The Germanic and Gallic wars are some of the most interesting . I’ve heard of this campaign of revenge by Rome but never the narrative in detail . Thanks for this rich price of history in story form !!🎃
Tiberius was actually right, that battle could have been more decisive with less casualties. If only the larger cavalry (that should bypass the forest by the right flank) was emphasized with the praetorians and germanicus.
Question ..how closely does the USA mirror Ancient Rome ?
You can't ask this - or the SJW's will call you a racist and fascist.
Any comparisons to ancient Rome is forbidden.
@@raymonddeflaviis2306 et tu Brutus ?
4:50 "This is the way."
Anyways, both Germanicus and Tiberius were right in this. I really believe one more good campaign by Germanicus would have taken cared of everything once and for all. Tiberius on the other hand would be proven correct. The Roman casualties were high, diplomacy would do well for security of the Empire's borders with client kings, allies, instead of raw military force. The tribes would also be fighting with each other and Arminius himself would die from his own tribesmen.
Yet the collapse of the eventual Western Roman Empire would come from this very region.
If the Romans killed all the germans on the border other tribes will then occupy the land. That happened several times. And people still believe that the western empire fell because of the germans? Wrong. It fell due to internal problems, that were both economic and political in nature, and thanks to endless civil wars and instability.
@@dayros2023 so are you saying that the Germanic tribes migrating into roman borders and co opting entire provinces didn't destroy Rome when they literally sacked Rome and created a kingdom out of Italy, with the western government being dissolved? The Romans always had civil wars and instability but always bounced back, German mass migration and the vandals cutting off much needed grain imports from Africa killed the west, do not delude yourself and pass blame off of the Germanic tribes
@@klol3369 what do you mean Government being dissolved?
They basically declare them self as new ruler of Rome.
@@pongsatonrattanapriyanuch7331 the western Roman empires bureaucracy and government systems and law were superseded by a new government entirely Germanic in origin and run by a king, they are two entirely different things, you even said it yourself they became the new rulers, only possible if they joined the government or replaced it, odeacer sent the western regalia back to Constantinople to show there will be no new western Roman emperor, if someone came to your country, conquered it, disbanded it, and instituted a monarchy based on their own laws entirely separate from yours, you would definitely understand you are in a different country now
@@pongsatonrattanapriyanuch7331 tldr, they more than just declared themselves new rulers of the same government, they toppled it and instituted their own government, which they were the rulers of, ergo they were now the rulers of their new conquered lands in western Rome
"Just one more year and we will defeat the germanians!!!"
So basically.....Germania is ancients romes Vietnam war
They are stronger, can sustain more loses and win most battles, but because the enemy simply doesnt give up no matter how often he is defeated, there is no final victory and the homefront grows concerned with the loses in humans and money (not that much to loot in Germania to cover costs).
So ironically despite losing most battles following Teutoburger Forest Arminius and the germanian tribes, at the end, still won. Rome remained mainly on the left side of the rhein river. Germania would never become a roman province.
The question has to be asked though, was it worth it for the germanian tribes? They, in the end, lost vast ammounts of their population and their land was ruined for decades, if not a century. Was the freedom of roman rule for the few survivers worth the sacrifices?
They avoided Roman taxation and enslavement. It is believed that about a third of the Gauls were enslaved and another third murdered by the Roman legions during and immediately after Caesar's conquest of Gaul. So yes I would say it was worth it. For sure, Germania also remained underdeveloped without a good road system, no aqueducts, no Roman legal system, no major cities and so on, but that would mostly have benefited future generations.
Germania wasn’t conquered because there wasn’t a good economic reason to do it. The land was full of marshes and forests, with no cities and little trade. It would have required a big garrison with very little income to sustain it. The rhine was a good border for Rome, it lasted many centuries after all.
@@dayros2023 Germania, or rather the Roman colony of Germania Antiqua was indeed conquered, but that colony was lost after the battle of the Teutoborg Forest.
The Germanic tribes rebelled due to ROman taxation. There were Roman garrisons and minor cities in that province. Arminius as many other Germanic children of noble birth, was taken to Rome as a hostage and raised in Roman culture and given Roman military training. He was even given noble status in Rome when he was made an Equestrian.
Furthermore, although there were many forests and swamps in Germania, as there were in both Gaul and many other Roman provinces, Germania had always been an important trading partner of Rome.
I suggest that you start by reading this Wikipedia article to learn the basics. These are well known facts and have been so for
a long time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germania_Antiqua
Noobster you spoke true the real losers all this was germans themselves what could have been ? but remeber the pull was really great cause Germans were always pulled by what roman had hence why many over hundred of years joined Roman army , some hired as workers , not much different then when eastern bloc fell in early 90's people wanted same as west, luxury , wealth etc .In that end Arminius fail was epic ! everyone wants a better life and them tribial Germans were no different !
@@philmccracken7520 like I wrote above. The Germans rebelled against Rome because they, like so many other people that were conquered by the Romans were being severely abused.
Conquest by the Romans could have benefited future german generations, but that would not help the victims of the conquest.
The 13th Legion Neros killing machine
It's kinda like the roman Vietnam war
VARUS GIVE HIM BACK HIS LEGIONS!
quintli vari legiones redi
Shouldn't have put them where they didn't belong.
The romans should have gone east instead of north Germania and Britain were a huge waste of time and recourses
A M B I T I O N
The romans went east, in fact they went in every direction possible until further expansion was no longer possible because of different reasons (like the african desert).
Damn Tiberius... he should have let germanicus finish the job
He acted wisely. Germanicus was certainly a brave commander, but his success was pretty volatile, and there's no indication his annual victories would have accomplished anything more than what he had done or even Drusus the Elder had done. The 'princeps' had campaigned for years there, had been sent in Germania nine times, knew the territory very well and was aware of the problems of Germanicus' campaign, the risk and disproved of the losses. He employed diplomacy to pit one tribe against the other, and subsequent emperors, like Claudius, while disproving many of Tiberius' foreign policy decisions, will follow his tangent regarding Germania.
Nicolas Vinas
Exactly
I think Tiberius knew the reality behind the propaganda, but also the importance to keep appearances.
"With the end of the Roman threat, a war broke out between Arminius and Marbod, king of the Marcomanni. It ended with Marbod fleeing to Ravenna and Roman protection, but Arminius failed to break into the "natural fortification" of Bohemia, and the war ended in stalemate."
"Arminius died in AD 21, murdered by opponents within his own tribe who felt that he was becoming too powerful."
Does not sound like a beaten man.
I think people forget these are mostly Roman accounts.
@@JasonMooreT Germanics should have written their own records then...
It is rather the opposite, that the significance of Teutoburg was greatly exaggerated by 19th Century German nationalists who were in the process of elevating Arminius to the role of national hero, despite that being anachronistic.
The truth is that while it was a significant defeat, it was shortly after avenged in subsequent campaigns that defeated Arminius and gained the submission of the various tribes that participated.
Moreover the Varian War wasn't even regarded as the most difficult conflict the Romans fought during that period. That "honor" went to the near simultaneous Great Illyrian Revolt, which was described as the most difficult war the Romans had to wage since the Punic Wars and one that also saw a much larger deployment of Roman troops.
@@lycaonpictus9662 The main difference between the Illyrian revolt and the Germanic one was that one succeeded and the other did not.
I agree Teutoburg has gotten way to much attention considering other more important happenings. For example the Cimbri war(Furor Teutonicus) had way more impact on Rome but many know little of it. Modern nationalism decide much what becomes known history today.
Also there is little focus on all the Germanic in Roman service. It could be argued that Ceasar would loose at Alesia without his Germanic cavalry. The batavians replacing the Pretorians etc.
@@Nortrix87 you are just copong at this point
That tree ............ that tree reminds me the 300 !
Inspiration from this ? Maybe .
Invicta every time you surpass yourself XD
Roma Victrix
Varus must have been so blown away at the scale of his avenging. Just him up in heaven thinking all this was because of his failure.
I refuse to recognize Istanbul, it’s Constantinople!
Yep slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians seems to be the Modus Operandi for conquering / invading / occupying Imperialists right into modern times like in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
(To put into perspective, according to modern day and state of the art archeoligic methods and statistical research only 10% of the population in the Celtic & Germanic (btw there was no cultural difference between celtic/gaulic and germanic people both sides of the Rhine - it was just political propaganda painting the already conquered tribes as Civic and the not conquered tribes as barbaric) settled areas were people bearing arms speak "Warriors". The rest of the population ergo have to be civilians and there is enough evidence for that both from Roman sources as archeaological sources.)
True, most empires throughout history up until modern days did employ old-fashioned mass murder if frontier peoples were rebellious or independent-minded, that is if diplomacy / dividing tribes failed.
However you also said no difference between Celts/Gauls and Germanics on both sides of the Rhine existed and were just a result of propaganda. That's a bit oversimplified and depends on time period... In Julius Caesar's time that was more or less the case since some of the tribal names are believed by researchers to have Celtic origins, while being called 'Germanii' by Caesar. However after that time (for example in context of this video about Arminius), Gaulish tribes were weakened by Roman conquest and more tribes came over from the north (i.e. modern day Southern Denmark / Northern Germany; the Germanic tribes' core area) virtually unopposed and invaded thus replacing/ assimilating with the remaining Gauls there. Therefore, many new tribal names appear just north of the Rhine that are distinct Germanic in origin like the Batavii ( Old Germanic Batawjo "great island", now known as the Betuwe in Eastern Netherlands). As for the differences between Gaulish and Germanic peoples cultures themselves:
1) from archeology the cultures are distinctly different to make a distanction though both adapted somewhat to neighbouring peoples and vice versa typical of a frontier culture (like Southern Germanics to Northern Gauls or Eastern Germanics to Sarmatians etc.)
2) Linguistics show different Indo-European subfamilies: Italo-Celtic and Germanic languages.
So there is actually a distinction to make in general between Celts/Gauls and Germanic peoples but during early Roman conquests in the Rhineland some of the lines were blurred both due to cultural exchange and political propaganda...
Haha that took a bit longer than I expected 😅👍
Every civilization did what you just singled out Rome for, including Germans who raided into roman gaul, which brought the Romans into Germania in the first place, also if you seriously are saying Celtic and Germanic ppl are the same, you know nothing of them but your fantasized version, celts linguistically are entirely different, and is in the same linguistic group as italic languages, which include Latin, the Celtic people's were also not semi nomadic like the Germanic tribes, they lived in hill cities, were an advanced culture with their own unrelated writing system that only their druids used, among other cultural differences, especially prudent in their religion, artstyle, and values, also as a distinct bloodline from Germans too
@@klol3369 Well said! 💪👍
i always root for the germanic tribes
I think the sea has the best KDA vs the Roman empire.
That's why Caligula declared war on it!
As shown, it was actually Augustus who not only founded the Roman empire, but destroyed it with one stroke by marrying Livia and promoting her son to the throne. Irony indeed.
The empire lasted for over 1,000 years. Hardly destroyed, and Tiberius was his last choice as emperor.
@@liamjm9278 I guess the irony that Rome had a chance to really subdue the Germanic tribes and bring them into their fold, but failed when the iron was still hot.
@@homelessjesse9453 Unlikely to have worked in the long run. Even if the Romans would have been able to effectively occupy Germania(unlikely) the issues that faced the late Roman empire would still be present and someone else would have filled the power vacuum(Huns? Dacians? Persians?). The butterfly effect makes sense in science fiction but generally all civilizations follow the Spenglarian cycle.
In 9ad as a result of Teutoburg the Romans lost the territory between the Elbe and Rhine rivers. They lost all their 3 Legions. Then Germanicus came back with 8(!) Legions in 14, 15 and 16ad. His target must have been not only to avenge but to reconquer! At the end the Romans lost ca. 20.000-25.000 men (according to the historian Jahn) and failed to reconquer the territory. They won some battles according to Tacitus but these were not decisive and are very overrated in this clip, most of the Germanics retreated and they didn't catch Arminius. One year later in 17ad Arminius and his allies defeated Marbod of the Marcomanni, who had an army of 70.000! ....so you can compare Germanicus efforts with Vietnam or the Russian-Finland Winter War. The Romans won some battles (but by far not as decisive as the Teuteburg result) and lost the war, because they couldn`t reconquer the territory they lost 7 years before.....
''His target must have been to reconquer'' This land was never really conquered before by the romans and we have a lot of sources telling us they tought that wasnt worth there efforts to begin with. At the end the Romans themselfs decided to stop there advance and draw the border at the rhine.
@@thomasaivaliotis7081 Of course it was comquered. Augustus made Publius Quinctilius Varus the first "officially appointed" governor of the newly created Roman province of Germania in 7 AD. They got taxes from the Germanic people until 9ad. They also build some cities in this territory: Near Waldgirmes thzey found a Roman Forum recently. They reconsidered their border-policy after Germanicus failed efforts in 16ad.
@@_friedie sometimes it kills me and i mean that in laughable way ! 1 i agree germany was conquered in 9 BC by Germanicus father Drusus The Elder ! Where i disagree with you is outcome of Germanicus war in Germany ! His War main war aim was revenge and he did that , what people and you fail to realize Germanicus could make war from spring to fall and always get supplies and even more men ! The german tribes could not they couldn't farm or hunt and far as his battles , again it was latter copied by Gen Grant against Gen Lee win or lose battle didnt matter it was Lee couldnt replace his losses and Grant could same here between Germanicus and Arminius . And Germanicus far from failed , You don;t need to Conquer someone to defeat them . In the end of all this Romans put Flavius (Arminius brother a head tribe ) thats a win ! And Romans ruled east of Rhine along the Limes Germanicus for another 250 years ! So if you wanna say Romans not reconquering Germania as lost thats your call , But on the other hand it was bigger lost for Germans not being Romanized ! But I would not call Germanicus war in Germania a failure far from it he got Rome revenge he got 2 out 3 eagles back , he captured Arminius wife and child ! And Had he not been order back to rome I would not doubt in another campaign he would killed or captured Arminius , he was almost killed/.captured at battle Angrivarian wall ! Arminius failed to get any other tribes to join his cause and he failed to protect the tribes inculding his own from romans ! in the end Arminius failed no different then japanese when they attack pearl harbor all that did cause angry Gaint to awaken and it end the same way for Japan as it did for arminius and the tribes in his alliance !
@@philmccracken7520 Historians seem to differ with your position. You don't go in with 8 (!) Legions only for revenge. Even Tacitus considers Arminius without doubt the Liberator of Germania. And Flavus never became Chief of the Cherusci but his son and that was in 47 ad.
@@_friedie agree to disagree again if romans wanted germany they could took it , they nearly did so under Marcus Aurelius ! Germanicus did what he was order to do , but not what he wanted to do and reconquered Germany .Tiberus was even against Drusus the elder even wanting to bring Germany into empire. And it would not had change anything had border been Rhine or Elbe history would played out the same as it did .
I thought this series was done! This is a first to be glad being wrong🥳
I fucking love Roman history
Jesus was a 13 year old young man at that time.
This is the kind of battle where all that artillery and siege equipment we saw in the opening scene of Gladiator would have been appropriate. Why didn't Germanicus deploy them here?
They did deploy small artillery, as mentioned but it’s pure Hollywood to have Romans with catapults etc etc for open battle and even more so having to carry equipment into territory with under developed roads.
@@Vandelberger actually no because Caesar used them in the battle of Gergovia.
@@TomSmith-li5se What artillery? Small scorpions possibly, but no not catapults. I need a source as I can’t find any on Romans using artillery at Gerovia. Don’t get mixed up with Hollywood and history.
@@TomSmith-li5se Did the work for you from this same channel lol th-cam.com/video/Ztd4qXY3Unc/w-d-xo.html.
@@Vandelberger I confused Alesia with Gergovia lol. I mean the video itself says that romans used scorpions, catapults and onagers in battle multiple times esecially in sieges.
The Germans ??? The Germanic tribes didnt only came out of what is today Germany. Its baffeling how so many get this wrong.
These videos are godlike. I've loved this entire series! So much fun to watch and learn about. It's amazing we have access to such a rich history of these events.
@Coding Crusader Oh yes I'm sorry the English language must always be interpreted in its exact literal sense. My mistake. Thats sarcasm btw.
You like this? .... then you’ll *_love_* epic history TVs channel..
This guys ok
But epic history are gods
One would think that because the entire Roman empire surrounds the Mediterranean Sea that they would be good sailors. They just weren't
On the arrow exchange... arrows did nothing to armored soldiers with large shields. However, the legions would have to stop and take cover under their shields. In this way, the Cherusci could control the Roman advance by pinning them with missile fire. The lack of coordination of the Cherusci with the units in the forest meant that the delay tactic was not properly utilized. Germanicus knew that all that was needed was to keep the line and wait for Cherusci to tire of the fight and flee due to a realization of futility or flee because of the wounds of attrition. After the second artillery advance (8 min into the video), Germanicus was sure of his victory, if discipline was maintained.
Who the hell is talking about Celts? LoL
This battle was fought close to actual Hamburg. WTF this was way north.
Ahh, back when the Pretorians were Chads and not degenerates
Rome never conquered Germania though, I think it’s safe to say the Germans ‘beat Rome’ in the long run. It was also the Germanic goths who sacked Rome and Theoderick the great went onto rule Rome shortly after it’s collapse
Half Germanic territories were under the control of Rome for centuries... They also founded cities like Koln Treviri Vienna etc... Goths who sacked Rome were not invaderr but roman (germanic) soldiers.
What the Histories neglect is that Arminius served as a Roman Officer for over 20 years in Roman Auxiliary Legions and Cavalry, turning his coat after constant belittling, insulting and degrading treatment by junior Roman Officers who typically served for less than 5 years before retuning to Rome and politics.
watching videos like this makes it nostalgic to remember that this was just a small total war channel long ago, now a 1 mil sub history behemoth.
You know all and all I kinda felt that when he said after the storm Germanacus personally felt responsible for the men he lost and was about to kill himself. When u command troops in battle especially when u fight this close to them they become almost like your kids your own personal responsibility, so especially after a victorious campaign like this I can see where he’s coming from. He just lead his boys to a hard fought victory only for them to drown at sea 😔 (this comment has nothing to do with the obvious atrocities committed by the Roman’s but about how a high ranking officer should feel about the men he commands regardless of nationality)
Watching this rooting for the Romans as a huge Roman History buff but realizing as a German American I would have been fighting for my freedom with the Germanic tribes!
Remember the Germans as we know them are not the Germanic tribes of Roman expansion.
Lol, what makes you so sure? You may have roman ancestry too since there were many germanic auxiliaries serving with roman legions and mingling with local or even roman women. Freedom was not a germanic idea….Roma Victis
@@spartanwarrior1 I am sure I share DNA with the area of Germnaia.
I don't think there were many German American volunteers ( on either side)
“I spit at your direction!”
- events that precedes disasters.
Not gonna lie, I was kinda disappointed by the lack of building in the final battle. Where is the immediate camp after arrival, the crude barricade mimicking the enemy wall and most importantly, where is the ramp? I understand Germanicus knew there was no other threat and controled frontal assault was enough, he maybe even feared the germans would flee prematurely otherwise but come on, abandoning traditions like that is not cool.
I'm just wondering. Is this the same guy who used to go by the name of Oakley and had a channel called The Halo Forge Epidemic? He sounds incredibly similar.
It is indeed I. Been a long journey from there to here
@@InvictaHistory Wowsers. Massive congrats on getting this far, loved the four part documentaries you did on Cannae, Adrianople and Jerusalem. Keep it up lad!!!
16:44
tiberias was one of Rome 's greatest leaders.
he was cunning and didn't want to see its soldiers wasted.
where to find more notes on the upside down tree with name placards and human arms nailed to it. i've seen things like it in the background, but don't see much of it on youtube or just google searching either... the hell did that come from
At this point I equate waiting for the finale of this TH-cam Series to that of a show I really like. Great content, super interesting to learn about this, and can't wait to see how it ends! Keep up the great work!
Funny... The Germanic tribes did the same thing but when Rome does it, it's an insult to Germania. This crap is being played out today. Not going to name names, cough, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, cough...
ROMAN WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
"...giving the Germans some comfort in their defences" Germans lol. Italians Vs Germans XD Boy must be American who thinks he is native.
Its rather ironic that Arminius was once a Roman officer. Although he was a German prince allied to the Romans but I guess thats why he was a formidable foe. He knew what to do.
Are the guys at invicta mandolorians?
I'm a simple man. I see Invicta has uploaded, I drop that like before the video has even started
Good presentation mate. But please, for religious respect, start pronouncing it cav-al-ree. The place where Jesus died is not a group of horsemen.
Seeing this pivotal series of events has been fascinating, what if Arminius had stayed loyal to Rome like his brother, what if Tiberius had allowed Germanicus to continue his campaign, what could had been if Germanicus had become emperor probably no Caligula, Claudius or Nero even if they were his son, brother and grandson since the succession probably would had come to one of his eldest sons who perished in exile not long after his death under suspicious circumstances, so two of the most infamous emperors would had not reigned but it would had mean that the emperor that promoted the conquest of Britania also would had not occupied the throne.
Romans: my commander the germans have built a wall on the high ground. What is the plan?
Germanicus: get em.
Romans:😒😑😤😠 ave roma.
I highly recommend to delete your comment mate, its toxic.
From the video about the Nubian Invasion of Egypt.
Most excellent video. I am eager to see the next one.
And, I doubt any projectile other than a trebuche stone or maybe scorpia bolt could sever a man's head.
IT IS PRETTY SAFE TO SAY THE ANGRIVARIANS WERE VERY ANGRY!
10:00 Join us next week
Caesar would have built his own wall and had the cavalry find a river crossing to flank the Germs
Caesar would have enwalled the wall and starved them out lol
Roma Invicta!
So battle was practically Roman Borodino.. same as Napoleon, Germanicus attacked directly instead of outflanking, because he was afraid Germans would just withdraw from battle.. and same as Napoleon, he used his artillery and long range units to deal the damage to fixed enemy.. but he was luckier than Napoleon, he eventually broke through the German positions.. while Russians just withdrew from fight after both sides had enough... but who knows what would happen if Tiberius didnt called off Germanicus...
Apparently most of the army of Arminius survived the battle, he was able to defeat Marbod the next year.
@@HingerlAlois After he had convinced the Semnones and Langobards to join him.
@@reinercelsus8299
But the uncle of Arminius joined Marbod.
@@HingerlAlois His brother and his father-in-law supported the Romans, it didn't really make a difference. Getting the fresh armies of the Semnones and Langobards was much more decisive at this point.
@@reinercelsus8299
Apparently his uncle with his troops joined Marbod, thus both sides had supposedly roughly the same troop strength.
Tiberius made the right call. It should be noted that even according to Tacitus, the Romans suffered severe losses and modern historians believe if anything, they were probably even more substantial than Tacitus admits. Why sacrifice even more soldiers in order to conquer territory that would be very difficult to supply and hold?
>create a grotesque monument to unnerve your enemies
>they rally around it
well... that didn't work.
'' Arh...the wall is finished...tribesman prepare for war....OI banksy don't even think about putting your over priced crap on this''
Wish you had a video on the standard bearer
One of the best rules of warfare to learn is to never anger the enemy. Anger can far better steel a mind against adversity then demoralization. Demoralize them, best them and divide them and then make them your vasal. But never piss them off. This battle never needed to happen but you know the Romans.
AVE ROMA! The glory of rome outshines all of those barbarian tribes.
Rome succcccccc ballllllzzzzz
*laughs in visigoth and vandal*
@@linguaLatinae laughs in belisarius destroying the vandals
You mean until the goths and vandals turned up and made Spanish and Italians the colour they are today 💦😂
@@EmperorConnor and Narssis destroyed the goths don't forget that
The artillery shot between the gaps of forward infantry battalions. The graphic shows them firing over troops. The artillery men needed to see the enemy and gauge the effectiveness of their angle. This could not be done when legions, forward of their position, obscured their view. Secondly, if the enemy charged, the artillery could retreat through the gap and the heavy legions would then spread to close the gap from which the artillery shot.
It is ironic and even funny that all these armies knowing that they had an advantage over the Romans fighting in guerrillas and on difficult terrain in the end they all ended up playing the Roman game. All of them ended up massacred for trying to fight against the Roman formation. I've always said it and I stand by it. If Alexander The Great had lived longer the Roman Empire would never have existed.
no he would have not he wanted to fight the romans after he came back from asia. he stated they were fighters but the romans would have never surrendered to a enemy on roman soil Hannibal learned this mistake after cannae .rome lost the battle but not the war .alexander would not have even defeated hannibal. he was a flash in the pan.
So in the end, the tribes actually won by making the Romans pay a price they couldn't keep on paying.
That's how every attrition and asymetric warfare have been fought in history
In the end the Germans got their revenge
And that's the moment when the Europe fell into dark ages.
The art in these videos is always excellent, but that illustration of Tiberius is the first time I've audibly said to myself, "Damn. That's a really good illustration of Tiberius. Looks just like his statuary".
I would like to see times after avenging varus to times of assassination of Arminius.
Loving this series! This channel is the first time I've heard Angrivarii mentioned, outside of the historical sources. My very first book, "Soldier of Rome: The Legionary", is about these same campaigns under Germanicus Caesar. Full disclosure: It does read a bit rough. But to be fair, it was my very first, and I had little practice; just a copy of Tacitus and boundless enthusiasm! I've had twenty-six books' worth of practice to improve since then! :) I've contemplated going back and revising "The Legionary", but I don't want to pull a "George Lucas" and feel I need to 'special edition' all my older works.
That one campaign that could have prevented 410 AD was lost through a single letter
Love this series, thank you for this and hope there are other stories like this in the coming future.
Nice work, lads! Keep going!
this is fucking epic, good job on the soundtrack too