Editing Arminius (section)

==Anti-Roman uprising==
{{Main|Battle of the Teutoburg Forest}}
[[File:Otto Albert Koch Varusschlacht 1909.jpg|thumb|''Varusschlacht'', Otto Albert Koch (1909)]]
In the autumn of AD 9, the 25-year-old Arminius brought to Varus a false report of rebellion in northern Germany. He persuaded Varus to divert the three legions under his command (composed of the [[Legio XVII|17th]], [[Legio XVIII|18th]], and [[Legio XIX|19th]] [[Roman legion|legions]], plus three [[cavalry]] detachments and six [[cohort (military unit)|cohorts]] of auxiliaries), which were at the time marching to winter quarters, to suppress the rebellion. Varus and his legions marched right into the trap that Arminius had set for them near [[Kalkriese]]. Arminius' tribe, the [[Cherusci]], and their allies the [[Marsi (Germanic)|Marsi]], [[Chatti]], [[Bructeri]], [[Chauci]], and [[Sicambri]] (five out of at least fifty Germanic tribes at the time)<ref name="Spiegel"/> ambushed and annihilated Varus' entire army, totaling over 20,000 men, as it marched along a narrow road through a dense forest. Recent archaeological finds show the long-debated location of the three-day battle was almost certainly near Kalkriese Hill, about {{convert|20|km}} north of present-day [[Osnabrück]]. When defeat was certain, Varus committed [[suicide in antiquity|suicide]] by falling upon his sword.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bordewich|first=Fergus M.|date=September 2006|title=The Ambush That Changed History|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ambush-that-changed-history-72636736/|url-status=live|access-date=26 August 2021|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408145053/http://www.smithsonianmag.com:80/history/the-ambush-that-changed-history-72636736/? |archive-date=8 April 2014 }}</ref> The battle was one of the most devastating defeats Rome suffered in its history. Arminius' success in destroying three entire legions and driving the Romans out of Germany marked a high point of Germanic power for centuries. Roman attempts to reconquer Germania failed, although they did eventually manage to break Arminius' carefully coordinated alliance.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

[[File:Blick-über-den-Teutoburger-Wald1.jpg|thumb|right|View over the [[Teutoburg Forest]]]]
After the battle, the Germans quickly annihilated every trace of Roman presence east of the Rhine. Roman settlements such as the [[Waldgirmes Forum]] were abandoned. The vastly outnumbered Roman garrison of [[Aliso (Roman camp)|Aliso]] (present-day [[Haltern am See]]), under the command of the prefect Lucius Cedicius, inflicted heavy losses on the Germans before retreating into [[Gaul]], resisting long enough for [[Lucius Nonius Asprenas (consul 6)|Lucius Nonius Asprenas]] to organize the Roman defense on the Rhine and [[Tiberius]] to arrive with a new army. This prevented Arminius from crossing the Rhine and invading Gaul.<ref>Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History II, 120, 4; Cassius Dio, Roman History LVI, 22, 2a–2b</ref>