In AD 15
Germanicus, the
Roman general, was leading his tropps through the Teutoburger Forest on a campaign agains the
Germans. Suddenly, the Roman troops stopped in shock and surprise.
Lying on the ground was a group of
skeletons dressed in rusting Roman
armour. As Germanicus and his men gazed around in horror, they saw more skeletons amongst the trees. Everywhere there were piles of skeletons dressed in Roman armour. Germanicus knew that he had found the lost legions of Varus.
Six years earlier Governor Varus had led 15,000 Roman
legionaries into
Germany to quell a
rebellion. At first, all went well as the Roman troops were guided through the dense
forest by Arminius, the chief of the Cherusci tribe. Suddenly, disaster struck. Arminius had led Varus into a
trap. Screaming German
warriors leapt from cover and fell upon the unsuspecting Romans. Varus and his men were slaughtered almost to a man. Only a few stunned
survivors staggered back to Roman territory to tell what had happened.
The terrifying defeat of Varus meant that
Rome never again tried to invade Germany. Raiding parties, such as that led by Germanicus, sometimes ventured across the
Rhine but the skeletons found by Germanicus marked a boundary beyond which the
Roman Empire never extended.