Introduction
1. The main Roman writing tools were the reed or bronze pen for writing with ink on papyrus or vellum (hide) and the bronze, bone or iron stylus used for scratching on wax tablets (Matthew Bunson, Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2002, p. 594–5).
2. Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, translated by H. Mattingly and S.A. Handford (Ontario: Penguin Books, 1987), G19, p. 117, 118.
3. N. Sekunda and others, Caesar’s Legions, the Roman Soldier 753 BC to 117 AD, (Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 2000), p. 92.
4. At Cannae a Roman army of 50,000 was virtually annihilated (M. Cary and H.H. Scullard, A History of Rome, (London: Macmillan Education. 1988) p. 128–129). At Arausio, Roman casualties may have reached up to 80,000 (Paulus Orosius, The Seven Books of History against the Pagans, trans. Roy. J. Deferrari, (Washington: The Catholic University Press. 1961), p. 235). Of course both numbers are estimates. Cary and Scullard doubted that the Arausio losses were as high as stated (Cary and Scullard, p. 218).
5. Victor Duruy wrote of the Cimbri and Teutones migration, “They were perhaps a million of human beings when, thirteen years before, they had left the Baltic shore” (Victor Duruy, History of Rome, Volume II. (London: Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co. 1884), p. 506). When considering the low population densities of the time and the logistical problems of moving such a large population over a number of years, over mountains, hills and rivers and through relatively sparsely inhabited areas (by modern standards), Duruy’s numbers become highly implausible.
6. Thucydides I. 22, as quoted by Michael Grant in his introduction to Tacitus’ Annals of Imperial Rome (Tacitus, trans. Michael Grant, The Annals of Imperial Rome (London: Penguin Books. 1996), p. 12).
Chapter 1
1. Titus Livius, The History of Rome, trans. Roberts Canon (London: New York: Dutto & Co. Inc., 1927), V.I.5.21.
2. The classical histories themselves expressed different opinions on the origins of the Etruscans. Dionysius of Halicarnassus considered the Etruscans a very ancient people, native to Italy, with a unique language and culture (Dionysius, The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, translated by Earnest Cary (London: William Heinemann LTD, 1960), Volume I. p. 97). Herodotus, the “Father of History,” told of an Etruscan King who led his people from their home in Lydia (modern Turkey) to Italy (Herodotus, Herodotus, translated by William Beloe (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830), Volume I. p. 79, 80).
3. H. Delbrück, Warfare in Antiquity (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990) p. 260.
4. The Trojan War is best known from Homer’s literary classic, The Iliad, which, however, covers only its dramatic last days. For the whole war see Apollodorus’ Epitome 3–5 and Virgil’s Aeneid. What really happened is a matter of speculation. There were no less than seven settlements at the site of Troy, some which archaeology shows were probably destroyed by natural disaster, such as an earthquake, others possibly by invasion (J.B. Bury and R. Meiggs, A History of Greece (London: Macmillan, 1987), p. 42, 47, 48). Like that of Troy, the length of the Roman siege of Veii may have similarly grown in legend.
Chapter 2
1. Livy, The History of Rome, translated by Roberts Canon V.1.5.48.
2. Peter Wilcox and Trevino Rafael, Barbarians against Rome, p. 59, Strabo, The Geography of Strabo, translated by Jones L. Horace (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1923) IV.4.2.
3. Livy, The History of Rome, V.1.5.33. Livy further claims that the initial Gallic inroads into Italy occurred 200 years before the Gauls were allegedly lured into Italy by the trade in wine. He blames the first great Gallic invasion on the overpopulation of their land and places it in the reign of the Roman Etruscan King Tarquinius Priscus (trad. 616–579 BC). Modern scholars generally reject this as 100–200 years too early when compared to archeological evidence (Cary and Scullard, p. 590). According to Livy, to find new homes for the growing population of Gaul, King Ambigatus of the powerful Bituriges asked his sister’s sons, Bellovesus and Segovesus, to find new lands to settle. Leading a smattering of tribesmen from the Bituriges, the Arverni, the Senones, the Aedui, the Ambarri, the Carnutes, and the Aulerci, Bellovesus crossed the Alps into Italy. His brother, Segovesus led his Gauls east, toward the Hercynian (Harz) forest (Livy, The History of Rome, V.1.5.34).
4. Andrew Sherratt, “The Emergence of Elites: Earlier Bronze Age Europe, 2500–1300 BC, in Prehistoric Europe,” p. 261.
5. Brennus may be a general term for a Gallic chief or king, as opposed to a name of an individual (Theodor Mommsen, The History of Rome, Volume I (London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1894), p. 428).
6. Livy, The History of Rome, V. 1.5.36
7. Dio gives a number of 24,000 warriors for the Roman army and more than 70,000 for the Gauls (Dio. Roman History, translated by Cary Earnest, XIV. 114.2, 3). Plutarch says the Romans were not inferior in numbers to the Gauls and gives us a figure of 40,000 men (Plutarch. “The Life of Camillus,” in Plutarch’s Lives, translated by Perrin Bernadotte XVIII 4). Cary and Scullard estimate the Romans at 15,000 and the Gauls at 30,000–70,000 (M.Cary and H. H. Scullard, A History of Rome, notes p. 590). Ellis considers the Roman army to have been 24,000 men strong, the Gauls at only half that number (Peter Beresford Ellis, Celts and Romans: The Celts In Italy (London: Constable, 1998), p. 10).
8. Wilcox and Rafael, Barbarians against Rome p. 70–71.
9. Livy, The History of Rome, V.1.5.38.
10. Headhunting was a prevalent Celtic custom. Besides actual finds of skulls, images of severed heads remained behind on carvings.
11. Livy, The History of Rome, V.1.5.48.
12. Not to be confused with the Celtic, Aremorican coastal tribe of the same name.
13. Over the centuries the size of the manipular legion, which first arose sometime in the 4th century BC, was subject to change both in its overall strength and in the size and number of its subunits. Polybius in his Histories spanning the years 264–164 BC, describes the Roman manipular legion as fielding 4,200 infantry and 300 Roman cavalry but being increased in times of great danger to 5,000 (Polybius 6. 20–21). Livy, who wrote the entire history of Rome, from its foundation to his own time of Emperor Augustus, leaves an account of a larger Roman manipular legion, with fifteen maniples in each of the legionary lines, instead of the ten of Polybius, for a total of 5,000 men, each assigned 300 cavalry (Livy 8.8). On another occasion, Livy mentions 2,000 hastati in the 197 BC legion of Quinctius Flamininus (Livy 33.1.2) during the Second Macedonian War. During the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), legions reached 6,000 or even 6,200 men (N Sekunda and others, Caesar’s Legions, The Roman Soldier 753 BC to AD 117, p. 86).
14. J.B. Bury and Russell Meiggs, A History of Greece, p. 447.
1. Polybius, The Histories, II.27.
2. Ibid. II.21.
3. Ibid. II.22.
4. Archaeology reveals the presence of the Taurisci Celtic culture in Slovenia from around 300 BC (John T. Koch, Celtic Culture a Historical Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006) p. 1663).
5. Most of the army sizes and casualty numbers in Chapter 3 are quoted directly from Polybius, The Histories, Book II.23, 24. His information appears entirely credible, the only possible exception being the size of the Roman allied contingents. According to Polybius, each of the two consular armies numbered 22,000 Romans and 32,000 allies. Polybius does not mention if the army under the praetor in Etruria was equally strong. However, as mentioned in the chapter, it must have been of fair size, for at first the Gauls decided to avoid an open battle and came up with a plan to ambush the Romans. Polybius does go on to list numerous other Roman allies, for an unbelievable total “seven hundred thousand foot and seventy thousand horse.” But as Polybius mentions, they were men “able to bear arms,” meaning they were likely to be the total number of men in Italy that could, in theory but not in reality, be armed to fight for Rome. I estimate the Roman and allied defenders in the three armies at somewhere above 150,000 strong. Cary and Scullard’s estimate was “a force of not less than 130,000 defenders” (Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome, p. 122).
6. The Marsi were a mountain people of Italy. Their tribal name should not be confused with a Germanic tribe of the same name which fought Rome in the early first century AD.
7. Polybius, The Histories, II.29.
8. The inscriptions on the Acta Triumphalia stone tablets, dating from the reign of the first Roman Emperor Augustus, record that Marcus Claudius Marcellus gained the spoils of honor for triumphing over the Insubrian Celts and the Germans. Marcellus’ victory in 222 BC at Clastidium is the earliest date that Germanic tribesmen are mentioned in the historical record (Ellis, The Celtic Empire, p. 41, A. Degrassi, Fasti Capitolini (Torino: G.B. Paravia, 1954)).
9. Livy quoted in King, Kingdoms of the Celts, p. 77.
Chapter 4
1. Polybius, The Histories, XXXV.1.
2. Cunliffe, Iron Age Societies in Western Europe and Beyond, 800-140 BC, in Prehistoric Europe, p. 370.
3. Pro-praetors Postumius and Gracchus’ armies advanced from the southeast and north, respectively, squeezing the Celt-Iberians between them. Their submission was followed by a long lasting settlement that established Roman dominion over all of Spain outside of the Atlantic coast. Gracchus left his stamp on Spain by founding the colony of Gracchuris on the Upper River Ebro.
4. Appian, Appian’s Roman History, VI.X.59, 60.
5. Wilcox and Trevino, Barbarians Against Rome, p. 112.
6. Gades’ chief deity was Melqart, usually depicted as a bearded man, holding in either hand an anhk and an axe, symbols of life and death, (“Melqart”, Encyclopeidia Britannica, britannica.com).
7. Appian, Appian’s Roman History, VI.XII.70.
8. Ibid., VI.XII.72.
Chapter 5
1. Appian, Appian’s Roman History, Book VI.XV.93
2. Gracchus’ peace treaty included provisions for the poor, who were allotted land to settle on. Carefully crafted treaties with the tribes bound them to be friends of Rome with oaths exchanged on both sides. “These treaties were often longed for in the subsequent wars. In this way Gracchus became celebrated both in Spain and in Rome.” (Appian, Appian’s Roman History, translated by Horace White, VI. 43).
3. From 179 to 154, complaints by the Spaniards of oppressive Roman governors were met by empty promises. As a result the Belli began to prepare for another possible war. In 154 the Belli induced settlers from smaller towns and from among the Titii to move to their city of Segeda and began to fortify it with a new wall. The Senate forbade this even though Gracchus’ treaty had not forbidden the fortifications of existing cities, although it forbade the construction of new cities. Furthermore, the Senate demanded tribute and soldiers from the Belli, as per Gracchus’ treaty. The Belli replied that the Romans had already released the Belli from these requirements. This was true but the Senate replied that these exemptions “should continue only during the pleasure of the Roman people.” (Appian, Appian’s Roman History, translated by Horace White, VI. 44, Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome, p. 143, Wilcox and Trevino, Barbarians Against Rome, p. 115).
4. Polybius, The Histories, XXXV.4.
5. Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome, p. 143.
6. Appian, Appian’s Roman History, Book VI.XIV.85.
7. Ibid., VI.XIV.85.
8. Peter Wilcox and Trevino Rafael estimate 3,500 warriors (Barbarians Against Rome, p. 119). Appian gave a fighting strength of 8,000 (Appian, Appian’s Roman History, Book VI. 97). Considering the heroic defense of the city and the tendency of classical historians to overstate the size of enemy armies, I would expect the numbers were somewhere in between.
9. Part of one of the largest and earliest remains of a Roman siegework, the ruins of Scipio’s seven fortresses, can still be seen on the hills surrounding the excavated town of Numantia (S. J. Key, Roman Spain, p. 40).
10. Plutarch, Greek and Roman Lives, p. 194
Chapter 6
1. Livy, The History of Rome, V.5.XXXVI.39.
2. Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome, p. 13.
3. Livy, The History of Rome, V.5.XXXVI.39.
Chapter 7
1. Plutarch, “The Life of Marius,” Plutarch’s Lives XI.8
2. Their simple dress is based on descriptions in Tacitus’ Germania (Tacitus, The Agricola and Germania, p. 115,116), written nearly two centuries later. If anything one would expect the Cimbri and Teutones attire to have been more primitive than Tacitus’ Germans.
3. The question of whether the Cimbri and Teutones were Germans or Celts is a difficult one and one that caused me considerable difficulty during my research. Basically scholarly opinion appears to be divided with an apparent leaning toward the German side, the exception being Celtic historians.
4. Modern estimates of the numbers of Cimbri and Teutones vary greatly. Logistical considerations and the low population density of Germany, under 5 people per km2 (Pounds, An historical geography of Europe, p. 111) at the time, make the large numbers in the ancient sources impossible. Delbrück (Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, translated by Walter J. Renfroe Jr. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990, p. 298)) estimates a mere 10,000 warriors for the Cimbri. Kildahl, (Kildahl, Caius Marius, p. 99–100) believes that each tribe furnished 50,000 fighting men, and some authors (Duruy, History of Rome and the Roman People, p. 490) state larger numbers. I believe Kildahl’s numbers are too high – it would have meant over 400,000 men, women and children! On the other hand, Delbrück seems too low considering the tribes’ impact on Rome. The Cimbri and Teutones were probably the same size as the larger tribes of the migration age, which according to Bury numbered from 80,000 to 120,000 people (J.B. Bury, The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians (New York: The Norton Library, 1967), p. 42).
5. The route taken by the Cimbri and Teutones into Gaul is conjectural. Duruy proposed that after the Helvetii (the Tigurini) joined the Cimbri and Teutones, the tribes ventured down the Rhine crossing into Gaul in the Belgae lands (Duruy, History of Rome and the Roman People, p. 490, 491).
6. Florus, Epitome of Roman History, Book I. XXXVIII.
7. Duruy, History of Rome and the Roman People, p. 492.
8. The marshes have since been channeled by dams and cannals (Encylopedia Britannica, “Rhone River,” britannica.com).
9. Plutarch, Greek and Roman Lives, p. 194.
10. Just as was the case in the pre-Marian reforms, the post-Marian legion size and structure doubtlessly changed over the decades. Keeping in mind Goldsworthy’s “warning against rigid thinking concerning unit strength and internal structure,” (Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War 100 BC-200 AD, p. 13), many scholars believe that the Marian reforms resulted in a 6,000 infantry-strong legion (Stephen Dando Collins, Legions of Rome (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2010) p. 17, Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome, p. 219, J.F.C. Fuller, Julius Caesar, p. 80–81, Delbrück, Warfare in Antiquity, p. 263).
11. Plutarch, “Life of Marius,” Plutarch’s Lives, XVIII.
12. Florus, Epitome of Roman History, Book I. XXXVIII.
13. M. Claudius Marcellus was likely the grandson of his namesake who fought in the Iberian war (B.G. Niebuhr, Lectures on Roman History Vol. II (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855).
14. No account of Teutobod’s end remains, though he was almost certainly executed after Marius’ triumph.
15. Plutarch, “Life of Marius,” Plutarch’s Lives, XXIII.
16. Ibid. XXIV.
17. Florus, Epitome of Roman History, Book I. XXXVIII.
18. Florus, Epitome of Roman History, Book I. XXXVIII.
Chapter 8
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, I.14.
2. Caesar’s account tells of the Helvetii burning their twelve oppida and 400 villages. Like many of Caesar’s numbers, their credibility is suspect. So far, archaeology has only revealed one of fifteen oppida destroyed by fire while many other excavated sites of the period in Helvetii territory have not shown any fire damage (Andres Furger-Gunti, Die Helvetier: Kulturgeschichte eines Keltenvolkes (Zürich: Neue Züricher Zeitung, 1984) p. 118ff).
3. For the size of the Helvetii army see, Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, I. 29, Plutarch, The Life of Julius Caesar, Plutarch’s Lives, XVIII, Orosius, The Seven Books of History against the Pagans, p. 242 (6.7.6), Delbrück, Warfare in Antiquity, p. 459–475, Furger Gunti, Die Helvetier: Kulturgeschichte eines Keltenvolkes, p. 102.
4. The deployment of Caesar’s three unengaged legions during the battle with the Tigurini is unclear. Furthermore, Caesar claims he himself led his three legions against the Tigurini, while Plutarch and Appian say it was Labienus (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, I.12, Plutarch, “The Life of Julius Caesar,” Plutarch’s Lives, XVIII, Appian, Appian’s Roman History, Book IV.XV).
5. Caesar, The Gallic War, translated by H.J. Edwards (London: Harvard University Press, 1970), I.13.
6. Slavery was the common fate of Rome’s defeated enemies, such as the former allies of the Tigurini, the Cimbri and Teutons (Plutarch, “The Life of Marius,” Plutarch’s Lives, XXVI.5–XXVII.4).
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, I.36.
2. Ibid I.31
3. Ibid I.32
4. Ibid I.36
5. Ibid I.39
6. Ibid I.45
7. Ibid I.49
8. Tacitus, The Agricola and Germania, p. 108.
9. Bunson estimates 75,000 men for Ariovistus and 50,000 for Caesar (Bunson, A Dictionary of the Roman Empire, p. 28), Delbrück echoes Napoleon I’s sentiment, in that he estimates Ariovistus’ army considerably smaller than Caesar’s (Delbrück, Warfare in Antiquity, p. 481). Plutarch wrote that Ariovistus’ dead numbered 80,000 (Plutarch, Greek and Roman Lives, p. 338). Since Caesar himself describes how Ariovistus’ wives were counted among the dead in the general slaughter, the 80,000 likely includes the women, the children and the old. This gives 20,000–30,000 warriors for the battle.
10. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, I. 51.
11. Tacitus, The Agricola and Germania, p. 108.
12. Orosius, The Seven Books of History against the Pagans, VI.
13. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, I.52.
Chapter 10
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, II.21
2. The traditional identification of the Sabis as the Sambre has been challenged as being the Selle, near Saulzoir, instead (Kimberly Kagan, The Eye of Command (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2006) p. 226 and Plutarch, Caesar, translated and commentary by Christopher Pelling (Oxfort: Oxfort University Press, 2011), p. 239.
3. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, II.19.
4. Ibid. II.28.
5. Jona Lendering, “Caesar and the Aduatuci,” Livius, Articles on Ancient History, 2012, livius.org.
Chapter 11
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, III.13.
2. Like other tribes along the Rhine, the Sugambri were another Germanic-Celtic cross cultural tribe, usually classed as Germanic but with Celtic ancecestry as well (Carl Waldman and Catherine Mason, Encyclopedia of European Peoples (New York: Inforbase Publishing, 2006, p. 786)).
Chapter 12
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, IV.25.
2. Ibid IV.21.
3. Roman seamen, manning oars and operating sails, were not slaves, as is commonly believed, but freemen (Richard Gabriel, The Roman Navy, Masters of the Mediterranean, Military History Magazine (Herndon: December 2007, p. 36)).
4. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, IV.25.
5. Fuller, Julius Caesar, Man, Soldier, and Tyrant, p. 123.
6. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, p. 24. Suetonius is doubtlessly referring to the tribute and hostages paid by Cassivellaunus.
7. Plutarch, Greek and Roman Lives, p. 341.
8. Ibid.p. 340.
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, V. 54.
2. The first rebellion flared up in 56 BC, chiefly among the Aremorican and Belgic coastal tribes. See Chapter 11.
3. The Treveri gave their name to the city of Trier, which claims to be the oldest city in Germany (Stadt Trier, “History”, redaction.trier.de.).
4. The probable site of Caesar’s camp for his four legions has recently been discovered by archaeologists of the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU). The remains of the 26 ha earthworks near Hermeskeil are only 3 miles from and within sight of the Dollberg fortress (Sabine Hornung, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Römisches Militärlager aus der Zeit der Eroberung Galliens erhellt ein Stück Weltgeschichte, 28.08.2012. uni-mainz.de.)
5. Sabinus was given command over the six cohorts that defended the vital rearguard stronghold at the battle of the Aisne. He then held command over three legions with which he subdued a number of Aremorican tribes. By comparison, before being mentioned by Caesar in command with Sabinus, Cotta only led a cavalry detachment. More than likely, then, it was Sabinus who held senior command when he and Cotta raided the Menapii lands and it was Sabinus who held senior command at Atuatuca.
6. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, V.28–31.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Although Caesar’s narrative makes it clear that the army of Gauls consisted of a coalition of Belgae tribes, from this point on his emphasis is on the Nervii and their leaders. This seems to indicate that both in leadership and in numbers, the Nervii and the tribes under their rule became the prominent force in the Belgae coalition.
11. Caesar does not specify which tribe led the initial cavalry attack on the woodcutters of Cicero’s camp in Book V of his Gallic Wars. However, in Book II, he mentions that the Nervii virtually have no cavalry (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, p. 65) so the Eburones and others likely provided the cavalry.
12. The centurions Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus of the Eleventh Legion served as the inspiration for the fictional characters of the same name in the HBO television series Rome. In the series they are portrayed serving in the Thirteenth Legion.
13. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, V. 44.
14. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, p. 42.
15. Cicero and his men were notified of Caesar’s coming by one of Caesar’s Gallic cavalry horsemen. He infiltrated the enemy lines around Cicero’s camp, tied the message around a javelin, threw the javelin into the camp and hit one of the towers. The javelin remained unnoticed for two days, until found at the time of Caesar’s approach.
16. Not only were there several tribes involved, but the battle took place in or near to the tribal homelands. As such it would have been easy for the Belgae to raise large numbers of their men able to bear arms. Their ability to erect large siege works around Cicero’s camp also points to a sizeable army.
17. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, p. 233.
18. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VI. 8.
19. Ibid.
20. Roman camps dating to Caesar’s time were discovered during bridge construction in Hesse, near Limburg, in 2013. The camps were probably built in conjunction with Caesar’s crossing of the Rhine in 55 and 53 BC (Hr online.de, Julius Caesar an der Autobahn. 2.05.2013, hr-online.de.).
21. The Bacenis forest was also the territory between the Suebi and the Cherusci (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VI, 10) a tribe which one day would became greater foes of Rome than even the Suebi. Possibly the Bacenis was the Thuringinan-Franconian Forest, once covered in beech and pine but now dominated by planted fir (naturpark-thueringer-wald.eu, oekologische-bildungsstaette.de).
22. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VI. 34.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid. VI. 35
25. Ibid.
26. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, IV. 35.
27. Ibid. VI. 41.
28. Ibid. VI. 43.
29. A heroic statute of Ambiorix erected in 1866, stands in the great market square of Tongeren, Belgium.
Chapter 14
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII.29.
2. Hirtius, in Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VIII.23.
3. “Ver” means “over” or “higher”, “cinget” means “warrior” and “rix” means king.
4. Fuller wrote that Caesar kept 400 German horsemen in his service after his defeat of Ariovistus (Fuller, Julius Caesar, Man, Soldier, and Tyrant, p. 134), implying that the majority of them were Suebi.
5. Condensed by the author from Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII. 14.
6. Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Ed. AVARICUM (Bourges) Cher, France, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, perseus.tufts.edu.
7. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII.25.
8. Ibid. VII.29.
9. According to Caesar there were many archers in Gaul (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII.31), although he rarely mentions the bow being used in battle. Fuller speculates that the Gauls used the bow primarily for hunting (Fuller, Julius Caesar, Man, Soldier, and Tyrant, p. 138).
10. Ibid. VII.38.
11. Handford suggests that Caesar’s real objective was to capture the town by a surprise attack (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, p. 234).
Chapter 15
1. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII. 86.
2. The presence of the Harii and Aestii is speculative. Caesar never clarifies what tribes his Germanic auxiliaries hailed from, although presumably most came from tribes living close to the Rhine.
3. The scene of the Germanic warriors around the campfires of Caesar’s legions is based on descriptions of Germanic tribesmen given by Caesar and Tacitus.
4. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII.71.
5. Plutarch, who lavishes praise upon Caesar throughout his biography, gives an even greater total of 300,000 Gauls for the relief army and 170,000 for the defenders of Alesia.
6. Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VII.76.
7. Ibid. VII. 86.
8. Ibid. VII. 89.
9. Florus, Epitome of Roman History, I.XLVI. The description of Vercingetorix’s surrender is a combination of Caesar’s, Florus’ and Plutarch’s narratives, all of which differ slightly.
10. Hirtius in Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, VIII. 36.
11. Plutarch, Greek and Roman Lives, p. 335.
12. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, I. 54.
13. There were minor rebellions in Aquitania in 39 and 30 BC. Another rebellion occurred in 21 AD, as Gaul groaned under the heavy taxation that Rome demanded to finance her campaigns against the German tribes. The Aedui noble, Iulius Sacrovir and the Treveri Iulius Florus, led a weak rebellion easily suppressed by the Romans (Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant, (London: Penguin Books, 1996) p. 139).
14. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, I. 37.
15. Ibid.I.49
16. Ibid.I.51
17. According to Dio, the affair with Nicomedes vexed Caesar greatly, but whenever he tried to defend himself he only incurred more ridicule.
18. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, I. 37.
19. Fuller, Julius Caesar, Man, Soldier, and Tyrant, p. 285.
Chapter 16
1. Dio, Roman History, LV.1.
2. Cary and Scullard estimated from 70 to a 100 million inhabitants of the Roman Empire at the time of Augustus (Cary and Scullard, 1988, p. 339). More recent estimates are lower, Reymer giving a number of 55 million during the first half of the 1st century AD (Reymer, 2012, p. 31) and Kelly 60 million in the 2nd century AD (Kelly, 2006, p. 1).
3. Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome, p. 57.
4. Under Augustus’ terms of service, pay and pensions were standardized for both the legions and the auxiliaries. After serving twenty years, the last four on garrison duty in a veteran’s corps, the legionaries retired on land grants in the provincial colonies. In 6 AD regular service was extended to the full twenty years. In compensation, money grants for retirement, which increasingly replaced the land grants, were increased and a special fund was set up for them (Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome, p 338, Ross Cowan, Roman Legionary 58 BC–AD 69, p. 12, 13, Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, I. 36, Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, II. 49).
5. Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. VII.1.
6. Jonathan Stock, Die Stadt Der Stadte, Geo Epoche Nr. 54 (Hamburg: Gruner + Jahr AG&Co, 2012), p. 121.
7. Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, translated by John Bostock and H.T. Riley, Book XVI, Chapter 2, “Wonders connected with Trees in the Northern Regions,” Perseus Digital Library.
8. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, III. 3, V.I.
9. Robert J. Hoeksema, Designed for Dry Feet, Flood Protection and Land Reclamation in the Netherlands (Virginia: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2006) p. 7–8 and Encyclopedia Britannica, “Zuiderzee”, britannica.com.
10. Seneca quoted in The Germanic Tribes, DVD. Part I. Chapter 12.
11. Tacitus. The Agricola and The Germania, p. 126.
12. Dr. Klaus Grote, “Römer lager bei Hedemünden,” grote-archaeologie.de.
13. Dio, Roman History, LV.1.
14. Strabo, Geography, VII.1.3, Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, III.9.
15. For the identification of Aliso with Haltern see Jona Lendering’s article, “The Battle in the Teutoburg Forest (7),” in Livius, livius.org.
Chapter 17
1. Velleius Paterculus quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions p. 94.
2. All that is known for sure is that prior to the Teutoburg battle, Arminius, like his brother, served as an auxiliary with the Romans and was rewarded for his service. Since the Romans needed troops to deal with the Pannonian and Illyrian uprising, it is reasonable to assume that this is where Arminius and Flavus served (assuming Flavus was born within a decade of Arminius’ birthdate).
3. Stephan Dando-Collins, Legions of Rome, p. 237.
4. Velleius Paterculus quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions p. 93.
5. Ibid. p. 93.
6. Other than Germania, only the freshly subdued Illyricum contained a garrison of five legions (Michael McNally, Teutoburg Forest AD 9. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2011. p. 18).
7. Florus quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions p. 95.
8. Ibid. p. 95.
9. March was fittingly named after Mars.
10. The name “Teutoburger Forest” is indicated to us solely by Tacitus, in a single passage (“saltus Teutoburgienses”, Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, p. 67). In all probability, “Teutoburg” means “people’s castle” (Volksburg)” wrote Hans Delbrück (The Barbarian Invasions, p. 79). However, Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) suggested that “forest” might mean “gap”, as in the narrow gap between the forest and the marshlands near Kalkriese where the battle occurred (Michael McNally, Teutoburg Forest AD 9 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2011), p. 5, 6)
11. The exact location of Varus summer camp remains unknown; possibly it lies under the streets of Minden (McNally, Teutoburg Forest 9 AD, p. 29).
12. The estimated strength of 12,000 soldiers for all three legions is based on reduced legion strength due to past attrition and due to garrison duties back in Germania Inferior and in outposts along the route to Varus’ summer camp. McNally provides a detailed analysis of the strength and deployment of the Roman army in Germania (McNally, Teutoburger Forest 9 AD, p. 18–22).
13. Until 197 AD, when Emperor Septimius Severus lifted the restriction, legionaries were not allowed to marry and marriages prior to enrollment were made void. Despite this there were many unofficial marriages and relationships with camp followers (Dando-Collins Stephen, Legions of Rome, p. 21, Wells, The Battle that Stopped Rome, p. 94).
14. Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome, II, 119.
15. Velleius Paterculus quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions p. 94
16. Ibid. p. 93.
17. Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, 64.
18. Depending on the density of surrounding settlements, Wells estimates anywhere from 17,000 to 100,000 potential German warriors (Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome, p. 123, 124). McNally adds that the recent Roman campaigns would have taken a toll on the German manpower available which, unlike the Romans, the Germans could only make up through natural population growth (McNally, Teutoburg Forest 9 AD, p. 23).
19. Boiocalus later regained his freedom and became king of the Ampsivarii (Tacitus, Annals, XIII, 55).
20. To increase their mobility during skirmishes and lacking any body armor, many tribesmen would have stripped the cumbersome woolen clothing they would have normally worn.
21. The site of Varus last camp remains unknown but may have been the Felsenfeld, literally meaning field of rocks or cliffs, near Schwagstorf (McNally, Teutoburg 9 AD, p. 66).
22. British army officer Tony Clunn’s 1987–8 remarkable discoveries of Roman catapult slingshot in the Kalkriese area, sparked further research by Dr. Wolfgang Schlüter of the Osnabrück Department for Preservation of Archaeological Monuments. Ten years later, there was no doubt that the location of the Teutoburg battle had been found (Tony Clunn, Quest for the Lost Legions, Discovering the Varus Battlefield (New York: Savas Beatie LLC, 2009) p. xvi, 1).
Heretofore, the location had been merely hypothetical, with the most common view being held that the battle occurred near Detmold, as championed by Delbrück (1848–1929) in his exhaustive third volume of the History of the Art of War, “The Barbarian Invasions.” It was Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903), however, who correctly theorized that the battle occurred father north and west, near Osnabrück (T. Mommsen, A History of Rome under the Emperors (London: Routledge, 1992, p. 99–100)).
23. The loss of 13,000 dead over the 20–30 km is an estimate taken from Clunn, “Give me back my Legions,” Osprey Military Journal, p. 34.
24. The primary sources make no direct mention of two of Varus’ legion commanders, the legates. The senior officers that are mentioned commanding the legions near the end of the multi-day battle are the two camp prefects, Caeonius and Eggius, and Vala Numonius who near the end of the battle commanded the Roman cavalry. Varus’ third camp prefect was left commanding a fort east of the Rhine (Velleius, II, 119), almost certainly Aliso. The absence of the legates and broad-strip tribunes (second in command of a legion) may mean that by the time Ceonius and Eggius are mentioned, most of the legion’s senior commanders were already killed. Alternatively, based on the Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb translation, the legions may have been unofficered in the first place (Tacitus, Annals, II, 46), though the actual Latin text, “vagas legiones,” is usually meant to mean “straggling legions,” which makes more sense (Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant, p. 100). The rank of Vala Numonius has seen various interpretations, McNally considering him to be the commander of all three legions of Germania Inferior (McNally, Teutoburg 9 AD, p. 18) while Dando-Collins considers him a mere prefect of one of Varus’ three cavalry wings (Dando-Collins, The Legions, p. 239), for example. The Latin text says, “Vala Numonius, legatus Vari,” (Perseus Digital Library), meaning that Vala was one of Varus’ legates, or legion commanders, which was Delbrück’s opinion as well (Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, p. 95).
25. The attack on the camp of Varus is based on Tacitus’ description of the discovery of the battle site and the recounting of events by survivors of the massacre (Tacitus, Annals, I, 61). Tacitus actually wrote that the attack happened on Varus’ first camp, something that is difficult to reconcile with Dio’s account of a multiday running battle (Dio, Roman History, Book LVI, 21) and the well over 40 miles trek through adverse terrain and weather until the final, archeologically attested, battle ground at Kalkriese could be reached.
26. Eggius “set a noble example,” according to Paterculus (History of Rome, II, cxix) as quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, p. 94.
27. The Kalkriese finds clarified the location of the Teutoburg battle but also raised new questions. Many of the events of the battle and the campaign remain ambiguous. The scattered Roman military and civilian artifacts at Kalkriese match the ambush at the end of Dio’s multiday battle and the forests and swamps of Paterculus. However, none of the literary sources mention the barbarian rampart and the large concentration of Roman objects, discovered at what was apparently the final ambush on Varus’ marching column. Conversely, if Varus met his end along the rampart then what of Tacitus’ account of Varus meeting his end during a final barbarian assault on the Roman camp? The discovery of the grass muffled mule bells presented yet another mystery.
With many aspects of the Teutoburg battle open to speculation, historians recreating the battle arrive at different conclusions. Most accounts, from Delbrück to Clunn (Clunn, “Give me back my Legions,” Osprey Military Journal, p. 31–40) follow Dio’s narrative in that the battle was a multiday ambush climaxing in a final doomed stand by the worn down legions. Wells’ narrative, on the other hand, limits the entire battle to an hour-long ambush and massacre. He considers Dio’s descriptions embellishments to dramatize the story (Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome, p. 176, 228). Modern accounts, like Wells, McNally and Dando-Collins, include the barbarian rampart in their version, but even the nature of the rampart has been disputed. Dando-Collins intriguingly considers the barrier to have been part of Varus’ last camp (Dando-Collins, Legions of Rome p. 248). With much of the battlefield remaining buried, future discoveries will no doubt add to the knowledge and discussion of the battle.
28. Dio Cassius quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, p. 93.
29. Caelius’ name and career was preserved into modern times on a tombstone erected by his brother (McNally, Teutoburg 9 AD, p. 40).
30. As opposed to the broad-strip tribunes of the Imperial army, who were the second in command of a legion and usually earned their rank after years of military service, the thin-striped tribunes were teenage officer cadets who served on the legate’s staff and had no military authority. This differed from the Republican legion, where all six tribunes of a legion rotated military command over two cohorts each (Stephan Dando Collins, Legions of Rome, p. 42–43).
31. Florus quoted in Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, p. 95.
32. Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, p. 96.
33. Peter Wells estimates 500 killed and another 1,500 wounded (Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome, p. 182).
34. Archaeology shows that the Roman bases on the River Lippe at Anreppen, Oberaden and Holsterhausen, not mentioned in the classical sources, were abandoned in 9 AD (Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome, p. 103, 104).
35. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, II.23.
Chapter 18
1. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, The Internet Classics Archive, classics.mit.edu., Book II.88.
2. Ibid. Book. I.23.
3. Ibid. Book. I.28.
4. Ibid. Book. I.31.
5. Tacitus. The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant, (London: Penguin Books, 1996), p. 51.
6. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, Book II. 88.
7. Ibid.
8. Tacitus. The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant, p. 58.
9. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, I. 49.
10. Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant p. 60.
11. Ibid. I. 49, p. 61.
12. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, Book I. 51.
13. Ibid. I.51.
14. Ibid. I.58.
15. Ibid. I.58.
16. Ibid. I.57.
17. Ibid. I.59.
18. Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant, p. 69.
19. Germanicus’ debarking at or near the mouth of the Ems is based on Tacitus’ narrative (Tacitus, Annals, II. 8). Since his ultimate destination was the Cherusci lands east of the Weser, the question remains why Germanicus disembarked on the Ems and then proceeded to undertake the long overland march east to the Weser. Instead he could have just sailed up the Weser; after all the whole point of building the fleet was to facilitate a faster approach. To compound the confusion, Tacitus seems to indicate that the Angrivarii revolted to the rear of Germanicus’ camp on the Ems, even though the Angrivarii lived on both sides of the lower Weser. More however, in the next section, Germanicus suddenly appears on the Weser (Tacitus, Annals, II. 9) without a single word about the journey between the two rivers. Delbrück pointed out that Tacitus was prone to errors in geography and tribal names (Delbrück, The Barbarian Invasions, p. 97–98). According to Delbrück, Germanicus in his AD 16 campaign sailed up the Weser and not Ems (Delbrück p. 112).
20. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, Book II. 9.
21. Ibid. II.12.
22. Ibid. II.13.
23. Ibid.
24. For Roman auspices before battle see Livy 6.41, 10.40., and Jörg Rüpke, “Legitimizing Men,” in A Companion to the Roman Republic, edited by Nathan Rosenstein (Robert Morstein-Marx. West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2010) p. 229.
25. Tacitus, op. cit. II.15.
26. Tony Clunn speculates that the Idistaviso was the plain to the south of Minden and the Weser’s passage through the Westfalica Gate (Tony Clunn, Quest for the Lost Legions, p. XXXVIII). Akin to Tacitus’ description, the river bends outward to the west, enclosing a plain with forested hills rising to the east.
27. The color of legionary tunics remains a matter of speculation. Red was cheap to die, and partially because of this is favored by many historians (Stephan Dando-Collins, Legions of Rome, p. 30).
28. Due to different and contradictory primary sources, the size of the Imperial legion “continues to be the subject of confusion and disagreement,” (The Size and Organization of the Roman Imperial Legion, Jonathan Roth, Historia: Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte Volume. 43, Issure 3 (3rd Qtr., 1994) published by Franz Steiner Verlag, p. 346–362). “From 30 BC, Augustus took the 6,000 man republican legion, with its ten cohorts of 600 men, and turned it into a unit with nine cohorts of 480 men, and a so-called ‘double strength’ 1st cohort of 800 men … to this Augustus added a legionary cavalry squadron of 128 men, making a legion, on paper, amount to 5,248 men.” (Stephen Dando-Collins, Legions of Rome (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2010, p. 17). Goldsworthy comes to a similar conclusion, of ten cohorts of 480 men each with an oversized first cohort of 800 men “for at least some of our period,” (Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War 100 BC-200 AD, p. 14) and a cavalry contingent of 120 men from the early empire onward (Goldsworthy, p. 13–16), as did Salway: “A legion had a nominal strength of something over 5000 men, and was divided into ten cohorts, each of 480 men, except the first, which probably had 800” (Salway, A History of Roman Britain, p. 59). McNally added that each cohort was attended by 120 servants, 20 for each centuriae of 80 legionaries (McNally, Teutoburg Forest 9 AD, p. 18), so that each legion was supported by 1,200 servants. Legions, however, were rarely at full strength, accounting for losses in battle, due to disease or due to having detachments on garrison duty, hence the range of 3,000 to over 5,000 men in the legions of Germanicus’ army.
29. Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, p. 103.
30. Tacitus, Ther Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant, pp. 84–5.
30. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, Book II.18.
31. Ibid. II.19.
32. The location of the Angrivarii barrier remains unknown, other than that it was along the tribal boundary of the Angrivarii and Cherusci.
33. Ibid. II.22.
34. Ibid. II.24.
35. Ibid. II.26.
36. Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant, p. 238.
37. Ibid. p. 239.
38. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, Book II. 45.
39. Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, p. 132.
40. Tacitus, “The Annals,” translated by Church and Brodribb, Book II. 46.
41. Ibid.
42. Tacitus. The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant. p. 119. Not surprisingly, Arminius, traditionally known as Hermann in Germany, became a symbol of German nationalism. After the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the famous Hermannsdenkmal, begun 30 years earlier, was completed. Designed by sculptor Ernst von Bandel, the Hermannsdenkmal looms high above the wooden slopes of the Teutoberg Mountain in North Rhine Westphalia. The 170-foot tall monument is topped by a gigantic Arminius. The statue depicts Arminius with long hair flowing from beneath a winged helmet. A regal beard adorns his noble face. Arminius rests one arm on his shield, while with the other arm he victoriously raises his sword to the sky. Today the Hermannsdenkmal is a major tourist destination (Michael McNally, Teutoburg Forest AD 9, p. 5 and Encyclopeidia Britannica, Detmold, britannica.com). Another impressive Hermann monument stands in New Ulm Minnesota (newulm.com).
43. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, p. 140.