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There are battles that are a turning point in a nation or people's history; the Battle of Hastings turned England from Saxon to Norman, Gettysburg turned the American Civil War the way of the Union army, and Waterloo did much to shape modern Europe. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest is the Germanic version, though outside of Germany or the books of historians it is pretty much unknown.

Two thousand years ago the Roman Empire was in control of most of Western Europe. Gaul was subdued and the attention of the Emperor Augustus shifted to Germania. At the time, circa 16BC, the River Rhine was the dividing line between the Teutonic barbarians and the Roman territories. Just as with Gaul the area was controlled by local tribes, which in addition to fighting amongst themselves were not averse to crossing the Rhine to raid Roman possessions. Augustus sought to strengthen the border and to control the troublesome tribes, as such he sent Drusus, his adopted son, to take charge. In charge of five Roman Legions; Legions XVII, XVIII, XIX, V Alaudae and I Germania, Drusus spent 7 years successfully fighting his way towards the Elbe. Tribe after tribe came under Roman control; Usipetes, Tencteri; Chatti; Marcomanni; Sugambri; Cherusci and Suebi were all suppressed. By 6AD Tiberius, Drusus' brother, had ensured that the majority of Germania was under control and paying allegiance to Rome.

In 7AD the Roman Governor Publius Quinctilius Varus was appointed as administrator for Germania. Varus was a favoured distant relative by marriage of the Emperor Augustus, and had undertaken similar roles in Syria and Gaul. Both previous appointments had made Varus a wealthy man through the oppression and exploitation of the territories, something he was not going to stop just because he was in a new region of the Empire.

One of Varus' most trusted advisors was Arminius from the Cherusci tribe. Arminius had been taken to Rome at the age of 19, and lived there from 1AD to 6AD, where he had retrieved an education in Roman warfare, and achieving Citizenship with the rank of Equestrian. On arrival Arminius saw the oppression of the Germanic tribes and secretly sought to bring together an alliance of the Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti and Bructeri people. Traditional enemies were united in outrage at the financial burdens put upon them by the Empire.

Much of what we know about the battle comes from the work of the Roman historian Dio Cassius. In 9AD reports fabricated by

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