Download or read book Publius Quinctilius Varus written by Joanne Ball and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2023-10-12 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique full-length English biography of Varus reassesses how he has been held responsible for one of the most infamous and humiliating defeats in Roman history. Publius Quinctilius Varus is famous as the incompetent commander duped into an ambush that wiped out three legions in one of the most humiliating defeats in Roman history. Yet this is the first full length biography of the man. Dr Joanne Ball revisits the ancient sources alongside the most recent archaeological evidence from the Teutoburg battlefield in Germany, where she has been personally involved in excavations. The result is a fresh, detailed new analysis of this significant battle and a reappraisal of the Roman commander. Examination of his earlier career reveals that Varus, who had married into the Imperial family, was an experienced and competent, if harsh and ruthless, governor and general. He had served in Africa and put down rebellions in Syria and Judaea before being posted to Germany. Dr Ball sets his German command in the context of wider events, explaining the weakness of the Roman position there and the necessary reliance on auxiliary forces. Although Varus was clearly fooled by Arminius, the former Roman auxiliary who masterminded the Teutoburg battle in AD 9, she questions the extent of Varus’ culpability and asks whether he was scapegoated by Roman historians to deflect blame away from the Emperor.

Download or read book Give Me Back My Legions written by Harry Turtledove and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2009-04-14 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling author Harry Turtledove turns his attention to an epic battle that pits three Roman legions against Teutonic barbarians in a thrilling novel of Ancient Rome: Give Me Back My Legions! Publius Quinctilius Varus, a Roman politician, is summoned by the Emperor, Augustus Caesar. Given three legions and sent to the Roman frontier east of the Rhine, his mission is to subdue the barbarous German tribes where others have failed, and bring their land fully under Rome's control. Arminius, a prince of the Cherusci, is playing a deadly game. He serves in the Roman army, gaining Roman citizenship and officer's rank, and learning the arts of war and policy as practiced by the Romans. What he learns is essential for the survival of Germany, for he must unite his people against Rome before they become enslaved by the Empire and lose their way of life forever. An epic battle is brewing, and these two men stand on opposite sides of what will forever be known as The Battle of the Teutoberg Forest—a ferocious, bloody clash that will change the course of history.

Download or read book The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions written by Tony Clunn and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2009-09-19 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of an ancient ambush that devastated Rome—and the modern-day hunt that finally revealed its location and its archaeological treasures. In 9 A.D., the seventeenth, eighteenth, & nineteenth Roman legions and their auxiliary troops under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus vanished in the boggy wilds of Germania. They died singly and by the hundreds over several days in a carefully planned ambush led by Arminius—a Roman-trained German warrior adopted and subsequently knighted by the Romans, but determined to stop Rome’s advance east beyond the Rhine River. By the time it was over, some 25,000 men, women, and children were dead and the course of European history had been forever altered. “Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!” Emperor Augustus agonized aloud when he learned of the devastating loss. As decades passed, the location of the Varus defeat, one of the Western world’s most important battlefields, was lost to history. It remained so for two millennia. Fueled by an unshakable curiosity and burning interest in the story, a British Major named J. A. S. (Tony) Clunn delved into the nooks and crannies of times past. By sheer persistence and good luck, he turned the foundation of German national history on its ear. Convinced the running battle took place north of Osnabruck, Germany, Clunn set out to prove his point. His discovery of large numbers of Roman coins in the late 1980s, followed by a flood of thousands of other artifacts (including weapons and human remains), ended the mystery once and for all. Archaeologists and historians across the world agreed. Today, a state-of-the-art museum houses and interprets these priceless historical treasures on the very site Varus’s legions were lost. The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions is a masterful retelling of Clunn’s search to discover the Varus battlefield. His well-paced and vivid writing style makes for a compelling read as he alternates between his incredible modern quest and the ancient tale of the Roman occupation of Germany—based upon actual finds from the battlefield—that ultimately ended so tragically in the peat bogs of Kalkriese.

Download or read book The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-03-23 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts describing the battle *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "The details of this terrible calamity, the heaviest that had befallen the Romans on foreign soil since the disaster of Crassus in Parthia, I shall endeavor to set forth, as others have done, in my larger work. Here I can merely lament the disaster as a whole. An army unrivaled in bravery, the first of the Roman troops in discipline, vigor and military experience, was thus brought through supine leadership, the perfidy of the foe, and a cruel Fortune into an utterly desperate situation. The troops did not even have the opportunity of fighting, as they wished . . . and hemmed in by woods, lakes and the bands of ambushed enemies, were entirely cut off by those foes, whom they had used to slaughter like cattle...The savage enemy mangled the half-burned body of Varus. His head was cut off and sent to Marobodus [a barbarian king] and by him sent to the Emperor; and so at length received honorable burial in the sepulcher of his family." - Paterculus, ancient Roman historian Every great nation or empire has had at least one horrific military loss or disaster in their history, and the Roman Empire, perhaps the greatest empire that ever existed in the Western world, was no exception to this rule. While Rome certainly suffered defeats and outright massacres over the course of its long and storied history, none of them were as disturbing for the Empire as the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. This battle, which took place in Germany, is also known as the Varian disaster, named after the governor of the Roman province, Germania Publius Quinctilius Varus. Varus was not only the Roman governor of the Roman controlled sections of Germania, he was also the highest military authority, being able to make decisions as to the who, what, where, when, why and how of military maneuvers and operations. It was Varus, then, who was in direct command of the Roman legions destroyed in the battle. The battle remains pertinent not only to military historians and archeologists but also to modern military officers around the world as well. As recently as 2009, the United States of America's Army Command and General Staff College published a work that focused upon the Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. This work was an examination of the battle in order to help understand the failures made by Varus, and how to avoid them. While it may seem unusual for a modern military to examine the mistakes of the past, it isn't; the Army used the battle as an example of how a theoretically inferior force, the Germanic warriors, were able to defeat a superior force in the Roman legions. Indeed, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest featured some of the finest fighting forces in the world - the Roman legionaries - and a group of people whom the Romans didn't consider human at all - the Germanic tribes. Nonetheless, the battle between these two forces, in the narrow confines of the Teutoburg Forest, would be a turning point in the histories of both nations. Never again would Rome seek to establish a colony and create a functioning province out of the Germanic area; in fact, the Romans never ventured east of the Rhine River after the disastrous expedition. For the Germanic tribes, while they would later suffer from punishment excursions by various Roman legions following the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, they proved that they could hold their own against the might of the Roman Empire and that their land was indeed their own. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest: The History and Legacy of the Roman Empire's Greatest Military Defeat analyzes the infamous battle. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest like never before, in no time at all.

Download or read book Rome s Greatest Defeat written by Adrian Murdoch and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2008-07-14 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In AD 9 half of Rome's Western army was ambushed in a German forest and annihilated. Three legions, three cavalry units and six auxiliary regiments - some 25,000 men - were wiped out. It dealt a body blow to the empire's imperial pretensions and was Rome's greatest defeat. No other battle stopped the Roman empire dead in its tracks. Although one of the most significant and dramatic battles in European history, this is also one which has been largely overlooked. Drawing on primary sources and a vast wealth of new archaeological evidence, Adrian Murdoch brings to life the battle itself, the historical background and the effects of the Roman defeat as well as exploring the personalities of those who took part.

Download or read book The Roman Barbarian Wars written by Ludwig Heinrich Dyck and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-11-30 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A great book that summarizes pieces of Roman military history that are often not mentioned or difficult to find sources for . . . an entertaining read.”—War History Online As Rome grew from a small city state to the mightiest empire of the west, her dominion was contested not only by the civilizations of the Mediterranean, but also by the “barbarians”—the tribal peoples of Europe. The Celtic, the Spanish-Iberian and the Germanic tribes lacked the pomp and grandeur of Rome, but they were fiercely proud of their freedom and gave birth to some of Rome’s greatest adversaries. Romans and barbarians, iron legions and wild tribesmen clashed in dramatic battles on whose fate hinged the existence of entire peoples and, at times, the future of Rome. Far from reducing the legions and tribes to names and numbers, The Roman Barbarian Wars: The Era of Roman Conquest reveals how they fought and how they lived and what their world was like. Through his exhaustive research and lively text, Ludwig H. Dyck immerses the reader into the epic world of the Roman barbarian wars. “I was reminded, as I picked up this superb book, of that magnificent scene from Gladiator when they unleashed hell on the Barbarian hordes at the beginning of the film. Dyck has produced a book that celebrates the brilliance of the Roman commanders and of Rome itself from its foundation to its eventual demise.”—Books Monthly “Dyck’s details of ancient battles and the people involved provide as much sword-slashing excitement as any fictional account.”—Kirkus Reviews “His vivid prose makes for a gripping read.”—Military Heritage

Download or read book Fathers and Daughters in Roman Society written by Judith P. Hallett and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judith Hallett illuminates a paradox of elite Roman society of the classical period: its members extolled female domesticity and imposed numerous formal constraints on women's public activity, but many women in Rome's leading families wielded substantial political and social influence. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Download or read book The Skystone written by Jack Whyte and published by Forge Books. This book was released on 2004-08-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first novel in Jack Whyte's riveting Arthurian series tells how the story of Camelot may have actually come to be. We all know the story—how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone and how Camelot came to be. But how did it really happen? The Roman citizens of Britain faced a deadly choice: leave to live in a corrupt Roman world, or stay amidst the violence of the warring factions of Picts, Celts, and invading Saxons. For Publius Varrus and Caius Britannicus, there is only one answer. They will stay, try to preserve the best of Roman life, and create a new culture from the wreckage. In doing so, they will plant the seeds of a legend. For these two men are Arthur's great-grandfathers and their actions will shape a nation...and forge the sword known as Excalibur. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Teutoburg Forest AD 9 written by Michael McNally and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Osprey's study of one of the most important battles of the long-elasting Germanic Wars (113 BC - 439 AD). Arminius, a young member of the Cheruscan tribe under the Roman Empire felt that Rome could be beaten in battle and that such a victory would guarantee the freedom of the Germans as a confederation of independent tribes, led by the Cheruscans, who would - in turn - be led by him. Throughout AD 8 and the early part of AD 9, Arminius used his position under the governor of Germania Inferior well, ostensibly promoting Rome whilst in reality welding the tribes together in an anti-Roman alliance, agreeing with his confederates that they would wait until the Roman garrison had moved to their summer quarters and then rise up against the invaders. With the arrival of September, the time soon came for the Roman troops to return to their stations along the Rhine and as they marched westwards through the almost impenetrable Teutoburg Forest, Arminius sprang his trap. In a series of running battles in the forest, Varus' army, consisting of three Roman Legions (XVII, XVIII and XIX) and several thousand auxiliaries - a total of roughly 20,000 men - was destroyed. The consequences for Rome were enormous - the province of Germania was now virtually undefended and Gaul was open to a German invasion which although it never materialized, led a traumatized Augustus to decree that, henceforth, the Rhine would remain the demarcation line between the Roman world and the German tribes, in addition to which the destroyed legions were never re-formed or their numbers reused in the Roman Army: after AD 9, the sequence of numbers would run from I to XVI and then from XX onwards, it was as if the three legions had never existed.

Download or read book Four Days in September written by Jason R. Abdale and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of The Great Illyrian Revolt examines one of the Roman Empire's most pivotal defeats—a surprise attack by Germanic barbarians in 9 AD. For twenty years, the Roman Empire conquered its way through modern-day Germany, claiming all lands from the Rhine to the Elbe. However, when at last all appeared to be under control, a catastrophe erupted that claimed the lives of 10,000 legionnaires and laid Rome's imperial ambitions for Germania into the dust. In late September of 9 AD, three Roman legions, while marching to suppress a distant tribal rebellion, were attacked in a four-day battle with the Germanic barbarians. The Romans under the leadership of the province's governor, Publius Quinctilius Varus, were taken completely by surprise, betrayed by a member of their own ranks: the German officer and secret rebel leader, Arminius. The defeat was a heavy blow to both Rome's military and its pride. Though the disaster was ruthlessly avenged soon afterwards, later attempts at conquering the Germans were half-hearted at best. Four Days in September thoroughly examines the ancient sources and challenges the hypotheses of modern scholars to present a clear picture of the prelude to the battle, the fighting itself and its aftermath.

Download or read book Rome s Greatest Defeat written by Adrian Murdoch and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2008-07-14 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In AD 9 half of Rome's Western army was ambushed in a German forest and annihilated. Three legions, three cavalry units and six auxiliary regiments - some 25,000 men - were wiped out. It dealt a body blow to the empire's imperial pretensions and was Rome's greatest defeat. No other battle stopped the Roman empire dead in its tracks. Although one of the most significant and dramatic battles in European history, this is also one which has been largely overlooked. Drawing on primary sources and a vast wealth of new archaeological evidence, Adrian Murdoch brings to life the battle itself, the historical background and the effects of the Roman defeat as well as exploring the personalities of those who took part.

Download or read book Rome s Most Notorious Defeats written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts of the battles *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Although the Romans gained the upper hand over Carthage in the wake of the First Punic War, the legendary Carthaginian general Hannibal brought the Romans to their knees for over a decade during the Second Punic War. While military historians are still amazed that he was able to maintain his army in Italy near Rome for nearly 15 years, scholars are still puzzled over some of his decisions, including why he never attempted to march on Rome in the first place. Regardless, Hannibal was such a threat that the Romans responded in an unprecedented nature when the Carthaginians resumed the campaigning season in the spring of 216 BCE by capturing the city of Cannae, a crucial supply hub, and placing themselves along the line that convoys from the ports and warehouses of the south needed to travel to reach Rome. This was something the Romans could not and did not take lying down; Rome raised the largest army in their city's history, a force of between 80,000 and 100,000 men, and marched south with Consuls Varro and Paullus at the head of the army. Varro led the Roman legions straight at the center of Hannibal's formation, proceeding in characteristic bull-headed fashion and spearheading the assault himself. Hannibal's troops in the center yielded before the legions, as Hannibal had anticipated, sucking the bulk of the Roman force deep into the centre of Hannibal's formation. Meanwhile, the wings of Hannibal's infantry automatically swung against the flanks of the Roman force. The result was a massacre, one of the most vicious battles in the history of the world. Around 75% of the Roman army was cut down in the ensuing melee, which would be in the vicinity of between 50,000-80,000 soldiers depending on which initial estimates are considered to be accurate. Cannae is still considered one of the greatest tactical victories in the history of warfare, and the fact the battle was a complete victory resulting in the wholesale annihilation of the enemy army made it the textbook example for military commanders to try to duplicate. Of course, others usually were unsuccessful. Cannae was the kind of complete victory that every commander from Caesar to Frederick the Great to Napoleon to Robert E. Lee sought, and that few generals save Caesar and Napoleon bagged whole armies is a testament to the near impossibility of achieving a victory like Cannae. While Rome certainly suffered defeats and outright massacres over the course of its long and storied history, none of them were as disturbing for the Empire as the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. This battle, which took place in Germany, is also known as the Varian disaster, named after the governor of the Roman province, Germania Publius Quinctilius Varus. The battle remains pertinent not only to military historians and archeologists but also to modern military officers around the world as well. As recently as 2009, the United States of America's Army Command and General Staff College published a work that focused upon the Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. Indeed, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest featured some of the finest fighting forces in the world - the Roman legionaries - and a group of people whom the Romans didn't consider human at all - the Germanic tribes. Nonetheless, the battle between these two forces, in the narrow confines of the Teutoburg Forest, would be a turning point in the histories of both nations. Never again would Rome seek to establish a colony and create a functioning province out of the Germanic area; in fact, the Romans never ventured east of the Rhine River after the disastrous expedition.

Download or read book Septimius Severus and the Roman Army written by Michael Sage and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The assassination of Emperor Commodus in 192 sparked a civil war. Septimius Severus emerged as the eventual victor and his dynasty (the Severans) ruled until 235. He fought numerous campaigns, against both internal rivals and external enemies, extending the Empire to the east (adding Mesopotamia), the south (in Africa) and the north (beyond Hadrian's Wall). The military aspects of his reign, including his reforms of the army, are the main focus of this new study. After discussing his early career and governorship of Pannonia, Michael Sage narrates his war with Pescennius Niger, the siege of Byzantium, and the campaign in northern Mesopotamia that added it as a province. The much more difficult campaign against Clodius Albinus in Gaul is also studied in detail, as is that in North Africa. The narrative concludes with an account of the last campaign in Britain and Severus’ death. The final chapters analyze Septimius’ reforms of the army and assess their impact on events of the next seventy years until the accession of Diocletian. His greatest weakness was his love for his family. Like Marcus Aurelius he loved his children too much. They failed to maintain what he had bequeathed them.

Download or read book Gunpowder Empire written by Harry Turtledove and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-10 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The launch of an exciting new series of parallel-world adventure from "the modern master of alternate history" (Publishers Weekly)

Download or read book Compendium of Roman History written by Velleius Paterculus and published by . This book was released on 1924 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An imperial historian and an emperor's history. Velleius Paterculus, who lived in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius (30 BC-AD 37), served as a military tribune in Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, and Asia Minor, and later, from AD 4 to 12 or 13, as a cavalry officer and legatus in Germany and Pannonia. He was quaestor in AD 7, praetor in 15. He wrote in two books "Roman Histories," a summary of Roman history from the fall of Troy to AD 29. As he approached his own times he becomes much fuller in his treatment, especially between the death of Caesar in 44 BC and that of Augustus in AD 14. His work has useful concise essays on Roman colonies and provinces and some effective compressed portrayals of characters. Res Gestae Divi Augusti. In his 76th year (AD 13-14) the emperor Augustus wrote a dignified account of his public life and work of which the best preserved copy (with a Greek translation) was engraved by the Galatians on the walls of the temple of Augustus at Ancyra (Ankara). It is a unique document giving short details of his public offices and honors; his benefactions to the empire, to the people, and to the soldiers; and his services as a soldier and as an administrator.

Download or read book Legions of the Forest written by Mark Richards and published by . This book was released on 2014-11-24 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year is 9 AD, and Publius Quinctilius Varus has just been appointed by Emperor Caesar Augustus to oversee the subjugation of the Germanic people and annexation of the German lands. Varus, a lawyer and former governor of Syria, has frighteningly little experience as a military leader. He is resolved to prove himself as one, nevertheless. He believes the Germanic people to be conquered. He is wrong. His ranks are filled with seasoned veterans and novices alike, the latter of which includes Lucius, a young man whose conscription into the Roman imperial legions represents only the first step in his epic, and terrifying, destiny. Valerius Maximus, a young Roman tribune, enters the legions of the Rhine as well-only to find that the danger he anticipated from abroad actually lies within his own ranks. The vicious politics of the officer corps prove to be more treacherous. Meanwhile, German nobleman Arminius lies in wait, preparing for the inevitable appearance of the Roman legions and growing in his determination to liberate his people from Rome's rule at any cost. The fates of these men soon converge in a bloody battle that will decide the course of their countries...and their lives. The Germanic foes spring a monstrous ambush in a driving rain storm. The future of Western civilization turns in the blink of an eye.

Download or read book Marching with Caesar written by R. W. Peake and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-06 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the span of five years, Rome is shaken to its foundations, first with the slaughter of three Legions under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Teutoberg Forest, betrayed by the German prince Arminius, then with the death of Augustus coming five years later. Within this time period, the Legions on the Rhine are rocked, first with the turmoil created by this unprecedented disaster, which is exacerbated with Augustus' decision to rid Rome of troublemakers when he forces them to enlist in the Legions in response to the crisis posed by the German victory, then followed with the uncertainty caused by the death of Augustus, a man who has controlled Rome for four decades. Titus Porcinianus Pullus, like his fellow Centurions, must cope with the difficulties presented by the uncertainty created by the cunning leadership of Arminius, and the agitation of men who had been forced into the ranks, but it is the addition of a haughty young equestrian who has purchased a posting in Titus' Century who presents the most personally vexing and disturbing challenge. Young Gnaeus Volusenus is one of the only men in the Legions whose size and strength rivals that of Titus, but there are other similarities between the two men that guarantee they will clash. Their personal differences, however, must be subordinated when the Legions in Germania and Pannonia revolt, sending Titus on a journey that will prove to be one of the most important and troubling of his life. Nevertheless, Titus has a duty to perform, not only to Rome, but to the spirit of his grandfather, the first and greatest Titus Pullus; both the outcome of the revolt of the Legions and the honor of the Pullus name depend on him