Los queruscos (en latín: Cherusci; en alemán: Cherusker) fueron una tribu germánica que habitó partes del valle del Rin y el norte de las llanuras y los bosques del noroeste de Alemania, en la zona comprendida entre los actuales Osnabrück y Hanóver, durante el siglo I a. C. y el siglo I.
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00:00In 1956, near Hamburg, in the north of Germany, during construction work, a surprising discovery is made, a German cemetery of the first century, a stroke of luck for archaeologists.
00:20Researchers find something really surprising in a broken urn, the tip of a pilum, the fearsome javelin used by the Roman legionaries.
00:30Why did a German have a Roman weapon in his grave? We do not know who that weapon belonged to.
00:38Not a single biography of a person of that time has reached us.
00:44But archaeological discoveries and new scientific findings allow us to imagine what the life of a German warrior was like. Let's call him Notger.
00:56Since the times of Caesar, Germanic warriors and Roman legionaries had often faced each other in battle.
01:03The power of Rome seemed invincible, a multitude of tribes had submitted to it.
01:09But in the ninth year of our era, the Germans organized a rebellion. Their struggle for freedom would change the course of history.
01:22I was Arminio's bodyguard, our leader in the struggle for freedom.
01:28I protected him with my life.
01:31We had to leave our homeland, the land of the Cherusci, when we were children, almost 20 years ago.
01:45In the year 8 BC, after a long and bloody war, the Cherusci tribe had to submit to the Romans.
01:52Rome forced them to make an alliance.
01:54In exchange for peace, the prince of the Cherusci had to pay a high price, his own son.
02:00Far from his homeland, in Rome, Arminio became a hostage who had to respond to the loyalty of his people.
02:07The Cherusci shared the fate of subordination with the other Germanic tribes established between the Rhine and the Elbe.
02:14They all had to fulfill the orders of Rome and pay high taxes.
02:19Wasn't it now that Arminio needed the help of his friend?
02:24I couldn't let him go alone, and I wanted to share his fate.
02:30That's how Arminio and I left the land of the Cherusci and were taken to Rome.
02:35We thought that our farewell was forever.
02:40But we were wrong.
02:42The legionaries were good to us.
02:45They told us that we would forget our country.
02:48A luxurious life awaited us, gladiatorial battles and car races, in the magnificent city of Rome, where Emperor Augustus ruled.
02:56A similar scene appears represented in a Roman gold coin.
03:01It is found in the Bode Museum in Berlin.
03:04It was the first time that a Roman gold coin was found.
03:07It is evident that the usual policy of Rome was to take as hostages the children of the subdued tribes.
03:14Augustus was given as hostages the children of the chiefs of the subdued tribes for two reasons.
03:21First, the small children helped to ensure peace.
03:25Second, they helped to keep the peace.
03:29Third, they helped to keep the peace.
03:32First, the small children helped to keep the peace.
03:37A prince who knows that the life of his son would be in danger if he went back to war,
03:43is much less likely to fight than if such a circumstance did not occur.
03:49And second, the Romans were convinced that the children who grew up and were educated in Rome would become authentic Romans.
03:57They entered the imperial family or that of the closest relatives,
04:03so that they grew up as members of the upper class,
04:06learned Latin, participated in the celebrations and made social life of Romans.
04:13From the forests of the north to Rome.
04:16For the son of Prince Arminio, it constituted a cultural impact of first magnitude.
04:21Rome, the capital of the empire, was the navel of the world.
04:24Magnificent temples, palaces and thermals were the expression of the enormous power and extension of the empire.
04:33Aqueducts of hundreds of kilometers in length supplied the city with fresh water.
04:40Impressive testimonies of Roman wealth, such as the Roman Forum,
04:44have survived thousands of years thanks to the program of construction of Emperor Augustus.
04:49I found a city of brick and left a city of marble.
04:57The altar of peace celebrated the beginning of a new era under the command of Augustus.
05:02The host children are also represented as guarantors of peace between Rome and its conquered enemies.
05:08The first Roman emperor had created a new stability both in the homeland and in the subdued territories.
05:14Max, the goddess of peace, was honored with a procession.
05:18The imperial family and the Roman nobility marched to the head.
05:22Soon, the German hostage Arminio would also be part of the Roman elite.
05:31Being some boys, Arminio and I entered the Roman army.
05:35We demonstrated our worth in the war against the rebel tribes of Pannonia.
05:39As a reward, Augustus made Arminio a Roman knight,
05:43the second most important rank after the rank of senator in Rome.
05:47For the Romans, we were nothing more than barbarian savages.
05:52But now, we were finally part of his world.
05:58Filled with gratitude, one of Arminio's old companions said,
06:03He was a young man of noble origin, very valiant,
06:06quick to understand and surprisingly gifted to deal with a barbarian.
06:13Arminio was a Roman citizen and was even awarded with the equestrian rank.
06:18That gave him the prospect of a bright future.
06:22On the one hand, he would have been a relevant figure in his tribe, the Cherusci.
06:28He would have captained the Cherusci soldiers, his troops,
06:32instead of the Roman auxiliary troops.
06:36And on the other hand, he had a wonderful career in front of him,
06:41given his condition as a knight.
06:45He would have been integrated into the structure of the administration and the Roman Empire,
06:51as would have happened with his Gallic companions,
06:55who, as leaders of their tribes,
06:58were making a fabulous career in the Roman Empire.
07:06Under the reign of Augustus, the homeland of Arminio had become a Roman province.
07:11To ensure the conquered area, Rome erected military camps in the Rhine
07:16and in the rivers that led to the interior of the country.
07:19In the north, the Lipe became a riverway of great strategic importance.
07:23Using rivers such as the Lipe, the Romans were able to transport supplies,
07:28since there were no land routes in Germany.
07:32But for the Romans it was still an inhospitable land.
07:36The chronicler Tacitus wrote...
07:39Their forests are horrible and their lagoons are dreadful.
07:54On the banks of the Lipe, north of the modern city of Dortmund,
07:59there was a fortified Roman complex in the middle of a field.
08:05The military camp, which dates from the time of Augustus,
08:09could hold an entire legion, around 6,000 soldiers.
08:13They were the elite troops of the Roman army.
08:16But the camp not only had great military relevance.
08:19A surprising number of administrative buildings were discovered in it.
08:23That is why archaeologists believe that it was the administrative center of the new province.
08:31From here, it was from where the empire controlled the Germanic tribes.
08:37The land of the Geruscos, our homeland.
08:43We had been absent for almost 20 years.
08:46Our god of thunder, Thor, welcomed us warmly.
08:50Everything was familiar to us.
08:53We had almost forgotten that we had come to Germany at the orders of Rome.
09:00It is likely that Herminius was sent to his homeland
09:04to lead a unit of auxiliary Germanic forces.
09:07Since the times of Caesar, the allied Germanic tribes had had to supply soldiers.
09:13They were particularly appreciated as mounted warriors,
09:17since Rome did not have its own cavalry.
09:19German historian Dion Cassio praised the Germanic warriors,
09:23calling them exceptional riders.
09:28Bronze helmets with masks were found among the mounted units of the Roman auxiliary troops.
09:33What were they used for? They were not suitable for combat.
09:39Helmets with masks were probably used to protect the face during training and exhibition battles.
09:45The riders possibly also wore masks at the parades.
09:49Perhaps the purpose of the helmets was to hide from the Romans
09:52the barbarous appearance of foreign men during public demonstrations.
10:05Herminius' mission was to help Governor Varus to build the province,
10:10since Rome had great plans for Germany.
10:14In 1993, archaeologists discovered a Roman complex dating from the time of Augustus,
10:20further south, in Val Girmes, in the valley of the Lannes, a river flowing from the Rhine.
10:25Since then, continuous surprises have been happening in the excavation area.
10:30Archaeologist Armin Becker has directed the excavation from the beginning.
10:34The results of the investigation have shed light on the policy of the Roman Empire in relation to Germany.
10:40Layer by layer, he examined the secrets of the clayey terrain, until he made the crucial discovery.
10:52The first scientific soil examinations initially suggested the existence of another military camp from the time of Augustus.
11:00But later, the archaeological excavations presented a completely different panorama.
11:06The settlement was divided into two paths.
11:10At the edge of the paths, an urbanization of wooden buildings was extended in parallel,
11:16which created the impression of forming a block.
11:19This contrasted with the military camps, where the barracks were placed in a row, one next to the other.
11:25Val Girmes was a purely civilian Roman village, founded in the middle of the recently conquered Germany.
11:32A whole sensation for archaeologists.
11:35For a long time, such a possibility had been questioned.
11:37To this day, it is the only Roman village to be found east of the Rhine.
11:42The old name of the village is unknown.
11:45But researchers have been able to reconstruct its appearance thanks to the discoveries made in the terrain.
11:54The village was in the process of construction and followed an expansion plan.
11:59Generations of Roman merchants and artisans were going to settle here.
12:03It was a village based on the Roman model and a showcase of Roman civilization.
12:08Houses with atrium, with bathroom and running water.
12:11Gardens with flowers and a hole built with stone.
12:15Why did the Romans make such an effort in what they considered a land of barbarians?
12:21In Val Girmes we have a magnificent example of how Rome turned a newly conquered territory into a Roman province.
12:29First, it occupied the area with its army.
12:32When this phase was over, in the second phase, Rome felt confident enough to found a village in the same area.
12:40A village that sent a clear signal that Rome intended to rule the area for a long time.
12:48But the Romans did not want to do that.
12:50But the discoveries of Val Girmes have revealed even more things.
12:55Armin Becker and his excavation team have been documenting all the remains found in the terrain for a later assessment.
13:03To carry it out, they use a drawing tool called a pantograph.
13:11With the help of this instrument, the Romans were able to find the remains of the village.
13:17With the help of this tool, they can create plans of soil, wells, houses and squares.
13:27Archaeologists introduce in these plans each of the discoveries made in the excavation area.
13:33This will provide them with an image of what the inhabitants of this village left behind.
13:46Each discovery made in the clayey terrain, no matter how intransigent it is, deserves to be examined by archaeologists.
13:53Even small fragments can provide information about who lived here.
13:59Were they all Roman settlers? Or were there also Germans living in the newly founded village?
14:04The fragments are meticulously examined in the warehouse to be assembled later.
14:11Archaeologist Gabriele Rasbach, depending on the way the pottery was made, can determine whether it is of Roman or German origin.
14:19Unlike Roman pottery, German pottery was made without a wheelbarrow.
14:24According to the checks carried out, a wheelbarrow was not used.
14:28Researchers also found metal objects, such as this small Roman yunker.
14:33But here, metal discoveries and objects are an exception, in contrast to the Roman military camps in Germany.
14:40The series of discoveries are carried out in Val Girmes.
14:45It has two special characteristics.
14:49We only have one special feature, which is that it is made in a clayey terrain.
14:54It has two special characteristics.
14:58We only have one tip of the epilum, that is, a Roman weapon in the entire collection.
15:03But there are many batches with a mixture of Roman and German ceramics.
15:08Both indicate that there must have been a peaceful coexistence between the Roman and German peoples here in Val Girmes.
15:18Roman pottery next to Germanic pots.
15:22Symbols of new friendship.
15:25Among the high German class, Roman luxury items were popular status symbols.
15:30They exchanged food for finely carved glass ornaments and ornamental jewels.
15:35The blonde hair of the Germanic women was particularly popular,
15:40and it became a hobby for the Roman ladies, fond of going to the latest fashion.
15:45The discoveries of Val Girmes confirm an assertion made by the Roman chronicler Dion Casio,
15:51which was questioned for a long time.
15:54The Roman troops founded villages, and the barbarians adapted to their dispositions.
16:00They got used to the markets and organized peaceful meetings there.
16:05We were amazed by the possibility of the choice of goods,
16:09something we had never seen in Germany.
16:12It was a Roman market in the middle of Germany.
16:20But then we saw some legionaries accompanying a Roman tax collector.
16:25When Rome gave something to its subjects, it always demanded something in return.
16:29The treaties were adjusted.
16:32Germany was now a Roman province.
16:35Peace and security had their price.
16:38Whoever did not pay what the emperor demanded,
16:42would have to face the wrath of Rome.
16:48But Rome did not have the power to treat our people as subordinates, as slaves.
16:53We knew the pride of the Germanic tribes.
16:56Flourishing villages like Val Girmes
16:59should show the advantages of Roman civilization to the Germanic people,
17:03as Tacitus explained.
17:07The construction of forums, houses and thermals
17:11was used to encourage the new tribes subjected to live in peace and quiet.
17:15In 2005, archaeologists made a discovery in Val Girmes
17:19that could finally answer the question of the exact year
17:22in which the village was founded.
17:25They found the foundations of a wooden well.
17:28It had survived for more than 2,000 years
17:31in the waters of the Val Girmes River.
17:34It is believed that this well was used by the Romans
17:37to store the food of the people of Val Girmes.
17:40It is believed that this well was used by the Romans
17:42to store the food of the people of Val Girmes.
17:45It had survived for more than 2,000 years in the waters of the Val Girmes River.
17:49The wood will be sent to be examined
17:52to a laboratory specialized in dendrochronology,
17:55a dating system.
17:58In an environment of great excitement, the boards are prepared for shipment
18:01even before they have had time to dry.
18:04The crucial question now is the following.
18:07Is there a reference pattern for this wood?
18:09The transversal pattern made on the trunk of a tree
18:12shows the growth rings that have been formed every year.
18:15The rings of all trees of the same region and the same age
18:18show identical patterns.
18:21The chalk can help highlight the pattern.
18:24The growth rings of the boards of the Val Girmes well
18:27are placed under a microscope
18:30and scanned to show their image on a computer.
18:33Dendrochronologist Torsten Westphal
18:36compares them with the pattern shown by the growth rings
18:39which can be dated with precision.
18:42And the researchers are lucky.
18:45Thanks to a reference pattern, they are able to determine
18:48when the trees were cut down to build the wells.
18:51The boards of the Val Girmes well
18:54can be dated with precision.
18:57We were able to determine that the tree from which they came
19:00was cut down in the year 4 BC.
19:03We have an exact date.
19:06They were probably used to build a well the following year.
19:09Because they are easier to manipulate.
19:12We did not find any crack in the wood
19:15that indicated that it had been stored
19:18for a longer period of time.
19:21A surprising result.
19:24The Roman civil village of Val Girmes
19:27had already been founded in the year 4 BC,
19:30in a period in which battles were still fought
19:33in other parts of Germany.
19:36But archaeologists have more questions.
19:39What were they made of?
19:42The archaeologist Gabriele Rasbach is looking for answers.
19:45Her first discovery.
19:48All the fragments came from a statue
19:51that seems to have been destroyed on purpose.
19:54The bronze pieces were distributed throughout the excavation area.
19:57Through comparisons, Gabriele Rasbach has found
20:00that one of the fragments was part of the rein of a horse.
20:03Was it a equestrian statue?
20:06And if so, who did it represent?
20:09Taking into account that the Roman village
20:12located in Val Girmes was founded
20:15in the time of Emperor Augustus,
20:18a bronze equestrian statue erected in the forum
20:21can only have represented the divine Augustus.
20:24The statue showed the emperor as a symbol of the new order.
20:27Germany would be part of the empire for centuries.
20:30The governor, armed arm of the emperor, would take care of it.
20:39From the 7th year of our era,
20:42Varro was the governor of Germany.
20:45With an iron hand, he transformed the conquered land
20:48into a Roman province.
20:51The chronicler Paterculo describes him as an arrogant man
20:54and hungry for power.
20:57For Varro, the Germanic are wild animals
21:00that have nothing in common with humans
21:03except the voice and the body.
21:06As it had not been possible to subdue them with swords,
21:09his punishments were arbitrary and excessive.
21:12He treated our compatriots as subordinates,
21:15not as Roman subjects.
21:18Arminio asked Varro not to overdo the honor
21:21and pride of the Germanic people.
21:24But the governor reprimanded him.
21:27He knew perfectly well how to treat the barbarians.
21:30Arminio should not forget that Augustus had made him a gentleman
21:33and that he was now Roman and not German.
21:36Until that moment,
21:39he had believed in the goodwill of Rome towards the Cherusci
21:42and in Roman justice.
21:55Varro's portrait could be seen in Roman coins.
21:58He enjoyed a high status in Rome.
22:04Varro had very good contacts in the imperial family.
22:06They even tied him family ties.
22:09He had previously been destined in Syria,
22:12where he managed to establish peace and order.
22:15Although it is true that for this he used the methods,
22:18often brutal, that were stylized at the time.
22:21He was not a very scrupulous character,
22:24but he was successful and Syria was a complicated province
22:27at that time.
22:33After the meeting with Varro,
22:36we were finally able to see our families.
22:39How our clan would have gone under Roman rule.
22:46We hoped they would be fine.
22:49Even our ears had heard terrible rumors.
23:03We know that there were numerous executions in Germany
23:06at that time.
23:09Varro was known for his drastic and ruthless measures.
23:12As governor of Syria, he had ordered the crucifixion
23:15of thousands of people after a revolt.
23:19It was a terrible punishment that killed his victims
23:22slowly and painfully.
23:25And the worst humiliation was that agony
23:28took place in front of everyone.
23:31We finally got to our village,
23:34but it was a sad reunion.
23:37The priest of the tribe was preparing the chief of the Cheruscos
23:40for his last trip with Botan, our supreme deity.
23:44Segimer, the father of Arminio, was on his deathbed.
23:47He told his son the humiliations that the Cheruscos had suffered
23:50at the hands of the Romans.
23:53The chief deeply regretted having signed an agreement
23:56with the Romans, but he did not know
23:58why he did so.
24:01He felt betrayed.
24:04Rome had broken its promises.
24:07Segimer made his son swear that he would no longer
24:10bear the oppression and injustice of the Romans.
24:13When his father died, Arminio became from that moment
24:16in charge of the tribe and its future.
24:19Arminio understood that as a chief
24:22he had to assume the legacy of his father
24:25and fulfill his last wish.
24:28Until then, the chief of the Cheruscos
24:31had proven to be a faithful ally of Rome.
24:34Tacitus himself wrote,
24:37No mortal has an advantage over the Germans
24:40in terms of loyalty.
24:43But Rome ignored the laws, customs and values
24:46that the Germans had transmitted for generations.
24:49And by doing so, they had gone too far.
24:52Arminio assumed the legacy of his father.
24:55He could not continue for more time
24:58being a friend and ally of Rome.
25:01As chief of the Cheruscos, he was willing
25:04to fight for the independence of his people.
25:07But what possibilities did he have
25:10against the military power of Rome?
25:13How could he return freedom to Germany?
25:16Twenty years earlier, the Germans had fought
25:19intensely and prolonged against the invaders
25:21without any result.
25:28A Roman sarcophagus celebrates the victory
25:31over the barbarians of the north.
25:34In the fourth year of our era,
25:37after a long war with numerous casualties,
25:40Germany was finally conquered.
25:43A witness of the time reported,
25:46In a battle, so many Romans fell
25:48and barbarians that the dead stopped
25:51the course of a river.
25:54In the end, the Germans had to bend
25:57before the machinery of Roman war.
26:00Cursed be the conquered, it was said in Rome.
26:03The Germanic warriors were openly threatened.
26:06Your Germany has no right to clemency.
26:09Barbarians, you will pay with your life.
26:12In the fourth year of our era,
26:15after a long war with numerous casualties,
26:18the Germans had to bend
26:21before the machinery of Roman war.
26:24The stone reliefs of Mogontiacum,
26:27the strong legionary located in present day Maguncia,
26:30show images of Germanic captives.
26:33In Rome, the population expressed their joy.
26:36Wild Germany has been conquered like the rest of the world
26:39and has to submit to the emperors,
26:42kneeling.
26:49The collection of coins of the Bode Museum in Berlin
26:52contains Roman coins that celebrate the victory over the Germans.
26:58Germany captures.
27:01Germany has been conquered,
27:04the imperial propaganda announced.
27:07How did Rome treat the conquered tribes?
27:10When the winner spoke
27:13of a captured Germany,
27:15he meant that the winner was considered a trophy.
27:18That was the attitude of Rome
27:21towards its provinces for a long time.
27:24The provinces guaranteed the wealth of Rome
27:27and the way they had the provinces exploited
27:30to express their disgust was by rebelling.
27:33Germany was not going to be an exception.
27:36In the ninth year of our era,
27:39the resentment towards the dominion of Rome was very intense.
27:42Historians assume that the Bruchters,
27:45the Cherusci,
27:48met to confer on the site,
27:51a place of sacred meeting to organize a revolt.
27:54Before the Romans arrived in German territory,
27:57many tribes were fierce enemies.
28:00Now they were united by the same destiny.
28:03The historian Floro wrote about the increasing antipathy
28:06of the Germans towards the dominion of Rome.
28:09They began to hate pride and the excesses of Quintilio Varro,
28:12as well as his cruelty.
28:15Arminio tried to convince the Germans.
28:18They had not yet realized that the laws of the Romans
28:21were more cruel than their own weapons.
28:24They had to act now,
28:27before the weapons of the warriors rust
28:30and their horses weaken.
28:33As not all the tribes wanted to join the revolt,
28:36Segestes, another Cherusci chief,
28:39got along well with the new masters.
28:42The tribes were divided.
28:46Tacitus tells us that Arminio put the warriors
28:49in front of a disjunctive.
28:52If they wanted a free country of the Roman yoke,
28:55they had to follow him.
28:58He would lead them to glory and freedom.
29:01Segestes would lead them to a shameful servilism.
29:04Segestes warned us
29:07that we were infinitely inferior to Varro and his legions.
29:10A revolt against Rome was equivalent to suicide.
29:12The Romans would raze our lands,
29:15kill us and take our women and children as slaves.
29:18It was preferable to be their ally than their enemy.
29:21We could all take advantage of the wealth and luxury of the Romans.
29:24However, the tribes followed Arminio.
29:35These limestone stones, known as the stone dance of Boitin,
29:38are located near the city of Rostock,
29:40in the Baltic Sea.
29:43In the time of the Germans, this was one of the so-called sites,
29:46a sacred space to hold meetings.
29:49The place where Arminio called the rebellion
29:52could have been very similar to this one.
29:55Tacitus tells us how the Germans voted on such occasions.
29:58The men decide together on the issues of importance for the tribe.
30:01The power of persuasion of a man
30:04is more important than his position of power.
30:07If a proposal does not satisfy him,
30:10they clash their weapons in a sign of approval.
30:15Why did most of the tribes
30:18support Arminio's call?
30:21I think one of the most crucial aspects
30:24is that Rome tried to impose the laws and Roman administration
30:27both on the Crusaders and the other Germanic tribes.
30:30This must have sown great doubts
30:33within Germanic society.
30:36And I deduce that this was also
30:38the main reason for Arminio.
30:43The alliance between the Germanic tribes was forged.
30:46Arminio knew that they would have to rely on cunning
30:49to be able to rise victorious against the immense power of Rome.
30:52It was only possible to make Varus and his legions fall into a trap,
30:55the Germanic warriors would have some hope of victory.
30:58Roman historians tell us
31:01that Arminio was a close collaborator of the governor.
31:04Varus heard rumors about a conspiracy
31:06led by Arminio.
31:09But he ignored the warning.
31:12Tacitus wrote...
31:15Varus fell victim to fate and to the strength of Arminio.
31:18Arminio told Varus of a supposed rebellion
31:21that had begun in a remote area of Germany.
31:24He advised him to go with his legions
31:27to tackle the root problem.
31:30And he managed to convince him.
31:33Varus fell into the trap.
31:36Was Varus' credibility so great
31:39as the chroniclers say?
31:42Why should Varus consider Arminio
31:45a Roman knight, a traitor and not an ally?
31:48After all, he depended on Arminio.
31:51As a leader of the Germanic auxiliary forces,
31:54he knew the land and the German soul better than anyone.
31:58Varus gave the order to mobilize the army
32:01as Arminio had advised him.
32:03The cunning plan seemed to be working.
32:06Years later, the historian Paterculus
32:09made fun of it.
32:12Varus believed that Arminio's goodwill
32:15was something he had earned.
32:18But carelessness is the most frequent cause of disaster.
32:21In the autumn of the ninth year of our era,
32:24Varus left with the seventeenth,
32:27eighteenth and nineteenth legions
32:30to suffocate the alleged riots.
32:33Varus had under his command the three legions
32:36and auxiliary troops, all with their corresponding baggage.
32:3930,000 people who marched through Germany
32:42as if it were a friendly territory.
32:45And he did it without explorers and without protecting his flanks.
32:50At the time, everything was going according to the planned plan.
32:53As a vanguard force, we guided the army
32:56towards the thick of the forest.
32:59It was an unknown terrain for the Romans.
33:01Would he follow us along the narrow paths?
33:04In an open battle, we had no chance
33:07against the technical and tactical superiority of the Roman army.
33:10When the open terrain gave way
33:13to the narrow paths of the forest,
33:16the disciplined order of the column was disintegrated.
33:19And discipline was the strongest weapon of the Romans.
33:22Without harboring suspicions, Varus and his legions
33:25followed Arminio to the depths of the thick.
33:28Arminio now had the Romans
33:31where he wanted.
33:34The Roman army had cut all the retreat lines.
33:39In the forest, the column of the legions
33:42stretched until it was several kilometers long.
33:45If the Romans were attacked by the flanks,
33:48it would be impossible for them to regain their battle formation.
33:54We took advantage of our long years of service
33:57in the Roman army.
33:59We were ambushed.
34:02Varus' legions were completely lost.
34:05The Germans awaited the order of attack
34:08lurking in the forest.
34:11The trap was about to be consumed.
34:24The chronicler Dion Cassio wrote about the sequence of events.
34:29Suddenly, the supposed subordinates
34:32appeared as enemies and caused a terrible calamity.
34:37At first they used spears,
34:40but then, being many Romans already injured,
34:43they changed the fight body to body.
34:46There was nothing more bloody than that catastrophe
34:49in the forests and swamps of Germany.
34:56No Roman could wait for clemency.
34:59We were fighting for our freedom,
35:02but Arminio was in danger.
35:05As a friend and bodyguard, I protected his life.
35:12Surrounded by forests and swamps,
35:15the Romans were exterminated one by one
35:18by the same enemy they had always massacred
35:21as if he were cattle.
35:30Tacitus wrote...
35:33The forests of Germany were dyed
35:36with the blood of three legions.
35:41Almost 20,000 elite Roman soldiers
35:44fell on the battlefield.
35:47Disciplined and experienced men,
35:50belonging to the most powerful army of antiquity.
35:53The Roman army,
35:56the consequences for Rome were incalculable.
35:59They not only faced the possible loss
36:02of the province of Germany,
36:05Gaul and Rome itself were threatened.
36:08After the destruction of the legions,
36:11there was no force on the borders of the empire
36:14capable of retaining the Germans.
36:17In Rome, it was said about the war
36:20that the Romans were the most powerful army
36:22in the world.
36:25In Rome, it was said about the death of the governor.
36:28He showed more courage when he died
36:31than when he fought.
36:34As governor and commander-in-chief,
36:37Baro was exclusively responsible
36:40for the irreparable misfortune.
36:53The search for the battlefield
36:56occupied scholars, archaeologists
36:59and local historians for centuries.
37:02They tried to find in more than 700 locations
37:05signs of the battle that would later be famous
37:08with the name of Battle of the Forest of Teotoburgo.
37:11Finally, in 1987, in Calcriese,
37:14near Osnabrück,
37:17some archaeologists found a battlefield.
37:19No other of antiquity is known.
37:22It dates back to the times of Augustus.
37:25Is this the legendary location of the last battle of Baro?
37:28Archaeologists have discovered nearly 20,000 objects here,
37:31the legacy of an entire army.
37:34The objects found were scattered
37:37over 10 kilometers, proof that the army
37:40had been attacked while on the move.
37:43The most surprising discovery,
37:46the Roman mask of a rider.
37:49Was Baro on the side of Rome,
37:52or was he one of the rebels?
37:55All we know for sure is that the mask
37:58was buried under a pile of earth.
38:01This is how it remained hidden from the Germans,
38:04who, after the battle,
38:07took everything they found of value,
38:10especially metal objects, weapons and armor.
38:13Other valuable private objects
38:16also fell into their hands.
38:19Like the legendary treasure of Hildesheim,
38:22a luxurious silver bowl from the time of Augustus.
38:25It probably belonged to one of the officers
38:28of the legions of Baro, and a victorious German
38:31kept it as a war booty.
38:41The battle ended,
38:44but not the slaughter.
38:46With oppression, exploitation and humiliation,
38:49we unleashed all our hatred.
38:54Our priests sacrificed Roman captives
38:57in honor of our gods.
39:05We celebrated Arminio, our commander.
39:08Now he was undisputed our caudillo.
39:10No governor declared
39:13that he would never humiliate the Germans again.
39:16Rome would never dominate Germany again.
39:19At last, we were free.
39:26The Germanic tribes agreed.
39:29Arminio had to guide them to the future.
39:41A messenger finally arrived in Rome,
39:44from Germany.
39:47Emperor Augustus gambled a lot.
39:50He had founded the empire,
39:53and now he had to legitimize his autocracy
39:56through military successes.
39:59The emperor bragged about having extended the empire
40:02to the Elbe and the seas of the north.
40:05But the message from Germany destroyed his hopes.
40:10The prisoner of rage and despair
40:13exclaimed,
40:16Varus, Varus,
40:19return my legions to me.
40:23But none of the Roman soldiers returned.
40:26The only thing left to their families
40:29was a tombstone on an empty grave,
40:32like that of the Roman captain Caelius.
40:35He served in the 18th legion when he fell in the War of Varus.
40:38For a long time,
40:41this tombstone was the only archaeological evidence
40:44of the Roman disaster.
40:49In general terms,
40:52we cannot qualify Varus as incompetent.
40:55He became the head of the Turks
40:58because he needed a head of the Turks.
41:01And no one could better fulfill that role
41:04than a person who was already dead.
41:07After the disastrous defeat,
41:10the Roman legions left for Germany,
41:13determined to take revenge.
41:16Six years after the Battle of the Forest of Teotoburgo,
41:19they found the scene where the fighting had taken place.
41:22The skeletons of the dead were still hanging from the trees
41:25in a show unworthy of sight and memory,
41:28as Tacitus referred to.
41:31The soldiers found the altars
41:34where the Roman captives had been sacrificed.
41:37They were scattered or piled up.
41:40No one knew
41:43if he was burying members of his family or strangers.
41:46For them,
41:49they were all like friends and relatives.
41:56Each new find
41:59gives the investigators more clues
42:02about the secret of Chalcriese.
42:04They also found graves with human bones.
42:07Are these the bones of the buried Romans
42:10that Tacitus referred to?
42:13At the University of Göttingen,
42:16Birgit Groskopf tries to find the answer to this question.
42:19The size and shape of the pelvis provide information
42:22about the gender of the deceased person.
42:25The result was convincing.
42:28The bones of the graves were only male.
42:31How old were the men when they died?
42:34The more worn they are,
42:37the older the person they belonged to will be.
42:40The result is also very clear in this case.
42:43All men died between 20 and 40 years old,
42:46the age of the legionaries in action.
42:49The analysis of bones and teeth
42:52confirms the suspicions of the investigators.
42:55The bones of Chalcriese belonged to Roman legionaries.
42:58But were they the victims of a battle?
43:01Were there other clues?
43:04How could a battle have taken place?
43:07Here we have a wound caused by a blow.
43:10This man suffered a strong blow
43:13in the back of the head
43:16that tore a considerable part of the skull.
43:21The bones were found in a pit
43:24bordered with pieces of limestone.
43:27The skulls and bones were carefully arranged
43:30inside this common pit.
43:32This constitutes the proof of a pious burial.
43:35Were the Romans who buried their comrades
43:38fallen in Chalcriese six years after the battle,
43:41as we know by Tacitus?
43:44If that were the case, the bones should contain proof
43:47that they had remained for a long time in the battlefield
43:50before being buried.
43:54This is another issue that Birgit Groskopf
43:57has been investigating.
43:59Once again, there are no mistakes.
44:02The cracks and the signs that the bones
44:05had been rubbed by the animals
44:08indicate that the bones remained on the ground for several years.
44:11Does this mean that the search for the location
44:14of the last battle of Varus has ended?
44:17All this data cannot be a simple coincidence,
44:20according to the investigators.
44:23They are convinced that the battle took place in Chalcriese.
44:26After this fateful battle, the Romans withdrew
44:29from the city.
44:32Now that Rome has obtained its revenge
44:35in what concerns us,
44:38the Cherusci and other rebel tribes
44:41can dedicate themselves to direct their own internal disputes.
44:44What about the Roman city near Val Girmes,
44:47the landmark of civilization in the north?
44:53The head of the excavation, Armin Becker,
44:56has been trying to find out
44:59the location of the city.
45:02He has found a darker layer in the sections of land.
45:05It is ash, a sign of destruction.
45:08That means that the city must have been set on fire.
45:11From the track chain,
45:14Armin Becker has come to the conclusion
45:17that the Roman inhabitants left Val Girmes
45:20after the battle of the forest of Teotoburgo
45:23to withdraw to the security of the empire.
45:26But before that, they completely burned down their city.
45:29If Augustus had not longed
45:32so much to defeat Germania,
45:35the pain that his loss bore was much greater
45:38than the glory of his conquest.
45:41Thus lamented the Roman author Florus
45:44for the end of the dream of a Roman Germania.
45:49In the 16th year of our era, Rome withdrew.
45:52Cities like Val Girmes were set on fire
45:55along with the military camps.
45:58A single battle had changed the course of history.
46:07The entire region was free from Roman domination
46:10and thus a Germanic constellation could emerge
46:13that would give rise to the great German advance
46:16300 years later.
46:19So what happened in the 16th year
46:22is quite a dramatic event.
46:25In the 19th century, the German nationalists
46:28glorified the figure of Arminio
46:31by erecting the pompous Hermann Memorial,
46:34Germanization of the name of Arminio.
46:37It is historically indisputable
46:40that he managed to avoid the Romanization
46:43of the Germanic peoples.
46:46Tacitus wrote of him.
46:49He was undoubtedly the great liberator
46:51of the Germanic peoples.
46:54And the barbarian tribes continue to praise him in their songs.
47:01After our victory over Rome,
47:04our old rivalries reappeared.
47:08Arminio, as king of the Germans,
47:11wanted to increase his power and glory
47:14by uniting the enemy tribes.
47:17By becoming a single lord,
47:19Arminio became a Germanic ruler.
47:22His ambition for power would lead him to perdition.
47:28Arminio, who wanted to rule as king,
47:31had against him the libertarian spirit of his compatriots.
47:36Some tribal chiefs,
47:39submitting to the Germanic custom,
47:42refused to submit to Arminio's orders.
47:45But Arminio demanded unconditional obedience.
47:50He was murdered by one of his relatives.
47:53This time I was not able to protect my friend's life.
47:56Arminio died at the age of 37.
47:59Under his leadership,
48:02the Germans had won their decisive victory.
48:05From then on,
48:08they would become a constant threat to Rome.
48:19To be continued...