Jahn, Ralf G. Der Kampf der Arminius-Koalition gegen Rom. Der Römisch-Germanische Krieg 9-16 n. Chr.

The Roman-Germanic War, i.e. the war of the Germanic coalition army under Arminius against the Roman Empire, began in 9 AD with a bang, which went down in history as the Battle of Varus. Arminius succeeded in a surprise attack in which he destroyed three of the total of 28 Roman legions with one blow. The shock was enormous, the near-province of Germania dissolved into nothingness, Rome's prestige in this region was permanently shaken.

Tiberius painstakingly and extremely cautiously consolidated the Rhine army step by step. Rome had to achieve the formal subjugation of the insurgents simply to save its reputation and justify its supremacy; the conquest and establishment of a province on the right bank of the Rhine played at best only a subordinate role. If only to avoid an apostasy of Gaul, which played a much greater role for Rome than Germania, the rebels had to be punished. Since Tiberius, as the new princeps, had to take care of the rule in Rome, his adopted son Germanicus took over the supreme command on the Rhine. Despite enormous efforts and the deployment of a third of the Roman forces, Germanicus did not succeed in formally subduing Arminius or decisively weakening him within two years. The investigations into the individual battles of Germanicus in this work have shown that many of the battles that at first glance appear to be victories for the Romans are no longer so after a thorough military analysis. At best, they are insignificant victories that were anything but decisive for the war. Tiberius himself speaks of serious and terrible losses. With regard to Tacitus' reports of victories, there are therefore justified doubts about their veracity. Volume 3 of the series "Progenies".