Paterculus on the Battle in the Teutoburg Forest
Velleius Paterculus (c. 20 BCE - after 30 CE) Roman officer, senator, and scholar, author of a brief Roman History.
In his Roman History, the Roman officer-historian Velleius Paterculus (20 BCE - after 30 CE) has included a description of the battle in the Teutoburg Forest (September 9 CE). The author was active in the Germanic wars and knew many of the actors personally. His account is the oldest surviving description of the battle and relies on eyewitness accounts; the battlefield has been discovered at Kalkriese.
Book 2, chapters 117-120, of Paterculus' Roman History are presented here in the translation by F.W. Shipley.
The Battle in the Teutoburg Forest |
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[2.117.1] Scarcely had Tiberius put the finishing touch upon the Pannonian and Dalmatian war,note when, within five days of the completion of this task, dispatches from Germania brought the baleful news of the death of Varus, and of the slaughter of three legions,note of as many divisions of cavalry, and of six cohorts - as though fortune were granting us this indulgence at least, that such a disaster should not be brought upon us when our commander was occupied by other wars. The cause of this defeat and the personality of the general require of me a brief digression. |
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[2.117.2] Varus Quintilius, descended from a famous rather than a high-born family, was a man of mild character and of a quiet disposition, somewhat slow in mind as he was in body, and more accustomed to the leisure of the camp than to actual service in war. That he was no despiser of money is demonstrated by his governorship of Syria: he entered this rich province a poor man, and left this poor province a rich man.
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[2.117.3] When placed in charge of the army in Germania, he entertained the notion that the Germans were a people who were men only in limbs and voice, and that they, who could not be subdued by the sword, could be soothed by the law. |
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[2.117.4] With this purpose in mind he entered the heart of Germanianote as though he were going among a people enjoying the blessings of peace, and sitting on his tribunal he wasted the time of a summer campaign in holding court and observing the proper details of legal procedure. |
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