Los queruscos, conocidos en latín como Cherusci y en alemán como Cherusker, fueron una influyente tribu germánica que habitó en la región noroeste de Alemania, específicamente en el área que abarca entre Osnabrück y Hanóver. Durante los siglos I a.C. y I d.C., los queruscos jugaron un papel crucial en la historia de Europa, particularmente en sus interacciones con el Imperio Romano. Esta tribu es famosa por su resistencia ante las fuerzas romanas, destacándose en la Batalla del Bosque de Teutoburgo en el año 9 d.C., donde el líder querusco Arminio logró una de las derrotas más significativas del ejército romano.
La cultura de los queruscos estaba profundamente arraigada en tradiciones guerreras, así como en prácticas agrícolas y de comercio. Su sociedad era tribal, con una estructura organizativa basada en clanes familiares, donde la lealtad y la honorabilidad eran valores fundamentales. A lo largo del tiempo, los queruscos han sido objeto de estudio por historiadores y arqueólogos, quienes han investigado sus costumbres, lengua y forma de vida.
La influencia de los queruscos no solo se limitó a su época, sino que su legado perdura en la identidad cultural de Alemania. Su resistencia ante la expansión romana ha sido símbolo de libertad y nacionalismo germano en diferentes momentos de la historia. Para entender mejor la historia de los queruscos y su impacto en Europa, es fundamental investigar sus orígenes, tradiciones y el contexto en el que vivieron.
**Hashtags:** #Queruscos, #HistoriaGermánica, #CulturaGermana
**Keywords:** queruscos, Cherusci, Cherusker, tribu germánica, historia de Alemania, Batalla del Bosque de Teutoburgo, Arminio, cultura germánica, tradiciones guerreras, influencia romana.
La cultura de los queruscos estaba profundamente arraigada en tradiciones guerreras, así como en prácticas agrícolas y de comercio. Su sociedad era tribal, con una estructura organizativa basada en clanes familiares, donde la lealtad y la honorabilidad eran valores fundamentales. A lo largo del tiempo, los queruscos han sido objeto de estudio por historiadores y arqueólogos, quienes han investigado sus costumbres, lengua y forma de vida.
La influencia de los queruscos no solo se limitó a su época, sino que su legado perdura en la identidad cultural de Alemania. Su resistencia ante la expansión romana ha sido símbolo de libertad y nacionalismo germano en diferentes momentos de la historia. Para entender mejor la historia de los queruscos y su impacto en Europa, es fundamental investigar sus orígenes, tradiciones y el contexto en el que vivieron.
**Hashtags:** #Queruscos, #HistoriaGermánica, #CulturaGermana
**Keywords:** queruscos, Cherusci, Cherusker, tribu germánica, historia de Alemania, Batalla del Bosque de Teutoburgo, Arminio, cultura germánica, tradiciones guerreras, influencia romana.
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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...