9 AD was an interesting year.
This year, in the East, the huge and decaying Han Empire was usurped by a foreign relative Wang Mang, and the country name was changed to Xin, which was called Xin Mang in history. Brother Mang, who has been keeping a low profile for decades, finally took charge of the world and started his ambitious reform plan. Of course, the ending is well known, so I won't go into details.
In the West, Octavian has been the actual ruler of Rome "Augustus" for more than 30 years. The strong military strength of the empire supports its continuous expansion, and the Mediterranean Sea has almost become the inner lake of Rome. However, the "barbarians" entrenched in the Germania region of central and northern Europe were not willing to submit to the Roman Empire, so Augustus decided to rely on force to conquer the Germania tribes.
At that time, compared with the Roman Empire, which was highly developed in terms of politics, economy and culture, the "barbarians" in most of the central and northern parts of Europe were still in the semi-primitive tribal era. The battle between them is a pattern in which the tribe gathers hundreds of hunters and peasants in animal skins to fight directly in groups with hunting utensils.
Therefore, when faced with the Roman Empire army with extremely high tactical literacy and military organization ability, those barbarian warriors who seem to be burly, broad-waisted and round are basically vulnerable. So that the various gods believed by various tribes may not look the same, but basically they can reach a consensus: that the Roman army is invincible. When encountering the Roman army, either surrender to pay tribute, or the whole village hides in the mountains. In short, there is no hope of fighting.
Tiberius, the governor of the province of Germania, is a powerful character, not to mention that he will inherit the throne of Augustus in the future. During his stay in Germania, he led the Northern Army of the Empire to fight steadily and used force to subdue the Cherusi who had been reluctant to bow their heads. The Cheruss were not good people, but they were docile and obedient in front of Tiberius, and there was almost no room for resistance. Just when the Cherusi people were extremely depressed and sighed about how they had faced such a formidable opponent, the situation suddenly changed, and a riot broke out in the Pannonia province of the empire.
Pannonia is roughly today's Hungary, Romania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and eastern Austria. The state of those places is basically the same as that of Germania. There are also many semi-primitive tribes, large and small, and the local people are also simple-minded and limbed. Developed, once encountering things that cannot be understood, it is easy to get emotional, and then group incidents break out. The Empire believes that persuasion and education alone is useless, and only the swords and whips of the imperial army can calm the masses. So Tiberius took most of the Northern Legion to Pannonia to pacify the rebellion.
It is not unfounded to say that the opportunity for the Cherousians has come. The newly appointed governor of Germania, Valus, was the governor of the former Syrian province of the empire. This talent is not as good as Tiberius, but greed is more than enough. . After he took office, he plundered and humiliated the aristocrats of the local tribes, which led to the capitulation of the aristocratic forces who originally defected to Rome and gradually joined the anti-Rome forces in the tribe.
In fact, the so-called nobles in those tribes are nothing more than wearing more neat animal skins than the ordinary people, and there are only a few more cattle and sheep at home than the ordinary people. The material conditions are not better than the ordinary people. It's just to maintain a decent sense of superiority passed down by the ancestors. But Valus doesn't seem to understand this. His humiliation of these so-called "nobles" makes them realize that they are actually the masses. If they want to eat well and drink better than they are decent, they have to fight Rome with the masses.
No matter how bad it is, Wallus still has three complete Roman legions, and there are more than 30,000 people in the mess. Originally, many "barbarians" including the Cheruss were still not enough to see in front of the three regular Roman legions, but Valus had a general, Arminius, who was also a Cherus, but he grew up as a child. He was raised as a hostage in Rome. Due to his heroic combat and commanding ability, he was gradually promoted to an excellent general of the Roman legion, but he always longed to liberate his fellow Cherusi from the Roman Empire.
Thus, the incompetent command of Wallus, the coordination of Arminius from inside and outside, the densely forested and rugged terrain of the Teutonicburg region, the severe weather with muddy roads and rainstorms for days, the masses of Germania who share the same enemy, and so on, these conditions miraculously Together, more than 30,000 soldiers of the Roman Northern Legion were wiped out in the Teutoburg Forest area by a group of barbarians who had no detailed data records. History is known as the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. And it was completely wiped out, and less than one tenth of the Roman soldiers ran back with their heads. After the defeat of Valus, he committed suicide and martyred the country, which finally saved his reputation. If he did not commit suicide, even if he was lucky enough to return to Rome, what awaited him could only be a felony.
This defeat coincided with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The loss of three elite legions made Augustus, the ruler of the empire, distressed, and the expansion of the empire to central and northern Europe was also affected and stagnated for a time.
After completing the pacification of the Pannonia riots, the crown prince of the empire, Tiberius, returned to Germany and continued to fight steadily, finally consolidating the empire's rule here. It was not until seven years after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest that Tiberius, who had already succeeded to the throne, appointed his nephew Germanicus as the new governor of Germania, and led the imperial army to completely defeat Arminian at the Battle of Anglivarva. The barbarian tribal army led by Uth was considered to have officially washed away the shame of the Battle of the Teutonic Fort Forest.
Although the Roman Empire's war against the Germanic barbarians has continued, the old saying goes, time is a butcher's knife, and the Roman Empire cannot avoid being knifed. Not long after the separation of East and West Rome, the declining Western Roman Empire was finally completely destroyed by the Germanic barbarian army. Since then, Europe has entered the long dark ages of the Middle Ages.
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