# Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9)

URL: https://germany-history.com/timeline/9-battle-of-the-teutoburg-forest
Location: Kalkriese, Lower Saxony
Categories: battle, main-event

In September 9 CE the Cheruscan chieftain Arminius, a former Roman auxiliary officer, led an alliance of Germanic tribes in an ambush of three Roman legions under Publius Quinctilius Varus. Over several days of fighting in forest and marsh, the legions XVII, XVIII and XIX were annihilated. Augustus reportedly cried out for Varus to give him back his legions.

## Why it matters
It halted Roman expansion beyond the Rhine and later became a founding myth of German nationalism.

## Sources
- [Wikipedia – Battle of the Teutoburg Forest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest)
- [Wikipedia – Arminius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica – Battle of the Teutoburg Forest](https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Teutoburg-Forest)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica – Arminius](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arminius)