When The Empire Was Struck

The Battle Of The Teutoburg Forest

In 9 A.D. Three legions of the Roman army under Publius Quinctilius Varus suffered a severe loss in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, losing all three legions to Germanic forces under the command of one Arminius of the Cherusci, a German who had served as a Roman officer. Rome had extended into regions east of the Rhine river and looked to be moving to assimilate all of Germania into the Roman Empire. (Resistance is futile! Prepare to be assimilated!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius

Arminius was a prince of the Cherusci tribe, his region being friendly to the Romans. He and his younger brother joined the Roman army, with Arminius joining in 1 AD and serving until 6 AD. He learned Latin, Roman tactics, administration, and he received Roman citizenship. He went back to Germania in 7 or 8 AD. (Arminius is probbably not his true name, but an adopted Roman name.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1010/battle-of-teutoburg-forest/

An excellent video on the subject by Forgotten History on YouTube:

Arminius decided to try throwing the Romans out of Germania, (Germania meant “land of the spear men,”) which at the time was a region consisting of several tribes, the tribes being like small countries. The Roman forces east of the Rhine river had been reduced from eleven to three legions due to the need to shift forces to the Balkans because of an insurrection there. There was much bad feeling in Germania toward the Romans due to the harsh tactics of the Roman general Varus, so Arminius managed to forge an alliance of tribes despite them being traditional enemies. The plan was to use a false report of an uprising in northern Gemania to draw the Romans into a battle where they would lack their usual advantages of being a highly disciplined army with sophisticated equipment and tactics. Before their arrival at the supposed trouble spot in the north they were attacked and forced into fighting mostly in a dense forest while strung out in a long line, and a line consisting of three legions was a long one. Unable to use their usual formation tactics, except for a few straggling survivors the Roman army of approximately 20,000 was wiped out, with Varus and other leaders committing suicide. It was a disaster for the Romans, leading them to permanently leave the region except for a few forays into Germania, and this caused the Rhine river to become the border of Germany.

They say old and cunning beats young and strong, but at 25 Arminius was young and cunning.

"Achievers are resolute in their goals and driven by determination. Discouragement is temporary, obstacles are overcome, and doubt is defeated, yielding to personal victory. You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals. Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." ~ George S. Patton

Some historians opine that this deprived Germany of the civilizing influences of the Roman empire, and indeed they remained a more primitive culture, but that certainly did not last into modern times. I doubt that many Germans over the centuries have felt that they were deprived of a great opportunity by not living under Rome.

"I would rather be the first man in a barbarian village than the second man in Rome." ~ Julius Caesar

There is a lesson here to never give up hope even in the face of overwhelming odds. A people can indeed be victorious over a seemingly all powerful empire, something to remember as we find an increasingly overwhelming deep state in our own country as well as worldwide. People are not as helpless in the face of overwhelming centralized power as the overwhelming centralized powers would have us believe. Not only is human ingenuity a factor that can upset the most carefully laid plans, but the unexpected will play it's roll. After all, no plan survives contact with the enemy. (The Star Wars series has made a fortune out of making movies that keep repeating this theme, though their great special effects help at the box office.)

“"Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense"……..Winston Churchill, Oct 29, 1941

https://drp314.substack.com/p/never-give-up

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." ~ Calvin Coolidge

"Ancient Rome was as confident of the immutability of its world and the continual expansion and improvement of the human lot as we are today." ~ Arthur Erickson

A corrupt sheriff and his corps of goons are not exactly the Roman army, but they too can meet their Waterloo:

https://drp314.substack.com/p/a-win-for-the-good-guys

And another of my somewhat related essays:

https://drp314.substack.com/p/antifa-and-couer-dalene

Robert Tabor's classic study of guerilla war was entitled War of the Flea because he likened the guerillas to fleas on a dog. The dog can scratch and do anything he wants but he can't get rid of the fleas. He maintained that if the populace of a country as a whole backed guerillas because they wanted the leaders gone the guerillas were unstoppable, but if not they were doomed to be a vanishing fringe element. I suppose it really comes down to the vast number of people making up a country's populace compared to the relatively few in control. (If only we could eliminate ninety percent of them...) For sure the Germans under Arminius were not a guerilla army, and it was a pitched battle, but the principle is the same.

https://ia902208.us.archive.org/1/items/war-of-the-flea_202203/War%20of%20the%20Flea.pdf

From Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verses 13-18, NIV from You Version:

https://www.bible.com/bible/59/ECC.9.esv

Wisdom Better Than Folly

13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:

14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.

15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.

16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

But I think that you still have to have the weapons of war.

Stay Brave, Stay Free