Quest for the Lost Roman Legions by Tony Clunn

Author:Tony Clunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS002020
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9781611210088
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Published: 2009-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

And so Arminius brought the tribes together during the summer of 9 AD. He would fight his battle in September on his ground, at a time of his choosing, and on his terms of engagement. It was not a victory he was seeking, but the annihilation of the men of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Legions of Rome.

PART II

Chapter Fourteen

9 AD: Aspirations and Judgments at Minden

Varus’ summer camp at Minden was a hive of activity. Drusus had established the camp during the early years, when the Romans forged their way into and through the German heartlands. Traveling up the waters of the Weser, which flowed about 1,000 yards from the eastern edge of the lager, the Roman galleys cut their way upstream from the coastal regions of the northern sea and through the link ports leading up to the summer camp. Thereafter, they passed through the broad gap of the Wiehengebirge ridge into the upper reaches of the river that coursed its way through flat and unimpressive flooded meadowlands before merging into the steep valleys and gorges of the range of hills sitting astride it, passing through the towns of Hess Oldendorf, Hameln, and on to Hoxter. Here was the junction of the upper reaches of the east–west land route from the last of the forts on the River Lippe into eastern Germany and on to the Elbe some 120 miles distant.

Minden was also a key junction between the north–south course of the Weser and the northerly east–west land route, stretching from the River Ems across the north German plain to the Weser, and again, on to eastern Germany and the Elbe. Minden was one of the most important link fortresses in Germany—as important to the Romans as the link fortresses of Xanten and Aliso, sited on either side of the junction of the Lippe and the broad sweep of the Rhine river.

A short distance north of the Wiehengebirge ridge proper, the summer camp was overshadowed by the ridge’s lofty heights on either side of the Minden gap. Here the legions established small but well fortified lookout forts, with commanding views of the surrounding countryside for many miles in nearly every direction, save the wooded areas of the ridge. Even here, the Romans cut back into those forested areas to establish lines of sight protected by a series of impenetrable ramparts and staked ditches.

The summer camp was a desirable posting for the Roman occupation forces. Sited against the side of the Weser, the pioneers had cut into the nearside river banks, establishing small backwater areas where bathing and swimming could take place, safely removed from the dangerous currents swirling along the main concourse of the river. In the heat of a summer’s day, the pools were nearly always full with officers, soldiers, and their attendant slaves.

It was now August, the religious month during which all Romans commemorated the elevation of Augustus to the rank of Caesar. It was usually the hottest and most uncomfortable of the summer months, humid and utterly unlike the hot but clearer airs of Rome.

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