Which ancient empire is the most interesting to you?, page 1

was Augustus' plea upon discovering what happened to the three legions lost. The XVII, XVIII and XIX.

I found this thread about Arminius on the AncientWorld site.

In 1985 archaeologists digging near the Kalkrieseberg began to uncover what probably happened next. A remnant of Varus' army, possibly including (the now badly wounded) Varus himself, tried to round the northern flank of the Kalkriese hill and pass between it and the moorlands to the north.

Arminius had known they would try to pass that way, however.

He placed a force of fresh warriors in their path to stop them and then attacked down the hill towards them, pinning them against the swamp. Normally this terrain would suit the Romans, because here the Germanics were finally out in the open and fighting on the Romans' terms. But three days and nights of constant attacks had worn them down. And Arminius had also used some Roman military training to his advantage.

He had prepared the ground at Kalkriese - building a long turf rampart parallel to the path the Romans were travelling on. He cut drainage through this wall to drain off the water coming down the hill after all the rains and to make the path even boggier than usual. Whenever the Romans counterattacked the Germanics retreated behind their wall. When they fell back, the Germanics attacked again.

Exactly how long this went on for is not known, but the final remnant of the army was now trapped. Dio tells us that, perhaps at this point or some other time towards the end of the battle, Varus decided that defeat and destruction were inevitable. No noble Roman could live with the shame of defeat, so, like his father Sextus before him, Varus fell on his sword while his officers committed suicide around him in a similar fashion.

With their commander and senior officers dead, the remaining soldiers made an attempt at a funeral pyre for Varus and waited for the final assault.

They didn't quite fight to a man - we know some at least were captured and probably surrendered. Many, however, made a last stand around the Eagles. This was partly because of their military tradition of defending the sacred standards to the last but it was also for another reason - the Germanics tended to offer up captives as thanks offerings to their war gods. Taking a spear was preferable to slow strangulation, crucifixion or being burnt alive to Tiwaz and Wodanaz.

Two of the Eagles fell into the enemy's hands, but according to the Roman historian Florus the standard bearer of the third Eagle was determined that his would not. Detaching it from it's staff, he hooked it to his belt and made a break for the marshlands, with Germanic warriors in hot pursuit. He waded out into the bog and deliberately drowned himself with the Eagle to keep it from the enemy.

With the battle over, many of the captive survivors faced a grim fate. The "lucky" ones were taken as slaves, some of them were liberated decades later when they were old men. Most weren't. The unlucky ones were tortured, massacred and sacrificed in an orgy of blood vengeance. Florus writes:

Some were blinded, others had their hands cut off, they sewed the mouth of one after cutting off his tongue, and the savage holding it in his hand, said: "Finally you stop hissing, you viper!"

The bodies of the dead were stripped of anything of value- especially prized Roman weapons, armour and helmets - and then left to rot - their bones were found scattered through the forest seven years later.