Roman Legionary. 2nd half of the 1st century

3D Model

“Quinctili Vare, legiones redde!” (“Quinctili Varus, surrender my legions!”) – was to be shouted by Caesar Octavian Augustus on hearing of Rome’s defeat in the Teutoburg forest. At the end of September 9 A.D., three legions (30,000 men) led by Publius Quinctilius Varus crossed the Rhine and ventured into the territory inhabited by the Germanic tribes of the Herussians and Tempterians. They were betrayed and ambushed by the Roman leader Arminius who was loyal to the Germanic peoples. Unprepared for a battle in the wooded terrain, the legionaries, accustomed and trained to fight in the open, were surprised in extended formation and, despite the fierce resistance that lasted three days and two nights, were completely eliminated. Varus, along with other commanders, committed suicide. This battle was the beginning of a war that lasted seven years and fixed the border of the Empire on the Rhine line. Arminius himself was assassinated by his tribesmen 12 years later.