From Mario Magni
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Wars Ancient
Battle of Teutoburgo
September of the year 9 – First Day
The Battle of Teutoburgo Forest, called Clades Variana ("the defeat of Varo") by Roman historians, took place in the year 9 between the Roman army, led by Publio Quintilio Varo, and a coalition of Germanic tribes commanded by Arminius, an officer of the auxiliary troops of Varus, but secretly also leader of the Cherusci. The battle took place near today's town of Kalkriese, in Lower Saxony, and resulted in one of the most serious defeats suffered by the Romans: three entire legions (the XVII, the XVIII and the XIX) were annihilated, as well as six cohorts of infantry and three auxiliary cavalry wings.
Varo was traveling through extremely difficult terrain to overcome with an army, that given the objective difficulties of the route, had stretched out of proportion for over three and a half kilometers. While the Romans were in serious difficulty even just in advancing in a territory totally unknown to them, the Germans attacked.