162
■REVOLT OE ARMINIUS.
Germany, he conducted himself completely as if he had been
governor in a Roman province, which knew only compulsion
and fear; but Arminius1, the Cheruscan, who had already dis-
tinguished Iiimselfin the Roman armies, probably in the Pan-
nonian war, devised a skilful plan for entrapping him. As the
Germans had no fortified towns, it was exceedingly difficult to
keep off the Romans, or to prevent their crossing the frontiers.
The German horses were bad, but their riders were superior to
the Romans; they were, however, excelled by the Gauls, on ac-
count of the better horses and armour of the latter, who were
such excellent Iiorsementhat henceforth they formed the flower
of the Roman armies, and most of the technical terms in
horsemanship were borrowed from them. Cunning employed
against tyranny is not wrong, so that I cannot despise
the stratagem of Arminius, for the Germans had been attacked
by the Romans in the most unjust manner. Arniinius had not
the means to make head against the enemy in an open and
proud way, and he was obliged to have recourse to cunning,
which, in his case, was certainly justifiable. Arminius had
served with German hoi semen in the Roman armies; he was
quite master of the Latin language; he had obtained the
Roman franchise, and the rank of an eques. By dint of the
greatest perseverance, he and his comrades had succeeded in
gaining the unlimited confidence of Varus, and contrived to
lull him into security. Varus had his stationary camp, in which
he administered justice like a Roman governor in his province,
and he made his judicial functions subservient to the purpose
of enriching himself. His conduct was like that of the wicked
governors in Switzerland. The Germans kept Varus engaged
by fictitious quarrels among themselves, and made him believe
that they felt very happy at the dawn of civilisation among
them. The most profound peace seemed to be established,
and many of the Roman soldiers were away from the camp on
leave of absence.2 While Varus was indulging in this feeling
of security, the tribes of lower Saxony revolted, according to
a preconcerted plan. Varus was induced to march towards
1 His name probably was Armin, and contained the same root as Irmensul.—N.
2 Roman soldiers generally purchased their leave of absence or exemption
from service, just as was formerly done in the German armies, and then received
only a portion of their pay, as was the case in France previously to the revolu-
tion. Many such soldiers may have been wandering about the country.—N.
DESTRUCTION OF VARUS.
163
the country of the insurgents, into which he penetrated a
considerable distance. There were several limites, or wooden
causeways, through the forests and marshes, running from the
Ehine as far as the river Lippe, and through Westphalia to
the river Weser. These roads were similar to the one between
Saint Petersburg and Novgorod and Moscow. Varus was led
by the conspirators to abandon these straight roads, and as he
ventured deeper into the country, the revolt became general,
and the Eomans found themselves outwitted. Varus tried to
retreat and reach the causeway, probably with a view to
defending himself in the fortress of Aliso on the Lippe.3
The question about the exact spot where the battle of Varus
was fought is one of those which, in my opinion, can never be
satisfactorily answered. The only sensible and practical mode
of investigating the matter would be, to examine from what
point a Eoman road may have been made into the country of
the Germans, and I imagine that Cologne was a convenient
point to start from, but the difficulties were pretty nearly the
same everywhere. It is infinitely more difficult to determine
anything upon this point than to trace Hannibal’s passage over
the Alps.
On the first day, Varus was attacked on all sides, and at
once lost a great part of his baggage. It was with the greatest
difficulty that he formed a camp for the night, and fortified
himself. On the following day, he was pressed still harder,
but he continued his march. The terror and confusion in his
columns were so great that in the evening when they were
about to pitch their camp, the soldiers could hardly resist the
attack. Varus was at last quite overcome by the consciousness
of his hopeless situation and his responsibility; and he and
several of his officers put an end to their lives. It was pro-
bably at that moment that Numonius Vala (apparently the
person to whom Horace addressed his epistle4), separated the
cavalry from the infantry, and endeavoured but unsuccessfully,
to escape with his three squadrons (αZαe).s They too were over-
whelmed, just as they deserved to be, for having abandoned
3 Its exact situation is unknown. I think it is not improbable, however, that
it may have been in the neighbourhood of the modern town of Hamm, as some
Iiistonans maintain.—N. 4 i 15.
5 The cavalry of each legion (6000 foot) was called ala, and each ala amounted
to 300 men.—N.
M 2