Governor of Germania
Between 10 BC and 6 AD, Tiberius, his brother Drusus, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and Germanicus conducted long campaigns in Germania, the area north of the upper Danube and east of the Rhine, in an attempt at achieving a further major expansion of the Roman Empire together with a shortening of its frontier line. They subdued several Germanic tribes, such as the Cherusci. In 6 AD, Tiberius declared Germania pacified, and Varus was appointed to govern it. Tiberius, who would later rule as emperor, left the region to suppress the Great Illyrian Revolt. Augustus made Publius Quinctilius Varus the first "officially appointed" governor of the newly created Roman province of Germania in 7 AD.
In September of 9 AD, Varus was preparing to leave his summer headquarters in Vetera (modern day Xanten, Germany) and march three legions – the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth – to Moguntiacum (modern day Mainz). News arrived from the Germanic prince Arminius, a Roman citizen and leader of an auxiliary cavalry unit, of a growing revolt in an area of the Rhine to the west. Ignoring a warning from Segestes not to trust Arminius, Varus followed Arminius' lead. Segestes and Arminius had publicly quarrelled, and so Varus had reasonable doubt regarding the accusations against Arminius.
Not only was Varus' trust in Arminius a terrible misjudgement, but Varus compounded it by placing his legions in a position where their fighting strengths would be minimized and those of the Germanic tribesmen maximized, as he expected no ambush and very little trouble in intimidating the rebels. Arminius and the Cherusci, along with other allies, had skillfully laid an ambush, and in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in September at Kalkriese (north of modern Osnabrück), the Romans marched right into it.
The heavily forested and swampy terrain made the infantry manoeuvres of the legions impossible to execute and allowed the Germanic coalition to defeat the legions in detail. On the third day of fighting, Germanic fighters overwhelmed the Roman troops at Kalkriese Hill, north of Osnabrück. Accounts of the defeat are scarce, due to the totality of the defeat, but the Roman historian Velleius Paterculus testifies that some Roman cavalrymen abandoned the infantry and fled towards the Rhine, but were intercepted by Germanic tribesmen and killed. Varus himself, upon seeing all hope was lost, took his own life by falling on his sword. Arminius cut off Varus' head and sent it to Bohemia as a present to Maroboduus of the Marcomanni, the other most important Germanic leader, whom Arminius hoped to coax into an anti-Roman military alliance, but Marboduus declined the offer and sent the head on to Rome for a proper burial.
Some captured Roman soldiers were caged and burned alive; others were enslaved or ransomed. The Roman historians Tacitus and Florus report that the victorious Germanic tribes tortured and sacrificed captive Roman officers to their gods on altars that could still be seen years later. The Roman army later recovered the lost legions' eagles, one each under Germanicus in 15 AD, 16 AD, and 42 AD.
Due to the shame and the ill luck thought to be created by the Roman defeat, the XVII, XVIII and XIX legions never again appeared in the Roman Army's order of battle. The loss at the Teutoburg Forest was keenly felt by Augustus in his remaining years. According to the biographer Suetonius, upon hearing the news, Augustus tore his clothes, refused to cut his hair for months and, for years afterwards, was heard, upon occasion, to yell, "Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!" (Quintili Vare, legiones redde!). Roman historians referred to the battle as the clades Variana ("Varian disaster").
Gibbon describes Augustus' reaction to the defeat as one of the few times the normally stoic ruler lost his composure. Varus' political legacy in Rome was destroyed and the government blamed him for the defeat. His son's (the younger Varus) chances for a political career were ruined. Tiberius himself fell under severe criticism for recommending Varus as the governor of Germania. Tiberius, according to Gaius Stern, was forced to sacrifice his friend and former brother-in-law to save his career. Furthermore, Varus himself had been one of the figures on the Ara Pacis, but the figure is lost today.
Stern has proposed that common citizens vandalized the Ara Pacis by damaging Varus in anger over their lost loved ones, leaving the regime, which had blamed Varus, uncertain as to whether or not to fix the damage. Approximately 40 years after Varus' death, a general under Claudius, Pomponius Secundus, raided Germania and by chance rescued a few POWs from Varus' army. Claudius welcomed them home after their long captivity, their stories arousing much pity.
