The Teutoberg Forest Disaster

One of the lowest points of Augustus' term at the helm of Rome was the German disaster in the Teutoberg Forest. The disaster occurred under the Roman Varus who has been portrayed as a bungler, which is puzzling since it would seem odd for Augustus to have appointed an incompetent governor to an area as prone to revolt as Germania.

A new account of this massacre, Rome's Greatest Defeat, by Bread and Circuses blogger Adrian Murdoch, disputes this evaluation of Varus and his book will be, according to Jona Lendering (reviewer for Bryn Mawr Classical Review), the definitive work in English on the topic. See Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2006.06.30 Adrian Murdoch, Rome's Greatest Defeat. Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest.

Forum co-host and Roman History Books and More blogger Irene Hahn has contributed a review of Murdoch's book for this site, Adrian Murdoch's Rome's Greatest Defeat : Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest, in which she notes "Mr. Murdoch, a Scottish journalist and historian, has packed an enormous amount of research and analysis into a mere 200 pages."