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The Rise of Germania


The Battle of Teutoberg: 762 AUC


Chapter I, part I

The tranquility and serenity of Teutoberg Forest had been shattered as the Roman campaign into Germania Magna encroached upon it. Varus had brought his legions, 25,000 strong at least, into the Germans’ forest amidst a violent storm, perhaps one of the greatest follies in military history, and certainly one of the most important. Erminaz’s [1] Germanic army picked away at them throughout the day, surrounding them with superior numbers several times, each time dealing a heavy blow to the Romans’ morale and fighting strength. On the second day of the Roman march into Teutoberg, the Germanic vice would close around Varus. By forcing the Romans to make a night march in order to evade the Germanic forces, Erminaz had guided them into a set of earthen walls and trenches that the Germanics had built to entrap the Romans. With the advantages of terrain, numbers, morale, and the cover provided by the earthworks, the Germans were able to utterly crush Varus’s legions. Nearly every one of the 20,000 remaining Romans was slain; routers were run down by Germanic cavalry, and Varus and most other officers committed suicide. Three Roman Aquilae were taken by the Germanics, to whom they would be of even greater symbolic importance than they were to the Romans. The Germanics roared in praise of their commander, Erminaz, the man who would father a nation.

[1] Erminaz was the most likely the real name of Arminius, and TTL’s name for him

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So I've been lurking for a while, all the while working on this at an extremely lethargic pace, and finally decided to post it and let you all shred it to bits without mercy. Sorry if this first post isn't very "alternate," but I'll post another update or two today that'll show the differences a bit more. The basic PoD is "what if Arminus/Erminaz succeeded at uniting the Germanic tribes?"
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