x Arminius’s German allies struck the Roman column in a series of
hit-and-run ambushes, and a running battle developed that lasted
for several days as the desperate legionaries sought to break out of
the restrictive terrain while under constant attack. In the end, all
three legions were wiped out, making the Battle of the Teutoburg
Forest one of the worst defeats in Roman historyx Those who assert that this battle was decisive claim that as a result
of it, the Romans never conquered Germany as they had Gaul.
Among the cited long-term effects are the preservation of Germanic
culture and languages, including its descendant, English. But it
is extremely unlikely that the Romans would have conquered
Germania or, even if they had, that they would have been successful
in imposing Roman civilization.
o Two hallmarks of Roman civilization were that it was an
urban phenomenon that thrived in cities and that it was a
Mediterranean culture that prospered best along the shores of
that sea.o Occupied by nomadic tribes, Germany lacked not only cities,
but even any modest-sized towns. It had a completely different
climate from the Mediterranean, and the economic system
was based on a separate group of crops and foodstuffs. Gaul,
by contrast, was already urbanized when Caesar arrived and
shared the Mediterranean climate and crops.o Conversely, while the Romans might militarily subdue some
non-olive-growing regions, those tended to be the same ones
that quickly threw off Roman rule or where its culture never
displaced the indigenous one. Therefore, although the Battle of
the Teutoburg Forest was a dramatic event, it did not determine
the cultural future of Central Europe.D-Day (1944)
x The D-Day landings of June 6, 1944, are often numbered among
the decisive battles of history, routinely portrayed as the turning