With the defeat in the forests of Teutoburg, it’s the whole project of a Roman Germany which collapses like a house of cards and even shakes the very foundation of the new Empire. Such a PR disaster can't remain unadressed and unpunished, but with the loss of lives (and face) involved, the Emperor decides to cut his losses.

The Aftermath

                 

                                                        Arminius showing his people how it's done [Source]

Arminius and the Germanic tribes tried to capitalize as best as possible on the annihilation of the three legions of Varus. All the Roman garrisons which were too slow or could not escape the onslaught of destruction fled to the relative protection of the Rhine and Gaul. Dio Cassius says:

And the barbarians occupied all the strongholds save one, their delay at which prevented them from either crossing the Rhine or invading Gaul. Yet they found themselves unable to reduce this fort, because they did not understand the conduct of sieges, and because the Romans employed numerous archers, who repeatedly repulsed them and destroyed large numbers of them.

Dio Cassius must refer to the camp of Aliso (modern day Haltern), because Velleius Paterculus mentions this in his own history:

The valour of Lucius Caedicius, prefect of the camp, also deserves praise, and of those who, pent up with him at Aliso, were besieged by an immense force of Germans. For, overcoming all their difficulties which want rendered unendurable and the forces of the enemy almost insurmountable, following a design that was carefully considered, and using a vigilance that was ever on the alert, they watched their chance, and with the sword won their way back to their friends.

Those Romans did a great service by managing to put out the flame of rebellion kindled by the disaster of Varus. Arminius tried also to ally with the Marcomanni by appealing directly to their king Maroboduus with a special kind of gift:

The body of Varus, partially burned, was mangled by the enemy in their barbarity; his head was cut off and taken to Maroboduus.

Maroboduus was not impressed and decided to stick to his treaty with the Romans and sent the head of Varus to Rome for proper burial. The tide of the rebellion ebbed back towards the forest of Magna Germania, now free of Roman interference - for the time being.

                                              

                                       The Defeated Varus (2003), by Wilfried Koch, Germany.  [Source]

Give me back my legions!

The news of the disaster was a shock for Augustus. According Suetonius:

In fact, they say that he was so greatly affected that for several months in succession he cut neither his beard nor his hair, and sometimes he would dash his head against a door, crying: "Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!" And he observed the day of the disaster each year as one of sorrow and mourning.

And he was right to feel like that: he had lost 3 legions, more than 20.000 men at the least, and the Germans had captured the standard eagles of gold. It was not the first time Rome had encountered defeat but it was the first under the new regime and Augustus dreaded that it could shake down everything he had so patiently organized. He especially feared a rebellion of Gauls and Germans, and even took the precaution (according Dio Cassius) to send away all Gauls and Germanic people from Rome - such was his paranoia.

                                                                                                               [Source]

Everything was to be reconstructed once again, and he rose a new army and dispatched Tiberius, his adoptive son, the future successor, to deal with the situation, and patch the gaps in the Rhine. However, it was clear that it was not meant to be a war of conquest: Rome was past this point.

               A detail of Arminius' statue in Germany, showing a trampled eagle under Arminius foot. [Source]

Tiberius mends the Roman ego

The arrival of Tiberius (bust on the left) and his army on the Rhine decided Arminius and the Germans to fall back into Germany and to forget any attempt at Gaul itself. 

The choice of Tiberius was an inspired one because he had himself vanquished the Marcomanni a decade earlier, and his presence made sure that the allegiance of the king Maroboduus was holding. Tiberius was free to restore calm along the Rhine frontier, drill his new legion and managed to wrestle some victories over a few tribes, for which he was recalled to Rome to be awarded a triumph and to be definitely confirmed as the successor of Augustus. 

In his stead, the Rhine defense fell under the protection of Caius Julius Caesar - no… not the one you think, but the own son of the Germanicus I spoke in episode 6.2. And the son was eager to show himself equal to the memory of his father and to avenge the Roman honour and punish Arminius!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Previous episodes

ENEMIES OF ROME 6.4 - ARMINIUS - Teutoburg

ENEMIES OF ROME 6.3 - ARMINIUS - The Plot Thickens

ENEMIES OF ROME 6.2 - ARMINIUS - Pax Romana

ENEMIES OF ROME 6.1 - ARMINIUS - Magna Germania

Sources:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/1A*.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/home.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2D*.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/56*.html