Rome's greatest defeat in the Teutoburg Forest (Germany)

In 9 CE an anti-Roman alliance of Germanic people led by the Cherusci chief Arminius defeated a Roman army led by Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. It is considered to be Rome's greatest defeat, as one eighth of Rome's army was destroyed. After the battle the Roman Empire never again attempted to conquer Germanic territory east of the Rhine River.

In the 19th century Arminius became a symbol of German unity and freedom. The Hermannsdenkmal in the Teutoburg Forest was built between 1838 and 1875 by Ernst von Bandel. With 54m is was until 1886 the biggest statue in the World.