16 AD · Near the Weser, Germania Theater
16 AD
Arminius regrouped after Idistaviso and prepared a final defensive position behind the Angrivarian Wall — a massive earthwork rampart stretching between forest and river that channeled any Roman advance into a killing ground. Germanicus's frontal assault suffered heavily as the Romans fought up the embankment against defenders who rolled boulders and hurled javelins from the high ground. Roman artillery was brought forward and swept the rampart with concentrated fire, creating gaps through which the infantry finally broke. Arminius again escaped. In the aftermath, Tiberius recalled Germanicus to Rome — ostensibly to celebrate a triumph, in reality to end a campaign that was bleeding the empire for marginal gains.
Commanders