Jason R. Abdale - Four Days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg

First published in the United States by

Trafford Publishing (Bloomington, Indiana) in 2013

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by

Pen & Sword Military

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Jason R. Abdale 2016

ISBN: 978 1 47386 085 8

PDF ISBN: 978 1 47386 088 9

EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47386 087 2

PRC ISBN: 978 1 47386 086 5

The right of Jason R. Abdale to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Chronology of Events

In late September of 9 AD, a four-day long battle raged in what is now northwestern Germany. The military of the Roman Empire, the strongest civilization in Europe, was pitted against the native warriors of the North. After years of being defeated on the battlefield by Romes professionals, the Germanic tribes scored their first great victory on their own soil. In the end, the 17th, 18th, and 19th Legions would be no more. This battle would become an event engraved on the German national consciousness for years to come, and its leader, the heroic Arminius, would be the personification of all that was the wild northern frontier and its spirit of freedom.

I first became aware of this battle when I saw a documentary on the History Channel many years ago called The Lost Legions of Varus . Ever since then, Ive been interested in this battle and the various persons involved in it. Several books have been written on this subject within the past ten years, both historical and fictional, some good and others poor. One thing that is noticeably different about my book in contrast to the others is the mere title. It is sub-titled The Battle of Teutoburg as opposed to the more traditional The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . I did this to resolve an ongoing debate regarding the correct naming of the battle, stating that I believe the entire area was known as Teutoburg in ancient times, and that this name didnt specifically apply to just the forest or the mountain pass. I explain this viewpoint in more detail in the chapter on the battle itself.

I wrote this book in the summer of 2009, inspired by the fact that the year marked the 2,000th anniversary of the battle. During the course of researching this book, I discovered that the Battle of Teutoburg and the events surrounding it were not isolated. In fact, there were several examples of similar circumstances happening between Rome and the various peoples (especially the Germans) that it was in contact with during the twenty years preceding the battles date the Germans destruction of a Roman military unit and the loss of its eagle, and Romes revenge campaign afterwards; the German ambush and near massacre of a Roman column in the forest; the sudden uprising of a supposedly pacified population and the catching of the Romans completely off guard. The Romans should have anticipated something like this would happen, since it had happened several times in the recent past. Why they failed to take precautions isnt clear. As a result, the Romans lost 10,000 men in a four-day battle.

The first edition of this book was published by Trafford Publishing in May 2013 on my birthday, making it the best birthday present ever. Since then, I have received mostly favorable reviews. One professional historian said that he enjoyed my analysis of Germanic tribal culture, and was also pleased that I mentioned recent discoveries made in the area. I was also happy to see that my book was referenced in several internet articles, which made me feel like I was now a genuine historian. In late 2014, Four Days in September was given a positive review by The US Review of Books, which classified my book as recommended reading a rarely-applied rating, indicating the books worth. During the same time, I was awarded Trafford Publishings Gold Seal of Literary Excellence.