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Message:: [QUOTE="Tejas, post: 6312539, member: 84905"]By AD 9, the Romans believed that the Germanic tribes were "pacified" and the archaeological finds at Waldgirmes show that they had started to build towns east of the Rhine. Hence, they were setting up a Roman province. The Varus battle changed all that. Town projects and the idea of a new province were abondoned. Indeed, the Roman feared that the Germanic tribes could overran the entire northern borders to Gaul. Had the Cherusci not defeated the Romans, there would have been further battles, but I think the Varian defeat of AD 9 was a unique constellation, which the Germanic tribes further east could not have easily recreated. The Cherusci were led by a Roman officer who knew exactly how the Roman army could be defeated. This Roman officer had the trust of Varus, allowing him to set up an ambush. Realizing this, other tribes buried their mutual grudges and joined forces to beat the Romans.  In short, without the defeat of AD 9, I have little doubt that the Romans would have pushed the border of the Empire to the Elbe and perhaps the Oder River. The  consequences of which are extremely large. The events of AD 9 determined the division of Europe in a Romance south and a Germanic north to this day. In a sense they laid the foundations for a centuries long Franco-German antagonism, which was only overcome with Germany's total defeat in 1945. BestDirk[/QUOTE]