The Lost Legions of Varus

A 2001 Channel 4 History Documentary narrated by Jim Carter.

In the autumn of 9 AD Roman forces occupying Northern Germany were lured into a death trap. Over 20,000 of the world's most feared troops, their families, even their animals, were slaughtered by Iron Age tribes. The bloody massacre defined forever the limits of Roman expansion and left Europe fatefully divided, yet for almost 2,000 years the exact site of this disaster was only guessed at. Then, in 1987, a British soldier made a find that suggested the true whereabouts of the 'Battle of Teutoburg'. Today a grim picture of deception, ambush and ritual slaughter is beginning to emerge.

The Lost Legions of Varus explores the flaws in Roman imperial policy, as well as the fralities of the human condition – factors both relevant in understanding the reasons behind the massacre in the Teutoberg forest.

Historian and experts appearing in this film are: Dr. Frank Berger (Coin Specialist), Major Tony Clunn, Birgit Großkopf (Forensic Anthropologist), Professor Malcolm Todd, Professor Siegmar von Schnurbein, Dr. Susanne Wilbers-Rost, Derek Williams (Writer and Historian).