You Shall Not Pass – Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD

It was a story almost lost to history; the battle that arrested the expansion of the Roman empire. In the dark woods of Germany, three Roman legions were destroyed by German tribesman. There in the north, by cunning and ambush, the German tribes made the Rhine River the boundary of the Roman empire. On this battlefield, ten percent of the Roman army lay dead or sacrificed to the German gods. They lay exposed for six years until another Roman army came and buried them. The heads of fallen soldiers were nailed to the trees and, in the sacred groves, the altars of sacrifice confronted the Romans with their defeat. Rome was halted and the frontier established.

The day in September 9 AD is unknown. The most important Roman festival, Ludi Romani, was September 4 through September 19 and was a festival to Jupiter on the return of the Roman armies from their summer campaigns. We know that General Varus expected to winter in Cologne and planned to arrive in the camp in plenty of time before the Festival of the October Horse on October 15, the end of military campaigning. The movement of the Romans and the camp followers was expected to take a little more than a week but 3-4 days in Varus was called north by Arminius to put down a revolt. It was on the second day north that the army was ambushed. The battle continued for another two days until the entire army was destroyed. Assuming Arminius, known to the Germans as Hermann, was ready to betray the Romans using three days plus two from the end of the festival is the best probable guess on the day of the ambush.

The Romans began moving at dawn and would continue each day until midday, making camp before continuing the next day. They could travel 15-18 miles a day. The final ambush happened at a pinched narrow track between a bog and hill. The Germans had built walls along the track. Modern excavations have found battle debris spread over 15 miles.

Without further source finds, determining the date of the battle is lost but the existing sources provide clues. The most likely period is last part of September. The Romans battle standard is the eagle, one of the symbols of Scorpio, and they are prominent in this story. We know that the standard bearer was cut down and a second was cut down that took his place. All three eagles were lost and the Romans later recovered two of them. Much later, they were able to recover the third. Since this was an ambush and the Roman line was already spread out, it stands that it was several hours into their days march. Lining up the Descendant with the Taurus Uranus seemed to be a close approximation of what we know of the story. Then putting in the asteroids provide further clues; unexpectedly Arminius (asteroid Hermann) is conjunct the Midheaven. This also creates a reverse Thor’s Hammer with the release point at the asteroid Hermann.

Saturn sets boundaries. For the entire month of September, Saturn was in Libra. The Libra zodiac sign is about partnership between equals. Rome was unequaled until this moment but the boundary established at the Rhine River allowed Germanic ideals to survive. It would be Germanic tribesman, whose ancestral home lay near the Danube, that would sack Rome 400 years later. On the field of battle, the Germans constructed walls. Archeological digs have shown the Romans assaulted these walls and many fell there but the walls held protecting the tribesmen. You shall not pass. The Romans, represented by Jupiter conjunct the north node, were consumed and the boundary between the Roman and Germanic orders was produced at the Capricorn south node. Capricorn stands resolute between Sagittarian expansion, the Romans, and Aquarian collectivism, the Germanic tribes.