The Roman Empire did, after all, grind to a halt for the first time in its history two thousand years ago today.

Yes, the Rhine probably was a more defensible and prosperous border for the empire than the Elbe. And yes, even though Germanic tribes did destroy three full legions and 15,000 soldiers somewhere north of modern Osnabrück from September 9 to 11 in AD 9, their descendants didn’t sack Rome itself until 410.

And yeah, no one really gets references to classical history today for that matter either, I guess.

Still. Who knows how much would be different if Quintilius Varus had kept his legions?