U of Minnesota professor investigates ancient battlefield

In the year 9 CE, three Roman legions, 15,000 troops in total, were attacked and destroyed by German tribespeople in the Teutoberg Forest. Despite its relatively recent discovery, this battlefield is on its way to becoming the best-researched ancient battle site in the world, according to Peter S. Wells.

In his Feb. 3 lecture, Wells, a professor at the University of Minnesota, informed students of the details of this particular military encounter, as well as some techniques used in analysing ancient battlefields. The author of The Battle That Stopped Rome, Wells received his BA and PhD from Harvard University, and his MA from the University of Tübingen. He was introduced as “one of the real giants of Roman archaeology.”

The cause of the ancient defeat: underestimation of other cultural groups, in particular the cultures of barbarian groups, according to Wells, who explained the lesson to be learned.