Battle of the Weser River

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of the Weser River
partof=the Roman-Germanic wars


caption=
battle_name=Battle of the Weser River
date=16
place=On the Weser River
result=Minor Roman victory
combatant1=Roman Empire
combatant2=Germanic tribes
commander1=Germanicus
commander2=Arminius
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

The Battle of the Weser River, sometimes known as a first Battle of Minden, was fought in 16 A.D. between Roman legions commanded by Emperor Tiberius' heir and adopted son Germanicus, and an alliance of Germanic tribes commanded by Arminius.

Ancient sources identify the location as "Idistaviso", but the precise location is unknown, save that it was on the right side of the Weser River, somewhere up between the cities of Minden and Hameln of present-day Germany. The battle marked the end of a three-year campaign by Germanicus to restore the Roman frontier at the Elbe, lost in 9 A.D.. The Germanic tribes generally avoided open large-scale combat, but at this battle Germanicus was finally able to force them into a major engagement. Both sides suffered severe losses, but the Romans were victorious, even though Arminius himself and Inviomerus, his uncle manage to escape with the bulk of their army intact. According to Tacitus with the help of Chauci, who fought on the Roman side as auxiliaries.

Germanicus once again had to withdraw behind the Rhine for the winter. Tiberius saw no point in continuing the costly military campaigns in northern Germania and ordered Germanicus to end his campaign and return to Rome. After this, Rome never again made a serious effort to conquer Germania beyond the Rhine River.

Trivia

In Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita", the procurator of Iudaea, Pontius Pilate, states that he had fought in this battle.