Battle of Idistaviso

The Battle of Idistaviso, sometimes known as a first Battle of Minden or Battle of the Weser River, was fought in 16 AD between Roman legions commanded by Emperor Tiberius' heir and adopted son Germanicus, and an alliance of Germanic tribes commanded by Arminius. The battle marked the end of a three-year series of campaigns by Germanicus in Germania.
The Germanic chief, Arminius, had been instrumental in the organising of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, in which three Roman legions, moving west to winter quarters, were ambushed and annihilated by allied Germanic forces in the deep forests of western Germania. This defeat plagued the Roman psyche and revenge for this defeat, as well as the neutralisation of the threat of Arminius, were the impetus for Germanicus' campaign. In the year before the battle, 15 AD, Germanicus had marched against the Chatti and then against the Cherusci under Arminius. During that campaign, the Romans advanced along the region of the Teutoburg Forest where the legions had been massacred and buried the bones of the Roman soldiers that still lay there. The eagle of the annihilated nineteenth legion was also recovered.

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