[7][8] That defeat plagued the Roman psyche, and revenge and the neutralisation of the threat of Arminius were the impetus for Germanicus' campaign.
[11] Before the battle of Idistaviso, which took place a few days or weeks earlier, Germanicus had eight legions with auxiliary troops: among these, according to Tacitus, are the Germanic allies such as the Batavi (mainly as cavalry),[12] Germanic contingents such as the Chauci, and Celtic contingents such as Raeti, Vindelici and Gauls, fought on the Roman side.
If one calculates the number of warriors in the coalition using the data provided by Günter Stangl for the individual tribes, one gets from 40,000 to about 75,000.
[16] The two battles of Idistaviso ended positively for the Roman army; the legions of Varus destroyed in Teutoburg were avenged and Germanicus also managed to recover two of the three eagles lost by the Romans in the defeat, but in reality Germanicus' campaign did not obtain decisive results.
According to other opinions, Germanicus was unable to remain permanently, despite his victories, east of the Rhine; in addition, his fleet had suffered heavy losses in a storm.
[17] Tiberius considered that it was useless and wasteful to try again to conquer Germany as far as the Elbe river and therefore he recalled Germanicus; the emperor also believed that internal discords between the Germanic peoples would safeguard the integrity of the imperial borders on the Rhine better than a long and costly war of conquest.