20.
The shape of mountains in this region was irregular, their slopes being deeply cleft by ravines, while the trees grew closely together to a great height. In consequence the Romans, even before the enemy fell upon them, were hard pressed by the neccessity of felling trees, clearing the tracks and bridging the difficult stretches where ever neccessary on their line of march. They had with them many waggons and pack animals, as they would for a journey in peace-time; they were even accompanied by women and children and a large retinue of servants, all these being factors which caused them to advance in scattered groups.
Meanwhile a violent downpour and storm developed, so that the column was strung out even further; this also caused the ground around the tree-roots and the felled trunks to become slippery, making movement very dangerous, and the tops of trees to break off and crash down upon them creating great confusion. While the Romans were struggling against the elements, the barbarians suddenly surrounded them on all sides at once, stealing through the densest thickets, as they were familiar with the paths. At first they hurled their spears at a distance, but as nobody attacked them in return and many were wounded, the Germans closed in to shorter range; for their part the Roman troops were not advancing in any regular formation, but were interspersed at random with the waggons and the non-combatants. This meant that they could not easily concentrate their strength at any point, and since they were everywhere overwhelmed by their opponents, they suffered many casualties and were quite unable to counter-attack.
21.
Accordingly they pitched camp on the spot after taking possession of a suitable place, so far as one could be found on wooded and mountainous ground; afterwards they either burned or abandoned most of their waggons and everything else that was not absolutely indispensable to them. The next day they marched on in somewhat better order and even broke out into open country, though they could not avoid suffering casualties. Moving on from there they re-entered the woods, where they fought back against their assailants, but suffered their heaviest losses in this action. To enable the cavalry and infantry to make a combined charge against the enemy they had to form up in a narrow space, and so frequently collided with each other and with the trees.
The fourth day saw them still on the move, and again they experienced heavy rain and violent winds, which prevented them from advancing or even finding a firm foothold and made it impossible to wield their weapons. They could neither draw their bows nor hurl their javelins to any effect, nor even make use of their shields, which were completely sodden with rain. Their opponents, on the other hand, were for the most part lightly armed, and so could approach and retire without difficulty, and suffered far less from the weather.
Besides this the enemy's numbers had been greatly reinforced, since may of those who had at first hesitated now joined the battle in the hope of taking plunder. Their increased numbers made is easier to encircle and strike down the Romans, whose ranks by contrast had shrunk, since they had lost many men in the earlier fighting. And so Varus and all the senior officers, fearing that they would either be taken alive or slaughtered by their bitterest enemies - for they had already been wounded - nerved themselves for the dreaded but unavoidable act, and took their own lives.
. I'm afraid to dl the demo though... i wanna wait and get the full experience at once.