Tony Clunn\'s book

[Goffredo]

I am about half way thru reading<br>
"In quest of the lost Legions, the Varusschlacht"<br>
by Tony Clunn, Minerva Press 1999, ISBN 0 75411 068 0<br>
<br>
Has anyone read it? From what I have read so far I warmly suggest you get the book. It is an interesting mix of dairies of the author, during the digs and detective work that led up to the discovery of a major battle at Kalkriese, and a fictional story telling of the Varus-Arminius battle, interspersed with effectively placed quotations from Tacitus and Cassius Dio. So far I like the book although it is frustrating that there are very few figures and maps. Indeed the author tells much of his field work and metal detector explorations describing hills, valleys, knolls and moors but it is difficult and somewhat tedious after the first series of such passages to continue to try imagine the scenery without at least a decent map. The maps included in the figure panels are almost useless if only because they are reproduced very poorly. In particular the movements of the legions could have been shown more effectively with only a little more effort (I think). I hope a future edition - maybe with an update of the finds and conclusions - can correct these obvious defects. The fictional parts get more subtantial and longer as the book progresses. I find them exciting and very plausible, especially well written in the descriptions of scenes. The dialogue is essential and doesn't distract too much from what was probably the author's real goal: reconstructing "atmospheres" and telling a sequence of things that probably happened rather than tyring to re-create personalities (those proposed are the standard ones but, as Goldsworthy says a few times in his Punics, without any sources to say otherwise it is best to stick to the only ones we have). Overall the one thing I am liking very much is the feeling that there is much work yet to be done to reconstruct what really happened during the roman occupation and the final confrontation.<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/ugoffredo.showPublicProfile?language=EN>goffredo</A> at: 8/24/01 8:51:32 pm<br></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi Goffredo,<br>
I have been there this summer, bought and read the book. On the whole my feelings are the same as yours. I liked it, though sometimes I got the idea that he knows a lot about the Varusslacht, but that his context knowledge is a bit lacking and that he's carried away by his 'romantic' ideas about reconstructing the battle fictionally.<br>
<p>Greets<BR>
<BR>
Jasper</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have the book, and have read it. It's a good book if not a bit long-winded. <p></p><i></i>

[Thiudareiks Flavius]

I only got my copy of Clunn's book via Amazon recently and intend to put up a full review of it on 'Clades Variana' soon. In the meantime I'll say that I enjoyed it immensely, though I agree that some more maps and diagrams would have helped a lot.<br>
<br>
I can't say I was as enthusiastic about the fictional sections however. Major Clunn non-fiction style is clear and articulate, but I'm afraid I found his fictional style rather melodramatic and over-dramatic. He also seems to be someone who has a good knowledge of the Roman side of this story, but whose grasp of the early Germanics owes more to Romantic lithographs and cliches than archaeology and history. I was having trouble with the fictional sections, but they became really hard work for me when I got to the bit about Arminius' <b> 'winged helmet'</b>. No bloody horned helmets, thank God, but when will this nonsense about Germanics and/or Vikings in Wagnerian winged helmets die?!!<br>
<br>
Enough of my ranting - the archaeological detective story Clunn tells makes this book worth the effort.<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
<p>Tim O'Neill / Thiudareiks Flavius<BR>
<P>
Visit Clades Variana - Home of the Varus Film Project<br>

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[Daniel S Peterson]

It is patently absurd for anyone to believe that the Kalkriese site and its "shoebox-full" collection of artifacts represents the detruction site of three Roman legions and attendant auxillaries, camp followers etc. All Tony has found was one of the many, many Roman outposts in "Free Germany" mentioned by Tacitus that were overrun in the wake of the Varus disaster. The true site of the demise of the three legions took place further east and confirmed by scattered Augustan date military equipment being found on a wide front clearly more representative of a force of several thousand men deployed in march column. It is only the draconian German attitude towards private metal detectorists, (who wish to contiue metal detecting, and receive compensation for their efforts), that the true discoverers have not publisized their finds. If the Teutoberg disaster had taken place in Britain, where detectorists and achaeologists enjoy a better working relation, and the Government pays for detector finds it wants, instead of confiscating them, this battlefield would be already known. In all countries in which the government attempts to outlaw the "amateur" archaelogist/detectorists, only a small fraction of ground finds are ever published, thus valuable information and significant artifacts will be forever lost, as the finders must remain "underground" or face prosecution. A more enlightened government would "harness" these forces to work for them by establishing a more liberal policy towards metal detector users. . <p></p><i></i>

[JRSCline]

Welcome Dan! How's the museum? Give Steve my best.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>