Tacitus' account of Germanicus' battles of Idistaviso and Angrivarii-True or False?

[Rayven1]

I've been reading about the earl Roman-German conflicts and this account by Tacitus has me puzzled.

Tacitus tells us that Germanicus won great battles against the Germans at the Wester river near Idistaviso and near a bank that seperated the Angrivarii from the Cherusci but to me this does not make any sence. First Tacitus' later accounts keep speaking of Arminius as a unconquered man by the Romans when he faced Marbobodus. If Arminius had been defeated by Germanicus at these battles but managed to escape would'nt Tacitus have spoke about him differently? Secondly, Arminius seems like a man who can size up a situation pretty well as is seen by him allowing the Romans to march through the territory of the Cherusci without fighting them. Arminius knew better than the fight the combined might of the Roman army. Arminius knew he would lose a pitched battle which is why he elected to allow the Romans to do what they wanted while waiting for oppertunities to suprise attack them.

What really has me questioning Tacitus are his references to geographical locations. Tacitus tells us that Germanicus was near the Aliso. (about 3 days from the Weser) Tacitus then tells us that Germanicus had boarded a fleet inorder to travel the Ems which at its closest point is what 5-8 days march to the Weser??.... Looks like he is trying to get into the heart of Germany without being tracked or followed but but why turn a 3 day march into an 8 day march when your going to use the Weser to move your supplies anyway? This looks like a mistake on the part of Tacitus since he speaks about the army arriving at Weser right after he says that they just arrived at the bank of the Ems.. Ok, so maybe Tacitus mixed up the two rivers but then what else did he mix up?

If the Romans had won the two large pitched battles we spoke of earlier would'nt this have show somewhere? Later events do not support such large scale victories.... What do you guys think? Fact or fiction?

BTW: What is up with Florus? Why is his account of Teutoburg Wald different from everyone elses??

[Rayven1]

Sorry for all the type-os and grammer mistakes. I wish I could edit my posts :( . I was so distracted. My bad.

[Rayven1]

ok, I'm not the first to ask this question. I wish I could edit :( ....

There is actually a theory on this by Hans Delbruck. If I had bothered to keep reading it I would have had my answer given.

[caesar44]

hi
i did not hear from modern scholars a major doubts about tacitus history
yes he has his mistakes but he managed to represent the history of the julio claudians quiet well
there are evidence of roman presence in the area
the campaign took place but its outcomes were short lived
about florus , he wrote many years after tacitus , i have noticed that his reports on many episodes are different from others