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[Beteja ne pyllin Teutoburg; Perandoria kunder Konfederates -

Battle of Teutoburg Forest; Empire vs Confederacy] English | Page 8

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e vitin e 9 te e.s. gjenerali romak Publius Quinctilius Varus, ne

krye te nje force perbere prej tre legjionesh (gjithsej 15.000 burra),

3.000 forcash ndihmese te crregullta dhe 1500 kaloresish kaloi

kufirin e atehershem midis Perandorise Romake dhe territoreve te fiseve

gjermanike dhe marshoi ne pyllin Teutoburg. Aty ishin fshehur trupat e

pese fiseve te ndryshme gjermanike, te udhehequra nga Arminiusi ose

Hermani - emri i tij i vertete gjerman.

Beteja e pyllit te Teutoburgut ka qene ne aspektin ushtarak nje nder

disfatat me te medha te Perandorise Romake dhe kishte disa arsye per

kete. Ne rradhe te pare, ne krye te legjoneve XVII, XVIII dhe XIX u

vendos nga Augusti nje njeri si Varusi qe nuk kishte asnje pervoje me

punet e ushtrise, por ishte nje burokrat i thjeshte i administrates. Vune

dike me aq pak eksperience pasi nenvleresuan shume gjera ne lidhje me

rajonin e Germanias; mendonin qe ishte romanizuar mjaftueshem dhe qe

ekspedita ushtarake do te ishte vetem nje formalitet; pra te conin

ushtaret aty dhe te konsolidonin pushtetin qe mendonin se kishin.

Pikerisht ne saje te padijes ushtarake te Varusit dhe besimit te tij te

verber ne aleatet te tij gjermanike si Arminiusi bene qe ai t'i injoronte

zerat qe i shihnin keta me dyshim.

Me 8 shtator te vitit 9 e.s. ushtria romake u fut ne pyjet te panjohura

te Renit vetem duke u bazuar mbi udhezimet e vendasve gjerman: rruga

ne te cilen marshuan legjonet romake ishte shume e ngushte dhe me

pyje te dendura, perpos kesaj koha ishte e zymte me reshie shiu dhe

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mjegull. Romaket nuk i njihnin mire keto toka, dhe e lane udheheqjen e

marshimit ne duart e gjermaneve te cilet i futen ne kurth. Sulmi i pare

i gjermanikeve qe kishin vene prite tek pylli filloi me nje bresher

shigjetash dhe shtizash hedhese. Romaket as nuk reaguan dot ne ato

kushte, dhe duke pare pasivitetin e tyre, gjermaniket sulmuan me furi.

Varusi u tmerrua dhe u arratis bashke me gjysmen e ushtrise ne nje

vendpushim ne nje koder mbi pyllin, nga ku shpresonin te pakten te

mberrinin ne bazen me te afert ushtarake. Qe aty mund te merrnin

perforcime. Por Arminiusi, duke ditur se romakeve s'duhej t'i jepte kohe

per tu tu riorganizuar, dha urdher per nje sulm te dyte, ku e ndau

ushtrine armike ne segmente qe te mos lejonte bashkepunimin midis

pjeseve te ndryshme.

Ne kete situate, ata romake qe munden, ia mbathen nga tmerri. Nje

pjese e tyre ra ne nje kurth te pergatitur nga gjermaniket ne formen e

nje grope, dhe aty pati nje kasaphane makaber. Ata pak qe i mbijetuan

kasaphanes u torturuan, u skllaveruan ose iu flijuan zotave gjermanike.

Pati shume shfaqje burracakerie nga ushtaret romake, qe i lane shoket

ne kuptimin e plote te fjales ne balte. Shume oficere, duke pare se si

po silleshin ushtaret e tyre, vrane veten sipas dokut te nderit romak.

Shqiponjat te tre legjoneve u kapen nga gjermanet dhe ky ishte kulmi i

cnderimit per ushtrine romake. Humbjet romake ishin gjiganteske; rreth

16.000 ushtare romake mendohet te jene vrare. Kjo ishte nje nga humbjet

me fatale te Perandorise Romake, fuqise me te madhe te kohes se saj.

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Perandoria Romake konsiderohet nga shume si nje nga shtyllat

themeluese te civilizimit evropian. Pavaresisht konflikteve midis ilireve

dhe romakeve, dhe sundimin shpeshhere tiranik te romakeve mbi iliret,

prape se prape, ndiejme nje respekt per kete fuqi ushtarake qe Shqiperia,

te pakten ne disa aspekte, do te ishte mire ta imitonte. Por ne kete rast,

nuk kemi se si te mos marrim krahun e fiseve gjermanike dhe deshires

se tyre per liri, dhe si shqiptare, eshte e pamundur te mos ndiesh simpati

per Arminiusin, jeta e te cilit ka shume paralele me ate te Gjergj Kastriot

Skenderbeut.

Babai i heroit gjermanik, mbreti Sigimer, u mposht dhe u be vasal i

romakeve. Qe Sigimeri te mos rebelohej, romaket i moren dy djemte e

tij peng, njeri me emrin Flavius - emri gjerman i ketij i panjohur - dhe

tjetri Hermanni, qe romaket e therrisnin Arminius; kjo histori jo fort

ndryshe nga ajo e Gjon Kastriotit dhe kater bijeve te tij qe u moren

peng. Arminiusi tregoi heret talent ushtarak, dhe u ngjit shpejt ne rangjet

e ushtrise romake. Ai u shpall qytetar romak - arritje e madhe ne ate

kohe, ndryshe nga sot, ky behesh qytetar i nje shteti qe nuk i perket

vetem se ke plotesuar disa broshura edhe dokumenta - dhe me vone e

pranuan tek urdheri ekuestrian, kasta luftetare kalorsiake e Perandorise.

Edhe aty u dallua mes gjithe kaloresve te tjere, dhe u mor nen hyqmin

e gjeneralit Varus. Pra, ngjashem me Skenderbeun, qe u dallua per

talentin e tij ushtarak ne Perandorine Osmane, u ngjit ne hierarki, dhe

u be nje nga te besuarit e Sulltanit.

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Nderkohe qe po ngjiste hierarkine romake, Arminiusi mbajti kontakt me

vendlindjen e tij, dhe pergatiti nje aleance prej pese fisesh gjermanike

per t'i bere balle ekspansionit romak. Edhe Skenderbeu duhet te kete

patur kontakte me princat shqiptare, ndryshe ardhja e tij ne Shqiperi

nuk do te kishte shkuar aq fjolle. Ashtu si Skenderbeu me osmanet, edhe

Arminiusi perdori dijen e tij mbi ushtrine romake dhe taktikat guerrile

per te fituar kunder tyre. Sic mund te shihet, paralelet jane aq te shumta

sa qe eshte gati e pabesueshme.

Beteja e Teutoburgut tregon edhe dy modalitete te ndryshme te shpirtit

evropian qe i kundervihen njeri-tjetrit: shpirti i Perandorise dhe shpirti

i Konfederates. Shpirti i Perandorise eshte ai qe mundeson ekspansionin

politik, kulturor, fetar dhe deri diku gjenetik. Mundeson arritjen e majave

kulturore, artistike dhe shkencore. Edhe pse eshte e destinuar te bjere,

Perandoria mbahet mend per qindra, apo edhe mijera vite pas fundit te

saj dhe respektohet aq shume nga shtetet pasardhese saqe pushon se

qeni vetem nje epoke apo fakt historik, por behet nje ideal.

Por te ligat e Perandorise jane gjithashtu te shumta. Imponimi i nje

kulture mbi kulturat e tjera shpesh here do te thote shkaterrimin e

ketyre te fundit. Popujt e pushtuar shpeshhere harrojne se kush jane,

dhe i pershtaten aq shume Perandorise sa qe harrojne origjinen dhe

paraardhesit e tyre. Sa i perket etnise qe themeloi Perandorine dhe

mundesoi arritjen e majave, ajo shpeshhere verbohet nga vete shkelqesia

e arritjeve te tyre, dhe nuk shikon se si popujt e pushtuar vershojne ne

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qytetet e tyre, duke kerkuar pune, duke i marre parate, duke e ndare

token e etnise Perandorake ashtu sikur te ishin ata pushtuesit.

Konfederatat perbehen nga nje grup fisesh te ngjashem me njeri-tjetrin

ne rrace, kulture dhe gjuhe, qe hyjne vullnetarisht ne nje aleance. Shpirti

i Konfederates eshte shpirt me i lire. Ruan kulturen dhe racen ne format

e tyre me te pastra dhe primordiale dhe cdo fis mban nen-kulturen

vetjake me krenari dhe xhelozi. Konfederatat kane nje hierarki, po

hierarkite e tyre jane me meritokratike se ato te Perandorise, ku

shpeshhere krijohen ne baze te pasurise materiale. Aleancat e

Konfederates nuk jane te qendrueshme ama; nuk ndodh rralle qe nje fis,

i pakenaqur me Konfederaten, e le ate, duke iu bashkuar nje Konfederate

tjeter apo edhe Perandorise. Ekspansioni i Konfederates nuk eshte nje

perpjekje e perbashket, po ndodh ne forme valesh; fis pas fisi, tribu pas

tribuje dhe pushtohet toka e re.

Por Konfederatat nuk mundesojne arritje te medha shkencore e kulturore.

Pasi Konfederatat shperbehen, kulturat e tyre nuk mbahen mend dhe nuk

admirohen jashte rretheve te historianeve dhe antropologeve te epokave

qe vijojne. Edhe pse eshte e mundur qe keto kultura te ruhen, ato ruhen

gati per inertsi, dhe jo per shkak te nje dijenie dhe perpjekjeje aktive

te atyre qe e kane kete kulture. Per shumicen e historise se saj, Shqiperia

ka qene tek kategoria e Konfederates.

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Kryqezimi mes Perandorise dhe Konfederates eshte shteti etnik apo Etno-

shteti. Etno-shteti i mbledh gjithe fiset a fraksionet a qytet-shtetet e

ngjashme karakteristikat e lartpermendura dhe i fut te gjithe ne nje

shtet qe eshte te pakten disi i centralizuar. Ka nje standardizim te

pjesshem apo te plote te gjuhes dhe kultures, dhe keto fise lene pas

identitetin e izoluar fisnor dhe marrin identitetin qe gjithe fiset e kane

te perbashket. Etno-shteti eshte ne gjendje te arrije majat kulturore e

shkencore te Perandorise pa lejuar te huaj raciale ne territorin e tij.

Etno-shteti ka avantazhet e Perandorise dhe Konfederates.

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(English)

n the year 9 AD, the Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus led a

large force made up of three legions (15.000 men), 3000 auxilliaries

and 1500 cavalry past the former border between the Roman Empire

and Germania and marched into Teutoburg Forest. There were the

Germanic warriors hidden, from five different tribes, and they were led

by Arminius, or Herman - this being his real Germanic name.

The battle of Teutoburg forest was one of the biggest military defeats

Rome ever experienced. One reason for this was that it was Varus

who lead the Legions XVII, XVIII AND XIX, a mere bureaucrat and

politician with little military experience. Such an inexperienced person

was sent to Germania because they underestimated the expected

German resistance; they thought they had been sufficiently Romanized

and that the campaign would be a mere formality; ergo with the mere

presence of Roman troops in there, the locals would accept the Roman

dominion. Exactly due to Varus' ignorance and his blind faith in his

German auxilliaries and allies made him ignore the rumours in his

army that the Germans could not be trusted.

On the 8th of September on 9 AD, the Roman army entered in the then

unknown forests of the Rhine based only on the guide of the local

Germanics: the road in which the legions marches was narrow and

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surrounded by dense forests, aside from that the weather was bad and

foggy. The Romans did not know these lands and they let themselves

be lead by their German guides who led the to a trap. The first attack

of the Germanic ambush came in the form of arrow-fire and javelin-

fire. The Romans could not even react in those conditions, and seeing

their passivity, the Germans initiated a fierce attack. Varus fled with

half his army in a hilly clearing that overlooked the forest. He hoped

to reach a nearby Roman fortress and get reinforcements from there.

But Arminius, knowin that the Romans should not be given time to

regroup, ordered a second attack, where he divided the enemy army

into segments, preventing their cooperation with one another. They

were destroyed one by one.

In this situation, all the Romans that could flee, fled. A good part of

them fell into a hole that the Germans had prepared as a trap, and

they were brutally massacred. Those that survived were tortured,

enslaved or sacrificed to the Germanic gods. A lot of Romans showed

cowardice by abandoning their comrades. Many officers, seeing how

their soldiers behaved, killed themselves according to Roman honour.

The eagles of the three legions were captured and this was the worst

dishonour for the Roman army. The losses were massive; around

16.000 Romans is thought to have died. This was one of the most fatal

defeats of the Roman Empire, the biggest military power of its time.

The Roman empire is considered by many to be one of the pillars of

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European identity. Despite the many Illyrian-Roman conflicts, we

cannot help but respect this might Empire, who we think modern

Albania should try to emulate, at least in some aspects. On the other

hand, we cannot help but support the Germanic tribes and their thirst

for freedom, and as Albanians, we cannot help but sympathize with

Arminius, whose story is so similar to that of our national hero

Skanderbeg.

The father of the Germanic hero, king Sigimer, was defeated and

vassalized by the Romans. To prevent a rebellion on his part, the

Romans took his two sons hostage: Flavius, whose Germanic name

remains unknown, and Arminius, whose real name was Hermann. This

story is not dissimilar from that of Gjon Kastrioti, Skanderbeg's father,

whose sons were taken by the Ottomans as hostages for the same

reason. Arminius showed talent in military matters and he climbed the

ranks of the army quickly. He became a Roman citizen - a great

achievement at the time, unlike today, where you become citizen by

filling forms - and later he was admitted in the Equestrian Order, the

knightly warrior caste of the Romans. He was distinguished among

them too, and was eventually taken under Varus' wing. The story

perfectly parallels that of Skanderbeg, who also rose quickly in the

ranks of the Ottoman army and became even a confidante of the

Sultan.

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As he climbed up the ranks, Arminius also kept contact with his

compatriots, and prepared an alliance of five Germanic tribes to resist

Roman expansion. Skanderbeg too must have kept contact with the

Albanian princes, otherwise his comeback into Albania would have not

gone as smoothly. Like Skanderbeg, Arminius also used his knowledge

of the Roman army and guerrilla tactics to fight them. As you can

see, the parallels are so numerous it is unbelievable.

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest shows two different modes of the

European spirit fighting against one another: the spirit of the Empire

and the spirit of the Confederacy. The spirit of the Empire is the one

that makes possible political, cultural, religions and even genetic

expansion. It makes possible the achievement of new cultural, artistic

and scientific peaks. Even if it is destined to fall, the Empire will be

remembered for hundreds or thousands of years after it is gone, and

its successors respect it so much that the Empire ceases to be an era

or a historical fact, but becomes an ideal.

But the evils of the Empire are many. The imposition of a culture

above all others means as a necessity the death of the latter.

Conquered people often forget their original identity, and adapt so well

to the Empire that they forget who they are, who their ancestors were

and what their origins were. As far as the ethnic group that founded

the Empire is concerned, whose culture allowed its great achievements,

they often become blinded from the very light they brought to the

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world, and they do not see how the conquered migrate to their cities,

seeking work, taking their money and dividing the land of the Empire

as if they were the very conquerors.

The Confederacy is made up of a group of tribes that are similar to

one another in race, culture and language, and they voluntarily enter

an alliance with one-another. The spirit of the Confederacy is more

freedom-loving. It safeguards both culture and race in its purer, more

primordial forms, and each tribe keeps its own sub-culture with pride

and jealousy. Confederacies have a hierarchy, but they are more

meritocratic than those of the Empire, whose hierarchies eventually

end up being influenced by the material possessions of the people in

them. However, the alliances of the Confederacy are not stable; it is

not a rare occurrence that a tribe, unhappy with its situation within

the Confederacy, leaves it and joins another Confederacy or even the

Empire. The expansion of the Confederacy is not a unified effort, but

it is done in the form of waves, tribe after tribe, clan after clan, until

the new land is conquered.

Confederacies rarely make scientific and cultural achievements

possible. After being dissolved or defeated, their cultures are not

remembered or admired outside of circles of historians and

anthropologists of later eras. Even if these cultures survive, they are

safeguarded due to a sort of cultural inertia rather than due to

awareness and pro-active effort of those who have this culture. For

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the majority of its history, Albania has upheld the spirit of the

Confederacy.

The golden mean between the Empire and the Confederacy is the

Ethnostate. The Ethnostate unifies all tribes or factions or city-states

that share the aforementioned characteristics of race, language and

culture into a single nation-state that is at least somewhat centralized.

There is a partial or full standardization of language and culture, and

the tribes leave behind their old isolated identity and take up the one

common to all the tribes. The Ethno-state is capable of achieving the

cultural and scientific peaks of the Empire without allowing racial

foreigners into its territory. The Ethnostate has thus the advantages of

both the Empire and the Confederacy.