In 9 A.D., 3 Roman Legions, the XVII, XVIII and XIX, commanded by PUBLIUS QUINCTILIUS VARUS, were betrayed and massacred by the amassed forces of the tribes of GERMANIA, in the dense Teutoburg Forest, led by ARMINIUS, a young chieftain who had been raised among the Romans after being taken hostage as a boy. The Romans trusted Arminius and even made him a Roman citizen, giving him the rank of EQUITES, or knight. But Arminius secretly hated the Romans, and dreamed of driving them from Germania forever. This scene depicts Varus' final moments, as a small group of survivors prepare to make a desperate last stand against the Germans, while a surviving Centurion offers to assist Varus and his slave with the mercy of a quick death, rather than fall into the hands of the Germans...