This is a review of the Netflix TV show Barbarians. Barbarians is a 2020 German historical drama released on Netflix. Season One deals with the rebellion against the Roman occupation of Germania led by former Roman officer Arminius who was leader of the Cherusci tribe. It culminates with the defeat of 3 Roman legions at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, which is one of the biggest defeats ever suffered by the Roman Empire.
Season One
Season 1 of Barbarians is entertaining and reliable in terms of its historical accuracy. It's portrayal of the Roman occupation of Germania and the events leading up to the Battle of Teutoburg Forest are well done and portrayed in a convincing manner which is consistent with the historical record. The dialogue is well written and supported by a very capable set of actors.
I liked the way the actors portraying the Romans speak in Latin adding greater authenticity to the show. The portrayal of Roman equipment weaponry and armour is historically accurate. It is obvious that this blood and sandals drama was well funded displaying as it does high production values.
My one beef with Season 1 is when it comes to the battle scenes. The Roman armour is seen as being worse than useless with German swords cutting through the Roman soldiers armour like a knife through butter. If that really was the case why did the Romans even bother with armour. Season 1 culminates with an episode long account of the Roman defeat in the Teutoburg forest. This episode long account of the battle is action packed with plenty of blood and bone crunching violence on offer.
Season 1 ends with the Germanic tribes celebrating their famous victory and admiring their haul of ‘trophies’ from the defeated Roman legions. Besides the large quantity of weapons taken the Germanic tribes relish in nailing Roman soldiers to trees and other fun activities.
Season Two of Barbarians was released in the autumn of 2022, deals with the Roman attempts to exact revenge for their inglorious defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
In season 2 the Roman army led by Tiberius, heir to Emperor Augustus, and his adopted son Germanicus are seen making preparations for a Roman invasion force of Germania. They have established a large Roman garrison surrounded by a large wooden fence which is awaiting further reinforcements before setting forth against the various Germanic tribes.
The story of season 2 revolves around the attempts of Arminius to rally the Germanic tribes once again for an impending battle with the invading Roman forces. I had high hopes for this season after the quality production that was season 1. Sadly, my hopes were to be dashed in episode 1 and were continually shot down in each of the following five episodes.
Season 2 is so full of flaws it is hard to know where to begin.
The main problem with season 2 is that Arminius is celebrated as the symbol of German unity and freedom against Roman occupation.
So the show creators are trying to impose a 19th century narrative of progressive German nationalism and the unification of the country on to the 1st century AD. This leads to a comic book style presentation of the Germanic tribes as a bunch of superhuman warriors who kick the ass of the evil brutish Roman legionaries.
The German tribes launch various raiding parties against small groups of Roman soldiers. The battle scenes are laughably one-sided. In each encounter between German tribesmen and Roman legionaries the Roman soldiers are portrayed as absolutely hopeless sword fighters who in each instance are all killed with great ease.
The portrayal of the Roman generals Tiberius and Germanicus is really awful.
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Germanicus is portrayed as a loutish violent thug who is short tempered and insubordinate to his adopted father Tiberius. In one episode Germanicus is shown being captured, which never happened, at a brothel for ordinary Roman soldiers. You would never think from this portrayal that he was one of Rome’s most successful and revered generals.
In season 2 there is no historical context given as to why Emperor Augustus dispatched two members of the imperial family to lead the Roman revenge against Arminius and the tribes of Germania. It fails to mention that in AD11 to AD 12 the Romans combined in alliance with the Marcomannic federation of Marbod to prevent the Germanic tribes led by Arminius crossing the Rhine into Gaul and Northern Italy.
Sadly, season 2 horribly mangles the historical record and engages in the outright rewriting of history.
For example, it introduces a new character who allegedly is from the city of Carthage in Northern Africa. The plot line has her character seeking out Germanicus with a view to assassinating him as she blames the adopted son of Tiberius for the death of her father when the Romans sacked the city of Carthage during the Third Punic War. Of course this is rather ludicrous given that the Roman army sacked Carthage in 146 BC. The sack of Carthage was led by the Roman general Scipio. Yet through several flashbacks we see that Germanicus was involved in the sack of Carthage. Germanicus was not even born until 15 BC and so it was impossible for him to have killed this characters father during the sack of Carthage. As far as I am aware Germanicus never went to North Africa.
The worst aspect of Barbarians season 2 is the completely rewriting of the historical record when it comes to the first major battle between Roman troops and the Germanic tribes lived by Arminius. The last episode of season 2 of Barbarians portrays the Battle of Pontes Longi as a victory for Arminius and the Germanic tribes. In actual fact the Battle of Pontes Longi in 15AD was a comprehensive victory for the Roman general Caecina against the attack by the Germanic tribes against the Roman camp in which Tiberius and Germanicus are hiding. The Germanic tribes fled the battlefield enabling General Caecina to take his troops to the River Rhine.
Not surprisingly, Season 2 of Barbarians has come in for a lot of criticism for the way it mangles and rewrites history. Even if you put that to one side Season 2 is let down by poor dialogue as if the characters were speaking in the present day and rather one dimensional characters. I for one will not be wasting any more of my valuable viewing time on this show if a third season is made. I think I’d rather watch paint dry.
In conclusion, a Blood and Sandals drama that ultimately fails to deliver.