Item: Barbarians
Rating: 7.9
Author: NextFlicks

Barbarians is a six-part series that tells the story of The Battle Of Teutoburg Forest. The battle has gone down in history as the greatest military defeat suffered by a Roman Army. Discover how a band of 'Barbarians' out-thought and outfought the mighty Roman Empire.

Barbarians is a six-part series on Netflix that tells the story of The Battle Of Teutoburg Forest and a roman officer's conflicted allegiances.

The battle is an epic historical clash and the greatest military defeat suffered by a Roman Army.

Arminius (Laurence Rupp) is the son of a Barbarian Chief. As a boy, he is taken from his German family and raised in Rome as a living insurance policy to deter the Germanic tribes from rebelling against their new masters.

Arminius is groomed for military service by the Romans and when his training ends, he is sent back to Germania to administer the province for the benefit of the mighty Empire.

Once he returns to his family and home village he is horrified to discover the brutal treatment of the Germanic tribe by his adopted countrymen with his own tribal people slowly starving from punitive taxes.

Arminius resolves to rid Germania of Roman rule forever. However, he knows the power of the Roman Legions in battle.

So to level the playing field, he decides to begin uniting the various German tribes under one banner and lure the Roman soldiers into a deadly trap.

These events eventually culminate on the date of September 11th 9 A.D. in a massive ambush of three Roman legions.

Is Barbarians Worth Watching?

With just six episodes, Barbarians details the history behind one of the most epic battles in the ancient world.

While the story gets most of the significant historical facts correct, the series takes plenty of leeway with the details. This is not uncommon in historical dramas; Braveheart is hardly an accurate portrayal of Scottish history.

What Barbarians does get right is the on-screen drama. Unlike some historical series, this one is character-driven. You get a history lesson wrapped up in an entertaining package.

It is packed with great performances and Laurence Rupp is brilliant in the role of Arminius and Jeanne Goursaud is sensational as fearless warrior Thusnelda.

Fans have compared her character to Lagertha in the popular series Vikings. Like Lagertha, historical records point to Thusnelda being a real person and she was likely married to Arminius in real-life.

Overall, Barbarians is an enjoyable historical drama. Not perfect, but very entertaining. If you enjoyed shows like The Outlaw King or Vikings, you'll find Barbarians engaging to watch.

How Many Seasons Of Barbarians?

Barbarians is a fictional account of events during the occupation of Germania by the Roman Empire and the resulting rebellion of the Germanic tribes.

It was created by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting and Jan Martin Scharf

Filming for the first season took place in 2019 and has six episodes which were released on Netflix in 2020.

So at the moment, there is only only one season of Barbarians available on Netflix.

Barbarians Season 2 Release Date

The good news is that Netflix quickly renewed the show for a second season at the end of 2020 but filming didn't begin until September 2021.

It is now in post-production and will be released on Netflix in 2022. For all the details about Barbarians Season 2, click here.

And like the first season, the second season also has 6 episodes that run at around 45 minutes each.

What Happens In Barbarians Season 2?

Back in September 2021 when filming began, executive producer Andreas Bareiss spoke to Deadline saying: “After the Varus Battle was fought, we really trusted in being able to continue the thrilling story around Arminius, Thusnelda and Folkwin.

“Now we are all the more happy to send our heroes on another adventurous journey of love, friendship and betrayal.

“Adventures that couldn’t be more emotional and exciting.”

What Language Do They Speak In Barbarians Netflix?

Barbarians is a German Netflix production, and it's filmed in German and Latin.

You can switch on English dubbing, but I warn you now that the dubbed version is terrible.

I recommend you watch it with subtitles turned on.

Is Barbarians On Netflix Historically Accurate?

Barbarians is based on a real battle and the characters are in fact real people who lived at the time.

The Romans did control the Germanic tribes and historians believe that in all likelihood, Arminius and Thusnelda were married.

So while the creators did stick to the facts of what happened, there is still some creative licence with the show itself.

Issues with the way the Germanic people are depicted and the general way that the Varus battle took place have been raised.

Similar to The Crown, the facts are all there but the in-between bits are creative licence as absolutely nobody could possibly know the exact conversations that took place at the time.

Thusnelda Barbarians

Thusnelda from Barbarians is the character so many fans are interested in learning more about.

In real life, Thusnelda was the daughter of the pro-Roman Cheruscan prince Segestes. Along with childhood friends Folkwin Wolfspeer and Arminius, they grew up in a time, the area was ruled by Rome.

Controlled by Varus, even after he was defeated at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the conflict in the region continued.

It is said that Arminius then abducted and impregnated Thusnelda but her father got her back before delivering her to Germanicus as a reward for driving off Arminius' army.

During her captivity, Thusnelda gave birth to her and Arminius' only child, Thumelicus. She and her son were displayed as prized trophies of the triumph granted to Germanicus.

Though she is said to have been well cared for, the exact details of Thusnelda's life after that and her date of death are unknown.

In the show, Thusnelda is played by Jeanne Goursaud. She is a German actress and model who speaks three languages, loves travelling and has nearly 130k followers on Instagram.