The Eagle of the Ninth

I first discovered books by Rosemary Sutcliff when I worked as a children's librarian in the 1960s and remember enjoying her books. Although the books were written for older primary / lower secondary age readers they can be enjoyed by adults too. Rosemary Sutcliff obviously enjoyed history, particularly Roman history, and this is the setting for her novels. Eagle of the Ninth is the first of three of her books about Roman Britain, the other two being The Lantern Bearers and The Sword at Sunset. In the FutureLearn course that I did last year about Hadrian's Wall, The Eagle of the Ninth was often mentioned by participants in forum discussions. I therefore decided to read the book again.

Marcus Aquila was appointed as Centurion at a fort on Hadrian's Wall. He is a long way from Rome but he is following a family tradition as his father had been with the Ninth Legion that mysteriously disappeared when Marcus was a young boy. Marcus quickly settled into life on the Wall until  the fort was attacked by local tribes and Marcus was severely injured. No longer able to remain in the army he initially stayed with his uncle at Calleva. When he eventually is able to walk again he set off with Esca, a former slave, to travel north to the other side of Hadrian's Wall in the attempt to discover the fate of the Ninth Legion and to locate the Eagle, the Legion's symbol.

Marcus's quest is an exciting story but what I appreciated was the description of life in Roman Britain encouraging the reader, for a short while, to experience what the characters in the novel are experiencing. Rosemary Sutcliff also examines the relationship between Marcus and Esca who is a Briton of the Brigantes tribe. Esca had been Marcus' slave but before they set out on the quest he is freed and once the two travel past the Wall it is Esca, with his knowledge of the area and the people, who often makes decisions.

Eagle of the Ninth was published in 1954 but has stood the test of time. Charlotte Higgins wrote a long article about the book in The Guardian in 2011, about the same time that a film, The Eagle, based on the book was released. 

Postscript: I have just watched the DVD of the film, The Eagle, made some years ago and supposedly based on Rosemary Sutcliff's book. There was plenty of action but not a lot of resemblance to the story in the novel - still I guess you expect that in films of books. 

2024 - In term three The Eagle of the Ninth is the book that my twelve year old grandson and I read together after school.

Hadrian's Wall

Newcastle University (UK) prepared an online course about Hadrian's Wall built by the Romans around 122 AD as a frontier to mark the northern boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain. The six week course is one of the many online courses to be found on the FutureLearn website - https://www.futurelearn.com.

The structure known as Hadrian's Wall is not just a wall built across Britain but it also contained a series of forts, milecastles, turrets, outposts and watch stations. This complex not only housed one of the largest concentrations of Roman soldiers in the empire but also supported a large cosmopolitan civilian population. It is therefore not just a study of buildings but also of the diverse frontier communities living beside the Wall. The course looks at surviving sources from the Roman period as well investigating archaeological skills and methods used to investigate the past. The background to the building of Hadrian's Wall includes a study of the life of the people living in the area before the Wall was built, the arrival of the Romans and the building of the first outposts culminating with the actual building of the Wall. The organisation of the Roman army and what it was like being a members of such an organisation is explored as well as the interplay between soldiers and civilians two thousand years ago. Ritual and religion is another theme. The Romans were in Britain for around four hundred years so the course also looks at the later part of their time in the country and then explores what happened after the Romans left Britain and how subsequent generations tried to understand the Wall.

In one section of the course we looked at the use of geophysics (resistivity, ground penetrating radar and magnetrometry) to explore what is beneath the ground. The example used is investigations carried out at Maryport on the west coast of England just south of the Wall. We visited this area on one of our trips to the UK and had walked around one of the fields being discussed in the course so it was fascinating to see some of the results of the investigation of the area. Some of the stones from Roman buildings could be seen in the ground in the area we explored.

Another part of the course looks at some of the altars discovered at Maryport in the nineteenth century. During the past four years archaeological excavations have been undertaken in part of the grounds surrounding the museum.

I found a number of books about this period of British history in local  libraries.

Hadrian's Wall by Derry Brabbs (2008) - a detailed, illustrated study of Hadrian's Wall following its path from the west coast to Wallsend on the Tyne River. The illustrations in the book, as well as the text, provide the reader with a view of the area today as well as an understanding as to how it may have been 2000 years ago.

Journey to Britannia: from the heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall AD 130 by Bronwen Riley (2015) - the author imagines a journey from Rome to Britain via Gaul then through Roman Britain to Hadrian's Wall. Places visited include London, Silchester, Bath, Caerleon and Wroxeter. An interesting introduction to life to life in the Roman Empire.

Roman Britain: a new story by Guy de la Bedoyere (2013) - an illustrated account of the Roman occupation of Britain. This book uses archaeological finds and sites to explain the impact of the Romans in Britain and life in Britain at this time.

The Wall: Rome's greatest frontier by Alaistair Moffat (2008) also published as an ebook in 2012 - a history of Roman Britain in general but the book includes chapters on Hadrian's Wall describing the building of the wall as well as the effects of the Wall on the people already living in the area.

Rosemary Sutcliff wrote a series of children's books about the Romans in Britain. The story of The Eagle of the Ninth revolves about the Ninth Legion which mysteriously disappeared in the area near Hadrians' Wall.
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (1954)  
Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles (2010) - as well as Eagle of the Ninth (1954) this work contains two other books,  The Silver Branch (1957) and The Lantern Bearers (1959).