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The Eagle of the Ninth is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1954. The story is set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, after the building of Hadrian's Wall.
- Rosemary Sutcliff
- 1954
Rosemary Sutcliff found her inspiration for The Eagle of the Ninth in two real stories of Roman Britain – one, the legendary (and somewhat historically disputed) disappearance of the Ninth Legion after it was sent north of Hadrian’s Wall to battle the Picts in 117 AD; and two, the discovery of a wingless Roman Eagle at an archaelogical dig ...
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One of Rosemary Sutcliff's acclaimed books set in Roman Britain. The Eagle of the Ninth tells the story of a young Roman officer who sets out to discover the truth behind the mysterious...
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Who is the author of 'The Eagle of the Ninth'? What is the setting of 'The Eagle of the Ninth'? Is 'The Eagle of the Ninth' suitable for young readers?
- Plot
- Chronology
- Characters
- Places
- Background
- Influence
- Adaptations
- Publication History
Marcus Flavius Aquila, orphaned son of the senior centurion of the lost Ninth Legion, commands the replacement garrison of auxiliaries at Isca Dumnoniorum, a frontier fort in the far west of Britain. The departing commander advises him to watch out for stray Druids, who are capable of whipping up revolt among the local tribes (1). Marcus settles in...
The Foreword notes, "Sometime about the year 117 AD, the Ninth Legion, which was stationed at Eburacum where York now stands, marched north to deal with a rising among the Caledonian tribes, and never came marching back." Marcus is ten years old when his father disappears and nineteen in the novel's opening scene (1). The events of the novel take p...
The Flavius family
1. Marcus Flavius Aquila (1), nineteen-year-old Pilus Prior of the Fourth Gaulish Auxiliaries attached to the Second Augustan Legion at Isca Dumnoniorum. Etrurian by birth, of equestrian rank and a military family, orphaned son of the senior centurion of the Ninth Legion (1). 1.1. alias Demetrius of Alexandria, theDemetrius of Alexandria (11), Greek quack-salver 1.2. Cub (6), a wolf cub rescued by Esca and presented to Marcus 1.3. Argos (8), Marcus's dog in Clusium 1.4. Vipsania (11), Demetri...
Isca Dumnoniorum
1. Fourth Gaulish Cohort of auxiliaries (1), "yellow-haired giants" from "Upper Gaul", under the Second Legion. 2. Quintus Hilarion (1), centurion, Marcus's predecessor as commander of Isca Dumnoniorum, native born from Durinum. 3. Aulus (2, 4), Isca's Surgeon, "who appeared, like the Quartermaster, to be a fixture, was a gentle soul, content enough in his backwater so long as it contained sufficient of the fiery native spirit" (3). 4. The Quartermaster (2), "a little red angry man who had mi...
Calleva
1. Sassticca (5), Aquila's overbearing cook 2. Marcipor (5), Aquila's steward 3. Stephanos (5), Aquila's body servant 4. Ulpius (5), doctor at Calleva, fat 5. Valaria (5), wife of Kaeso, Icenian maternal aunt of Cottia 6. Kaeso (5), fellow magistrate and neighbour of Aquila, husband of Valaria 7. Cottia(5,7), Valaria's niece. Her mother and brother live with her step-father. 8. Esca Mac Cunoval (5), unenthusiastic gladiator. Son of a rebellious clan chieftain of the Brigantes, whose parents a...
Britain
1. The Fosseway (1), highway 2. The Red Mount (1), on which Isca Dumnoniorum sits 2.1. Isca (Dumnoniorum)(1), [Exeter] a Roman frontier fort and barely Romanised town on the river [Exe]. Burnt in reprisal for the uprising (4). Rebuilding begins in early 129 (21). 3. Durinum (1), [Dorchester] Quintus Hilarion's home. Cradoc sells horses there (2). Rufrius Galarius practices there (8). 4. Calleva Atrebatum (1), [Silchester] Uncle Aquila's retirement home 4.1. The Forest of Spinaii (4), outside...
Overseas
1. Hibernia (8) [Ireland], across the Western Ocean. Rufrius Galarius knew an oculist who travelled there (8). Called Eriu by the Celts (17). 2. Upper Gaul (1), home of the Fourth Gaulish auxiliaries 3. Italy 3.1. Etruria (1), hill country where Marcus grew up 3.1.1. Clusium (1), site of Marcus's parents' farm, sold 3.2. Rome (1), where Marcus lived with his aunt and uncle 3.2.1. the Colosseum (2), where they race chariots 3.2.2. Mars Field (2), where Marcus learned to drive 3.3. Vesuvius (1)...
Sources
Sutcliff's foreword discusses the novel's archaeological inspirations: "Sometime about the year 117 AD, the Ninth Legion, which was stationed at Eburacum where York now stands, marched north to deal with a rising among the Caledonian tribes, and was never heard of again. "During the excavations at Silchester nearly eighteen hundred years later, there was dug up under the green fields which now cover the pavements of Calleva Atrebatum, a wingless Roman Eagle, a cast of which can be seen to thi...
Sutcliff's "best-beloved"
In interviews and articles from the 1960s and '70s, Sutcliff invariably chose The Eagle of the Ninthas her favourite of her own works. Elaine Moss, "Rosemary Sutcliff: A Love of Legend", Books & Bookmen, 1960: "The note of affection in her voice prompted me to ask which of her books was her favourite. Unhesitatingly she chose The Eagle of the Ninth, the first of her Roman novels." "Combined Ops", The Junior Bookshelf, July 1960: "Once, and only once to date, my Daemon has completely taken ove...
Historical accuracy
1. The reason for the Ninth Hispana's disappearance from the historical record remains the subject of scholarly debate. Inscriptions discovered in Nijmegen, Netherlands in 1959 attest to its presence there, and a simple relocation of all or part of the legion has also been theorised. Coincidentally, the novel notes that "two of our cohorts were serving in Germany" when the legion was destroyed in Britain. 2. The Silchester eagle, suggested by its discoverer in 1866 to be a legionary standard,...
Roman Britain's Missing Legion, historian Simon Elliott's 2021 study of competing theories on the disappearance of the Ninth Legion, credits The Eagle of the Ninth as the chief popularizer of the "destoyed in Britain" hypothesis proposed by 19th-century German historian Theodor Mommsen. "Such was Mommsen's reputation that his theory became the rece...
Radio
1. "The Eagle of the Ninth", ad. Michael Hyde, For the Schools, BBC Home Service, 1955 1.1. Part 1: Marcus (BBC Home Service Basic, 10 June 1955) 1.2. Part 2: Esca (BBC Home Service Basic, 17 June 1955) 1.3. Part 3: The Eagle (BBC Home Service Basic, 24 June 1955) 2. "The Eagle of the Ninth", ad. Felix Felton, Children's Hour, BBC Home Service, 1957, rerun 1958, 1959, 1963 2.1. Part 1: The Attack on the Fort (BBC Home Service Basic, 27 February 1957) 2.2. Part 2: The Saturnalia Games (BBC Hom...
Television, stage, and film
1. The Eagle of the Ninth, ad. Bill Craig, BBC One London, 1977 1.1. Part 1: Frontier Fort (BBC One London, 4 September 1977) 1.2. Part 2: Esca (BBC One London, 11 September 1977) 1.3. Part 3: Across the Frontier (BBC One London, 18 September 1977) 1.4. Part 4: The Lost Legion (BBC One London, 25 September 1977) 1.5. Part 5: The Wild Hunt (BBC One London, 2 October 1977) 1.6. Part 6: Valedictory (BBC One London, 9 October 1977) 2. The Bengal Lancers! (1984), ad. Stephen Weeks, unfinished film...
Note: This bibliography has been sourced partly from online library catalogues and booksellers' listings, and is not complete. In English: 1. London : Oxford University Press, 1954. Illus. C. Walter Hodges. Hardcover. 1.1. 2nd printing: 1955 1.2. 3rd printing: 1957 1.3. 4th printing: 1959 1.4. Reprinted 1963, 1969 2. New York : Henry Z. Walck, 1954...
Feb 3, 2011 · The Ninth Legion marched into the mists of northern Britain - and they were never seen again. Four thousand men disappeared and their eagle standard was lost. It's a mystery that's never been...
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First published in 1954, The Eagle of the Ninth is the first of three novels constituting English author Rosemary Sutcliff’s Roman Britain trilogy, all of which are connected through the emerald ring belonging to the family of Marcus Flavius Aquila. A work of historical fiction, The Eagle of the Ninth draws upon two historical events. One is ...
