Favorite Books: The Eagle of the Ninth

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I was first introduced to The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff by the movie version of the book, The Eagle. The Eagle was a great movie, mostly because it involved face paint and Channing Tatum. So, after I saw it, I decided to read the book, and, after I read the book, I hated the movie, because the book was so much better.

The Eagle of the Ninth tells the story of a Roman centurion, Marcus, stationed in Roman Britain. Marcus comes from a long line of soldiers. His father marched with the Ninth Legion, which disappeared in the old Roman province of Valentia. Marcus is haunted by the memory of his father's legion and longs to lift this shame from his family's name. After Marcus is injured in battle and forced to leave the army, he decides to journey north of Hadrian's wall to try to recover the lost Eagle of his father's legion. What follows is a stunning adventure that spans the length of Britain.

The story is that the author actually based the book on a Roman eagle found buried in Silchester, England and a historical record of the disappearance of the Legio IX. Although these two incidents have nothing in common and the eagle was probably never used by a legion, Sutcliff was able to spin it into a pretty good story.

Although I'm aware it's a totally implausible, historically inaccurate story, that's the sort of thing that makes for great novels. And The Eagle of the Ninth is a flawless gem of a novel. It paints a vivid picture of life in Roman Britain and creates complex, compelling characters. One of my favorite characters, who was omitted from the movie for some reason, is Cottia/Camilla. She truly represents the meeting of worlds, a British girl forced to act like a Roman lady. Her love story with Marcus is adorable, and, in general, she's a really great character.

One of the central conflicts of the story, is the melding of two separate world views as the characters try to gain understanding of each other. There's no way to historically inaccurate about that. Aside from all the historically references (correct and incorrect), what this story is truly about is Marcus' journey from his obsession with his father's past to a place of new understanding and cultural awareness. That's  a story worth telling in any century.

Just readin'

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