"Eagle of the Ninth" was my first Sutcliff novel read in my early teens - and turned me into a die-hard fan (which I still am, nearly 20 years later!). This is the first book in her Three Legions Trilogy which follows the fortunes of the Aquila family from the 1st century AD to the advent of the Dark Ages.
Marcus Flavius Aquila, a young Roman Centurion is invalided out of the Legions during a British tribal uprising and struggles to find a new purpose in life while convalescing at his uncle's home in Calleva. There, the homesick Marcus makes new friends - a slave gladiator Esca, and Cottia, the adopted daughter of his Romano-British neighbours. Together, Marcus and Esca set out to find the lost Eagle of the Ninth Legion - and thus the story of Marcus' father, who vanished into the northern mists together with his men, unfolds. This is a classic bildungsroman in which Marcus grows to love Britain and to understand where he truly belongs.
Marcus Flavius Aquila, a young Roman Centurion is invalided out of the Legions during a British tribal uprising and struggles to find a new purpose in life while convalescing at his uncle's home in Calleva. There, the homesick Marcus makes new friends - a slave gladiator Esca, and Cottia, the adopted daughter of his Romano-British neighbours. Together, Marcus and Esca set out to find the lost Eagle of the Ninth Legion - and thus the story of Marcus' father, who vanished into the northern mists together with his men, unfolds. This is a classic bildungsroman in which Marcus grows to love Britain and to understand where he truly belongs.
Sutcliff's language is as always, lyrical and true to the period - by that I mean without any modern anachronisms - and she effortlessly evokes the sights, sounds and smells of Roman Britain as well as the untamed tribal lands beyond the pale. Although this is traditionally regarded as a "young adult" book I would say that it's a book for everyone, aged 9 to 90!
I own 2 copies of this wonderful book - a lovely Folio Society reprint from the 1950s first edition (still available at the time of posting), and an old, discarded hardcover from my school library.
(Book cover photo from: http://www.puffin.co.uk/)
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