The Eagle of the Ninth

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 the disappearance of the Ninth Legion of the Roman Army around the year AD 117 after they departed for the North to suppress an uprising of native Britons. The second was the excavation, in AD 1866, of a Roman bronze eagle, ever after referred to as the Silchester eagle, from the Calleva Atrebatum, an Iron Age settlement located in 21st-century Silchester, England. Because the eagle is devoid of its wings, and therefore its precise origins and history are unknown. In Sutcliff’s novel, the eagle of the Ninth Legion and the eagle found in Silchester in the 19th century are one and the same, and her narrative depicts the adventure through which the eagle might have come to rest in the floor in Calleva. The Eagle of the Ninth has sold over 1 million copies since its initial publication and is an American Library Association Notable Book. It has been adapted three times, once in 1957 as a six-part radio series produced by the BBC Home Service, again in 1977 as a BBC television series, and finally as a 2011 feature film, titled The Eagle.

Born in Surrey, England, Rosemary Sutcliff was diagnosed with a chronic illness as a young girl and spent much of her childhood passing time with her mother, who introduced her to classic authors as well as the myths and legends of the ancient world, aspects of which she later incorporated into many of her works. Sutcliff’s works for children and adults have received the Carnegie Medal, the Horn Book Award, and two Phoenix Awards. The author died in 1992 at the age of 71.

Plot Summary

The Eagle of the Ninth is a middle grade historical adventure novel set in first-century Roman Britain. Nineteen-year-old Marcus Flavius Aquila, the son of the First Cohort of the Ninth Legion, which disappeared a decade before, arrives in Britain for his first command assignment hoping to find the answers to his enduring questions about his father’s fate. When Marcus is injured after a heroic effort to protect his fellow soldiers during an attack on their fort, his dream of an illustrious career in the Roman Army is cut short. He recuperates from his debilitating injury at the home of his Uncle Aquila, devastated by the turn his life has taken. On a trip to the local gladiatorial games, he is inspired by the courage of one gladiator, an enslaved native Briton named Esca, and advocates for the preservation of Esca’s life, compelling the crowd to turn in his favor. In need of assistance with his personal care, and concerned that by saving Esca’s life he may have somehow doomed him to a fate worse than gladiatorial combat, Marcus enslaves Esca to see to his personal needs.

News arrives that the Roman eagle—a bronze casting of an eagle that would have served as an insignia for the Roman legion—that belonged to Marcus’s father’s legion is rumored to have been seen north of Hadrian’s Wall, which guards the northwest border of the Roman Empire. The power of the eagle’s symbolism would render it a powerful tool if it were indeed in the hands of the native Britons. With a renewed sense of optimism and purpose, Marcus convinces his uncle’s friend Legate Claudius Hieronimianus to allow him to proceed into the frontier north of the wall to search for it. Unwilling to ask Esca to take such a considerable risk without the knowledge that he would be consenting of his own volition, Marcus grants Esca his manumission papers, and Esca volunteers to help him on his mission.

Disguised as an oculist and his assistant, Marcus and Esca traverse northern Britain, searching for clues to the whereabouts of the eagle. When they encounter a man who arouses Marcus’s suspicions and who admits to having served in Marcus’s father’s legion, Marcus learns as much as he can about their fate. As Marcus and Esca continue their search, Marcus finds himself treating the young son of a chieftain, Dergdigan of the Epidaii, repairing the boy’s eyes. When Marcus and Esca join the Epidaii for a coming-of-age ceremony for the tribe’s warriors, the eagle plays a part in the proceedings. During the associated festivities, an elder of the Epidaii tribe, named Tradui, reveals to Marcus that he was present at the capture of the eagle and admits that it was he who killed Marcus’s father. Marcus and Esca conspire to retrieve the eagle, hiding it while they escape. When the Epidaii catch up with Marcus and Esca and accuse them of taking the eagle, they do not find it in their possession. Marcus and Esca take up temporary residence in a village nearby, Marcus providing cover and establishing their presence while Esca steals off to retrieve the eagle.

The two young men hurry to make it back to Hadrian’s Wall, realizing that by leaving behind an identifiable brooch, Esca has likely set the Epidaii on their trail once again. Pursued trough the countryside, they are aided once again by the soldier from Marcus’s father’s legion, who leads them through a swamp to conceal them. With their way obstructed and convoluted by the heavy mists characteristic of the terrain, their return journey takes longer than it might have otherwise, and Marcus and Esca are discovered. After fleeing to an old Roman watchtower, they find that one of their pursuers is Liathan, brother of Dergdigan. When they manage to subdue him, he reveals that his grandfather, Tradui, recognized Marcus’s resemblance to his father, and Liathan presents Marcus with his father’s ring, which Tradui took from him. After compelling Liathan to convince his fellow tribesmen that the two have departed, Marcus and Esca escape, finally reaching Hadrian’s Wall and crossing back into Roman territory.

Back at the home of Marcus’s Uncle Aquila, Marcus and Esca present the eagle to Legate Claudius Hieronimianus, who will share the story of their efforts with the Roman Senate. The four men bury the eagle in a secret compartment in the floor of Uncle Aquila’s home, and it is decided that the returned eagle will be spoken of no further. In the coming weeks, word from Legate Claudius Hieronimianus reveals that Marcus will be given the benefits commensurate with completed service in the Roman Army, and Esca will be rewarded with Roman citizenship. As Marcus can choose land as a result of his military service honors, he decides, like his Uncle Aquila, to settle in Britain—a land that once felt foreign to him but that he now realizes is his home. There, Marcus and Esca—likewise, a man who once felt a world apart from Marcus but has now become his close friend—decide to establish a farm together.