Roman history comes alive - 5 star

Simon Scarrow’s Eagle of the Empire series is a superb read on at least 2 levels. The battle scenes are very realistic, and give the reader a sense of the hardships and dangers faced by foot soldiers, the legionaries, the backbone of the Roman army. Soldering was a 25 year posting, and if by some miracle you survived then peaceful retirement was your reward. Equally Scarrow’s books offer a fantastic insight into the mindset behind the Roman empire. Their ability to organise, to build, to construct, to invent, and their unswerving belief in the Romanization of the rest of the known world bringing education and peace to the masses, taxation and servitude in exchange for citizenship…”Civis Romanus sum” the ticket to a better world.

A Cato and Macro novel, and our 2 heroes are with the second legion as they attempt to push North their goal Camulodunum ( Colchester) Blocking their path is tribal chief Caratacus, his fanatical followers, all bound together by their hate of the Romans……”Vespasian felt a grudging respect for the Britons’ leader, Caratacus, chief of the Catuvellauni. That man had more tricks up his sleeve yet, and the Roman army of General Aulus Plautius had better treat the enemy with more respect than had been the case so far”......Yet amongst all this carnage and bloodshed Scarrow introduces at intervals some light descriptive humour…….”One particular warrior had proved extremely aggravating for the Roman artillery crews. He was a huge man, with a winged helmet over his blond hair and he stood naked at the water’s edge, shouting abuse at the Roman warships as he defiantly waved a double-headed axe. Every so often he would turn round and thrust his backside towards the enemy, defying them to do their worst”......

We cannot help but applaud at times the ingenuity of the invaders, their masterful fighting skills and in particular the “testudo” in literal translation, the tortoise…the best chance of Legionaries surviving a frontal assault was by quickly forming a wall and roof of protecting shields. As the campaign proceeds Emperor Claudius departs Rome to lead the final assault against Caratacus. Claudius is splendidly portrayed as a weak narcissist, his stammer only adding to his pitiful image. What better way for such an important leader to make a spectacular entrance atop a mighty elephant….”The elephant driver halted the Emperor’s beast and urged it down with a set sequence of kicks and orders. The front knees gracefully buckled and the Emperor, still waving nonchalantly to his cheering troops, was almost pitched out of his throne and only avoided the indignity by throwing himself backward and grabbing the arms. Even so the imperial wreath was dislodged. It bounced down the flank of the elephant and would have landed on the ground had not Narcissus leaped forward and fielded with a neat one-handed catch. The beast lowered its rear and the Emperor pulled a hidden lever to release the side of the throne, which folded out to provide a nicely angled series of steps down to the ground”......

This is wonderful storytelling with treachery and death a constant companion. The limited known facts of the period are woven into the narrative expertly complimented with some intuitive historical  observations…..”They are just men, Cato. Ordinary men with all their vices and virtues. But where other men live their lives with death as a side issue, we live ours with death as a constant companion. We have to accept death”.......”To fighting men on campaign, any opportunity to rest represented a luxury to be savoured, and the men of the Second Legion dozed happily in the sunlight”........”.....Julius Caesar, Hannibal, Alexander, Xerxes or any of them...It’s men like that who make wars not the rest of us. We’re too busy worrying about the next crop, how to guarantee the town’s water supplies, whether our wives are being faithful, whether our children will survive into adulthood. That’s what concerns the small people all over the empire. War does not serve our ends. We’re forced into it”......

Insightful, thrilling, well written, and oh so highly recommended!