Under The Eagle, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 434

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

As some of you may know, earlier this year I reviewed Praetorian by Simon Scarrow. As I said in my review, it was the eleventh book in Scarrow’s Eagle series. These next few reviews will be the reviews of the ten books that prelude Praetorian. I would just like to say that because I will be putting all ten up at once, each book will only have a brief overview of what happens. This is because I would like to fill you in with what happens in the series leading up to Praetorian but not bore you with ten long reviews been posted all at once. Plus I read these earlier Eagle books a few years ago so I can’t remember exactly what I thought of them at the time! So here we go. The first book in the series is Under the Eagle, I hope you enjoy it.

Set in 42 AD on the eve of the Roman invasion of Britain, Under the Eagle follows the tale of two very different legionaries. The first is Quintus Licinius Cato (Cato).  The son of a palace slave, Cato is released from his serfdom on the condition that he joins the roman army stationed in Germany. After arriving at the camp, Cato soon finds that he will have to adjust to the life of a soldier and put his cushy life from the palace behind him. Cato’s adjustment becomes worse as he is appointed the rank above his other legionaries because of his connections with the Imperial palace. Cato will have to show that he is not just a bookish boy from the Imperial palace but a leader of men, otherwise his Centurion Marco will be on his case!

Marco couldn’t be more different from Cato. After spending ten years in the army Marco is finally raised to the prestigious post of Centurion.   Life couldn’t get much better for Marco. Doing some ‘good soldiering’ in the best Legion in the Roman army, Marco is looking forward to future campaigns in Germany. That is until Marco find his new Optio (second in charge) is the new green boy from the palace, Cato. Marco and Cato’s relationship is just that of Centurion and Optio until Cato’s gifts with administration and the fact he save’s Marco’s life see them become the best of friends, as they find out where the Legion will be campaigning in the next year- Britannia.

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