The Eagle of the Ninth

Sasstica prepares a feast that evening. Throughout the meal, Marcus and Placidus are mostly silent while Uncle Aquila and Claudius reminisce. Uncle Aquila mentions that sometime, he’d like to return to the place where he was stationed at Eburacum 25 years ago. Claudius muses that “the foundations of that old building lie uneasy beneath the new.” He elaborates: the Ninth Legion’s ghosts seem to haunt the place. Marcus enters the conversation and shares that his father was the Ninth Legion’s First Cohort and disappeared with the rest. Placidus offends Marcus by suggesting that some of the men must’ve killed their superiors and joined the tribes—the Ninth had an “extremely unsavory reputation,” after all. Claudius insists that isn’t true. Rumors suggest the Hispana fought to the death, and what he’s heard about their Eagle supports that theory.

Marcus asks Claudius to elaborate. Apparently, the Eagle has been seen “receiving divine honours in some tribal temple in the far north.” This isn’t something a Legion would do if they went rogue, which suggests the Tribes massacred the Legion, took the Eagle, and are treating it like a god. Marcus is shocked that Claudius seems so nonchalant about this. If someone brings the Eagle back, they could reform the Ninth Legion. Claudius knows this, and he knows that if or when the tribes revolt again, the Eagle could be a powerful weapon they could use against the Romans—it would fire the tribes up. But, Claudius laments, there aren’t enough Legions in Rome to spare one to go fetch the Eagle, and it’s just a rumor anyway.

Marcus asks to go look for the Eagle. One man, he suggests, would have a better chance of success. He calls Esca and asks if Esca will come with him. Esca agrees, and Marcus lays out his rough plan. According to Rufrius Galarius, Marcus says, many of the tribes in the North have “sore eyes,” and an oculist would be able to travel among them. So, Marcus will pose as an oculist—but he’ll consult Galarius and take real salves so he’s at least more helpful than most of the quack oculists on the road these days. Marcus acknowledges his leg will make a quick escape difficult if that became necessary, but he’s otherwise healthy. Both Uncle Aquila and Claudius give their blessing.

A bit later, Placidus asks Marcus if he can really trust Esca—“the loyalty of a slave” isn’t exactly reliable. Marcus is shocked, insisting his relationship with Esca isn’t like that, but Placidus quips that Marcus should free Esca and learn the truth. So, that night, Marcus does just that. When he gets back to his sleeping cell, he hands Esca a papyrus roll, signed by Claudius, and explains that it grants Esca his freedom. Marcus apologizes for waiting so long to free Esca. He acknowledges that it was wrong of him to ask Esca to come north when Esca couldn’t refuse. But now, he asks again as a friend. Esca is happy to head north and insists he’s been happy to serve Marcus—and that “it was not slave-service.”

Claudius and Placidus leave the following morning. It shocks no one in the household that Marcus freed Esca. Sasstica, Stephanos, and Marcipor were born into slavery and have accepted it, while they’ve always thought Esca—who was born free and who clearly has a close friendship with Marcus—would inevitably be freed one day. That evening, Marcus meets Cottia in the garden and explains he and Esca are going to retrieve his father’s Eagle. He explains its significance to a Legion and to him, given that his father led the Ninth. She doesn’t understand, but she accepts that he must go. Then, Marcus asks her to visit Cub and keep him company while he and Esca are gone. Finally, he gives her his bracelet and asks her to keep it until he returns. She agrees and disappears into the bushes.