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Tribune Placidus
Guern is a former Roman Centurion and commander in the Ninth Legion who, following an injury in the fight with the tribesmen, decided to join the tribe. He describes himself to Marcus as fully dedicated to the cause when he and his Cohort were sent north—but he was unable to keep morale up. Though he feels ashamed of his choice to join the tribes, he is also extremely thankful for all he has, namely his wife Murna, their children, and the warm welcome he received from Murna and her tribe when he gave up his identity as a Roman soldier. However, Guern maintains some loyalty to the Roman Empire and helps Marcus and Esca evade the tribes as they flee back toward Hadrian’s Wall.
Guern Quotes in The Eagle of the Ninth
The The Eagle of the Ninth quotes below are all either spoken by Guern or refer to Guern . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 13 Quotes
How little difference there was between children, all the world over, Marcus thought, looking on with amusement, or fathers, or shaving, for that matter; the small patterns of behaviour and relationship that made up family life.
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Chapter 18 Quotes
They looked back when they had gone a few paces, and saw him standing as they had left him, already dimmed with mist, and outlined against the drifting mist beyond. A half-naked, wild-haired tribesman, with a savage dog against his knee; but the wide, well-drilled movement of his arm as he raised it in greeting and farewell was all Rome. It was the parade-ground and the clipped voice of trumpets, the iron discipline and pride. In that instant Marcus seemed to see, not the barbarian hunter, but the young Centurion, proud in his first command, before ever the shadow of the doomed legion fell on him. It was to that Centurion that he saluted in reply.
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Chapter 21 Quotes
Somewhere a door slammed, and Esca’s step sounded below in the colonnade, accompanied by a clear and merry whistling.
Oh when I joined the Eagles,
(As it might be yesterday)
I kissed a girl at Clusium
Before I marched away.
And it came to Marcus suddenly that slaves very seldom whistled. They might sing, if they felt like it or if the rhythm helped their work, but whistling was in some way different; it took a free man to make the sort of noise Esca was making.
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Guern Character Timeline in The Eagle of the Ninth
The timeline below shows where the character Guern appears in The Eagle of the Ninth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12
...popular legion song about kissing a girl at Clusium. The whistler (later revealed to be Guern) begins singing the final verse and finishes as Esca and Marcus come around the corner....
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Marcus introduces himself as Demetrius, Esca gives his real name, and the hunter says he’s Guern. He lives a day’s ride away and hunts here regularly. Marcus questions Guern about the...
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Chapter 13
Finally, Marcus, Esca, and Guern reach Guern’s family’s huts. Stepping around a toddler in the doorway, Marcus greets Guern’s wife,...
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...Marcus suggests he’d like to head west. The nearest village is two days away, so Guern offers to accompany Marcus and Esca, camp with them that night, and then return home....
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Speaking in Latin now, Guern explains that the Hispana had been cursed 60 years ago. They were tasked with taking...
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By the time they reached an abandoned fort, Guern continues, they’d lost a thousand men. The tribesmen massed around the walls, killing more, until...
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The Eagle, Guern says, went north with the tribesmen. It was with Marcus’s father the last time Guern...
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Chapter 15
...the “Eagle-god.” Marcus asks to hear more, and Tradui tells much the same story that Guern did. Without pity, but with clear admiration for the final Roman soldiers, Tradui details how...
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Chapter 17
...they stop when they notice movement below. It turns out to be a cow and Guern, once again whistling the Roman song. Marcus reveals himself.
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Chapter 18
Guern already knows that the Epidaii are after Marcus, Esca, and the Eagle. Marcus asks Guern...
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Just before dawn, Guern leads Marcus and Esca out of the bog. This, he explains, is as far as...
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Chapter 20
...would say over a dead comrade. Marcus thinks he sees a First Cohort Commander and Guern in the shadows, and he can hear the trumpets from the nearby transit camp. He...
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