The standard was the mode of communication for generals and troops. A horn blast would instruct the soldiers to look to the emblem, then the aquilifer would wave, raise, or lower it to direct the troops on their next move.

The draco, which means “dragon” or “serpent,” was a military standard of the Roman cavalry. It was the standard of the cohort, whereas the aquila (eagle) was the legion’s. The draco was worn by a horseman called the draconarius (“dragon-bearer”), while the bearer of the aquila was called was an aquilifier.It is significant to notice that while the fasces have been associated with absolute power in more modern times, this was not the case in ancient Rome.

I expected Lupa to scold his complaining (as she had done to me on multiple occasions), but she didn’t. It will keep you alive long enough for you to do so. Ancient Romans esteemed the eagle and adopted it as a symbol of victory. Pliny the Elder wrote extensively on eagles, noting that they possessed excellent eyesight and were skilled parents. In Rosemary Sutcliff's 1954 historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth, a young Roman officer, Marcus Flavius Aquila, is trying to recover the Eagle standard of his father's legion beyond Hadrian's Wall.Lupa’s ears perked up, and her eyes looked right where I was standing. I had this feeling, like she could sense me. In the second part, Marcus recovers in the company of his elderly uncle (Donald Sutherland), who buys the British slave Esca (Jamie Bell) for him after Marcus has saved his life in a gladiatorial arena. Considered physically unfit for further military service and goaded by casual insults to his father's reputation from complacent Roman politicians, Marcus resolves to devote himself to his true purpose – the discovery of what happened to the Ninth Legion up in Caledonia, the recovery of the Eagle and the clearing of the family name. Accompanied by Esca, who speaks Pictish or whatever the language is called, he heads up beyond Hadrian's Wall on his dangerous quest. At this point The Eagle inevitably invites comparison with two recent movies that touch on the same subject of lost Romans in the gloaming on the barbarous banks of Clyde: the disastrous The Lost Legion and the passable Centurion. In every respect – the language, the characterisation, the staging of the action sequences and the historical resonance – The Eagle is superior.

I guess. Hey, I can just trail you, right?” I asked hopefully. The good part about Deathball is that it wasn’t free-for-all. The bad news was that the teams were going to be based on the cohorts. Good enough, except for one thing: Hazel had warned me that the Fifth Cohort (which was where I now resided) was going to be targeted. Yay. defeat of Cornelius Fuscus in the First Battle of Tapae during Domitian's Dacian War. [34] Legio V Alaudae or Praetorian Guard (recaptured during Trajan's Dacian Wars in 101 or 102 [35]). defeat of Marcus Sedatius Severianus by the Parthians at Elegeia in Armenia. [37] Possibly the Legio IX Hispana or Legio XXII Deiotariana. [38]

In Kate Atkinson's novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum, set in 20thcentury York, the ghosts of the members of LegioIX – together with those of people from other periods in York's history – celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and raise aloft their legion's Eagle in the new Queen's honour. The other guy looked where I was too, but he had a different expression; like he was looking right through me. “What is it?” he frowned. Losing an eagle standard in battle was considered the ultimate humiliation, and the Romans went to considerable lengths to recover them. One such occasion came in 53 BC when Crassus’ Roman army was crushed by the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae. The Romans suffered a double humiliation – several legionary standards were captured and Crassus, a greedy man by nature, had molten gold poured down his throat.