#and as always that brings me back to rosemary sutcliff #i still need to re-read eot9 properly #to understand what it means that marcus is an equestrian #that his family have always soldiered #that even his cognomen means eagle #to think about the weight of that much family tradition #and then he's wounded #permanently #and do it to them #anyway #on a much lighter note the opening of this book #feels indefinably like coming home #rosemary sutcliff #the eagle of the ninth #ancient rome #classics #cinema