The Golden Eagle

Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff is a really really good book full of action, adventure and some cleverness.

This book is set in Roman times. Marcus lives with his uncle Aquila who's not the happiest of people when Marcus comes to live with him. Marcus goes with his uncle to see a gladiator match and saves somebody by saying don't kill him and making the crowd agree with him, then buys him and then they become friends.

The Ninth legion is believed to have walked on and then just disappeared. Marcus and Esca (the rescued gladiator) go on a quest to find the missing eagle of the ninth legion. The eagle was the sign of the Romans. On the quest they think they've won it, then they don't and you're always wanting to know what happens next.

It's one of those books that you'll be trying to read in your sleep because it you're just so interested and excited because you just don't know what's going to happen next.

I learned quite a bit about Roman times, mainly about how many different types of soldiers there were and what games they played.

It was easy to read however some bits of it were quite difficult to understand and so it was good that my dad read it to me.

Star rating is five out of five because I absolutely loved this book. I would recommend it for eight plus but if you're 8 or 7 someone should probably read it to you.