The Lantern Bearers
In the third installment of Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth series, the last of the Roman army have set sail and left Britain forever, abandoning it to civil war and the threat of a Saxon invasion. Aquila, a young Legionnaire, deserted his regiment to stay behind with his family, but his home and all that he loves are destroyed. Years of hardship and fighting follow, and in the end, there is only one thing left in Aquila's life - his thirst for revenge...
Carnegie Medal for Literature, 1959.
About the Eagle of the Ninth Series
Books in series order
- 1.The Eagle of the Ninth(1954)
- 2.The Silver Branch(1957)
- 3.The Lantern Bearers(1959)
- 4.Dawn Wind(1961)
- 5.Frontier Wolf(1980)
Reading age: 11+ years
This series should be read in order.
The Ninth Legion marched into the mists of northern Britain – and they were never seen again. Four thousand men disappeared and their eagle standard was lost. It's a mystery that has never been solved, until now...
So begins the story of The Eagle of the Ninth, set in Roman Britain and featuring a young soldier, Marcus Aquila, who sets off into the unknown north to discover what happened to his father and the rest of the lost legion. Throughout the five volumes which make up this series, age-old themes of love, loss, revenge and honor are explored against a richly imagined backdrop of ancient Britain.
Note: This series is also titled, The Roman Britain Trilogy.