Review: Excellent Roman military-historical novel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 10, 2012
"Under the Eagle" is the first novel in a series of novels dealing with Centurion Macro and Optio ("Second in Command") Cato.  The novel opens with Cato, a gangling teenager, inducted into the Roman Army in Germany with a letter of introduction from Rome insisting that he immediately be made a Centurion.  General Vespasian balks at this notion but compromises by making Cata an "Optio" which is essentially a Centurion's second in command and assistant.  Macro and Cato's skills compliment one another since Macro is illiterate, which he takes pains to conceal, while Cato is a bookworm.  Most of the novel deals with Cato's coming of age as a competent Roman soldier and fighting-man.The writing in this novel is quite good, the plot is linear without becoming too passe, and the characterizations are very good.  The author does a good job giving the reader a flavor for what it must have been like to be a Roman soldier in post-Republican Rome.  I liked this novel well enough to pick up the second installment in the series.  RJB.