Marcus Flavius Aquila

Marcus Flavius Aquila (born c. 107) is the protagonist of 's book, The Eagle of the Ninth.
He was played by () and ().
==Biography==
Marcus was raised by his mother on a farm near , , while his father soldiered in , , and . Marcus was ten years old when his father disappeared with the around 117 CE. His mother dying soon after, he lived in with his paternal aunt and her husband Tullus Lepidus, with whom he did not get along, and became a skilled and . Tullus soon sold Marcus' parents' farm.
At age 18, he joined the as a and centurion of ries under the command of the Second Legion in Britain. At age 19, while commanding the Fourth Gaulish Cohort in , he sustained a severe injury to his right leg in the battle for which he received a good conduct bracelet from the legion, and was invalided out of the army. He recuperated in the house of his paternal uncle Aquila at , where he met his British companions Esca and Cottia, and his pet Cub. A year after his injury, his leg wound was re-searched to remove debris missed in its initial treatment. His right leg afterward regained much of its former use and was relieved of chronic pain, though it was left twisted, scarred, and with some weakness in the knee.
The following summer, around 128 CE, Marcus undertook a mission, incognito as the travelling Demetrius of Alexandria, to find the Eagle of the missing Ninth Legion north of , with the help of his friend and slave Esca. From a deserter named Guern, they learned of the mutiny, disintegration, and massacre of the legion by tribesmen north of , disillusioning Marcus about its fate and the chances of reforming the legion. Searching the territory of the Epidaii tribe which claimed the , they discovered it enshrined in the Place of Life, as well as hearing of the honourable death of Marcus' father from the eyewitness, Tradui, who kept his dolphin signet ring as a trophy.
Marcus received the ring back from Tradui's grandson Liathan during the Epidaii's pursuit of them and the stolen Eagle, after Tradui guessed Marcus' identity from his resemblance to his father. Marcus and Esca discreetly returned the Eagle to Roman territory, where his leg suffered a relapse of some months from overuse. The Senate declined to reinstate the legion, but granted Marcus the full discharge bonus of a retired legionary, allowing him to take up his second choice of livelihood; farming. He chose to remain in southern Britain, instead of returning to Etruria, and married Cottia. Marcus' adventure in the north remained vaguely known to their descendants in the late 3rd century.
== Personality ==
* "[H]e was not one of those who must be able to say ‘Mine’ before they can truly enjoy a thing." (EN 2)
* "He was one of those people who need something to do with their hands at all times, even if it is only a stick to whittle; and something of the craftsman in him demanded always to have an outlet." (EN 7)
* "Marcus had common sense and gentle hands and the craftsman’s dislike of a job ill done." (EN 12)
== Appearance ==
* "The Commander was a complete contrast to his men: Roman to his arrogant finger-tips, wiry and dark as they were raw-boned and fair. The olive-skinned face under the curve of his crested helmet had not a soft line in it anywhere—a harsh face it would have been, but that it was winged with laughter lines, and between his level black brows showed a small raised scar that marked him for one who had passed the Raven Degree of Mithras." (EN 1)
* "He would carry the scars to his dying day, and a twisted leg that would bar him from the Legions, but that was all; indeed, after a winter spent with Esca’s help in training as though for the arena, he was now as hard as a gladiator." (EN 9)
* "His own tracks, Marcus knew, were all too easily recognizable, because, however hard he tried not to, he dragged his right leg a little." (EN 15)
* "Esca, who was British, could pass unnoticed where Marcus, with his olive skin, his darkness that was of quite a different kind from that of the tribesmen, would be suspect at once." (EN 17)
== Trivia ==
* The 2011 film changed some of the historical aspects; the Eagle disappeared in 129 AD (rather than 117 AD), the film takes place in 149 AD (rather than 127 AD), and Marcus is in his late 20s (rather than his late teens).
==Licensing==
This article contains content derived from the "Marcus" article on the Sutcliff Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
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