They had a good plan to get the Eagle back, but I wonder if there's any truth to the Eagle's wings being detachable?
IIRC Sutcliff based the plot of the story on the fact that there was a wingless Eagle dug up in Calleva/Silchester. (I have misplaced the site with the pictures, but it looks kind of... hilariously chickeny.) At the time she (and possibly current consensus) thought that it was a legionary standard, but I think now they think it isn't. So basically, uh, I don't know if they ordinarily have detachable wings, but the one she based the story on did. All I know about the actual standards is that they're small enough to hide in your clothing -- I vaguely recall reading it in Suetonius' Life of Caesar. I think that was the book.
Also if you think Marcus' disguise is hilarious you owe it to yourself to watch the 1977 BBC miniseries adaptation of the book, which has his stupid oculist hat in all its stupid glory, for approximately half of the series.
no subject
IIRC Sutcliff based the plot of the story on the fact that there was a wingless Eagle dug up in Calleva/Silchester. (I have misplaced the site with the pictures, but it looks kind of... hilariously chickeny.) At the time she (and possibly current consensus) thought that it was a legionary standard, but I think now they think it isn't. So basically, uh, I don't know if they ordinarily have detachable wings, but the one she based the story on did. All I know about the actual standards is that they're small enough to hide in your clothing -- I vaguely recall reading it in Suetonius' Life of Caesar. I think that was the book.
Also if you think Marcus' disguise is hilarious you owe it to yourself to watch the 1977 BBC miniseries adaptation of the book, which has his stupid oculist hat in all its stupid glory, for approximately half of the series.