Under the Eagle: Eagles of the Empire, Book 1

Not saying this book is better than the work of Benard Cornwell, but I'm seeing a lot of 1-star reviews saying "he's no Bernard Cornwell".Whether or not Simon Scarrow is as good or better is irrelevant. At the end of the day, if you with Bernard Cornwell wrote about the Roman Empire, then this is the perfect book and series for you. Great main fictional characters, fantastic battle scenes with a little espionage and intrigue sprinkled in.I say this because I have looked very hard for Ancient Rome novels similar in style and quality as Cornwell, and was more often than not directed to Conn Iggulden, who wrote the "Emperor" series based on the life of Julius Ceaser.Because Iggulden's books followed a prominent historical figure firsthand, he was forced to make a lot of liberties with history that were distracting and frustrating.This Simon Scarrow series, however, takes a similar approach to Cornwell in which he follows fictional foot soldiers who come across historical events and figures. This means he has to bend or change what we know about that period much less than the Iggulden "Emperor" Series. It also paints a visceral picture around what life in a Roman Legion would be like.This overall a very well-written and exciting book. Highly recommend, great stuff!

Simon Scarrow's "Under the Eagle" is the first in a terrific series of novels on the Roman Military. The series follows two soldiers - Macro and Cato - fighting under Vespasian in the mid-first Century AD."Under the Eagle's" action is terrific and Scarrow has done a very good job of making each battle sequence unique. It's perhaps the best in Scarrow's series, but I've found the second, "The Eagle's Conquest", equally as enjoyable.The core components of the story consist of the introduction of the characters, their initial bonding during an action-packed fight in Europe, and then, as the war front moves to Britain, a series of exciting battles orbiting the search and discovery of war loot buried in Britain by Julius Caesar about a century earlier."Under the Eagle" introduces our two main characters. Macro is the older battle-hardened Centurion. He fights hard and drinks harder. Cato is a freed slave who grew up in the palaces on the Palatine Hill in Rome. He's young, lanky, bookish and completely unfamiliar with a military lifestyle. Coming from different worlds, Macro and Cato clash. And the story launches it most persistent theme by defining the growth of each character individually and the growth of their relationship.It's a "buddy" book, with action, adventure, and fun interplay between characters set in the dramatic locations of a peaking Roman Empire.The characters are a bit thin and superficial, but are drawn from familiar military examples. In Scarrow's world, while the weapons, strategies, tactics and politics are very Roman, the character-types are pretty timeless. You could conceivably modify the language slightly and picture Macro and Cato in WWII, Vietnam, or even on an alien world.If you're looking for military action, then this book is for you. It's a fast and engaging read. It's not the deepest of military dramas, so if you're looking for something more substantial, I'd recommend Wallace Breem's "Eagle in the Snow", or Robert Graves' "I, Claudius".Consider "Eagle" a solid snack, compared to the full meal you'd get with Breem or Graves. Another analogy would place "Eagle" as a summer blockbuster, but you shouldn't expect it to win many Oscars.All in all...I highly recommend this book and series.

I finished Bernard cornwell's books and after reading his amazing books ans finishing all I was having serious withdrawal. Decided to start under eagle and wow love it!!!!! Love Macro and Cato. I loved to learn about the roman army, ranks, politics. Amazing book!!

Having read all (yes!) of S. Turney's books an Ancient Rome I was looking for something similar, and chose Scarrow. It is, in fact, very similar to Turney, notably the action scenes, but Scarrow provides less character description than does Turney (not necessarily a bad thing (Turney can be a little formulaic at times, copying his own clichés)).The major fault I find with Scarrow -- especially compared to Turney -- is that there are way too many factual errors in Scarrow for it to be enjoyable. In a gladiator match he pits a "Retarius" against a "Mirmillo". Correct are Retiarius and Murmillo. Very easy to look up. Worse still: there is a discussion between two officers about what to do with the chained galley slaves on warships used should the ship perish. BEEP! Neither Ancient Greeks nor Ancient Romans used galley slaves (they show up a 1000 years later, but that is another story). In cases of desperation slaves could be recruited but were then normally freed, so chains were never used -- partly for the reason that they would have weighed the ships down, not a clever idea for a warship. Roman warship were oared by trained pros. The "Roman galley slave" myth was possibly invented by Lew Wallace for the sand-and-sandal best-seller Ben-Hur (later movies followed), possibly with Wallace even knowing that he "peppered" his novel for dramatic purposes, even if it included being lax on historic truth.* Anyway, I've read the entire first book (which I enjoyed; see my title and previous comments) and the sample of the second.Now I hesitate to invest in this full series (tempting as it is). I would *love* to follow the stories/lives of Cato and Macro... but... should more factual incorrect statements be made -- à la the popular myth that Julius Caesar was the first living Roman to be depicted on a coin, in 44BC (precursors include Flaminus, Sulla, Pompey the Great's sons, even Pompey himself, and even Caesar himself, three years earlier, in Bithynia, in a design very similar to the 44BC one) -- it will destroy the "authenticity" feel for me. Here I am immersed in an intense part of the book, only to it destroyed by something that didn't happen. The officers might as well have discussed laser swords (that, along with galley slaves, didn't exist at the time). And for me, professional scientist and typographer, with around 50 books and 3000 scientific papers on Ancient Rome read, and having been editor of scientific journals (he said, humbly): it's a tall order. It doesn't take much for me to having my suspension of disbelief destroyed, alas. We'll see what I opt for.But, and importantly, for anyone less anal-retentive than myself about facts: go ahead! The story is good, and so is the writing.Galley slaves reference:Simon James. 2001. The Roman galley slave. Ben-Hur and the birth of a factoid.Public Archaeology, volume 2, pages 35–49.

Couldn't put it down, I believe this is going to be a great series!

Very good !! Fine and entertaining writing and a story with all aspects you want to read about. To be continued

I read the entire series of Cato & Macro books and am giving a break before I read them all again. Simon Scarrow and Conn Iggulden are my favorite authors. I believe that anyone interested in Roman history must read the entire Cato & Macro series and then Conn Iggulden's series on Julius Caesar.

After a while the characters take on a life of their own. A real slice of Roman life from the seedy intrigue at the top, to the long suffering centurion and his men at the bottom. All against the backdrop of an incredibly organised Roman Legion, strangely modern in feel, I suppose owing to the fact that it has been much imitated.

Espetacular romance histórico ambientado no Império Romano, especialmente do ponto de vista da caserna. Interessante descrição da máquina de guerra e da disciplina romana, base dos exércitos modernos. Muito bom!