Awesome / The Eagle of the Ninth

• The British war chariots with scythes on the wheels. Sutcliff wrote in one of the editions that she later discovered that they probably didn't actually put blades on the wheels, but it sounds cool, in a violent, weapon of war sort of way.
• Marcus' heroic near-sacrifice against the blade-wheel chariots. His unit is retreating to the fort but probably won't make it before the chariots run them down. Marcus does an about-face and leaps for the driver of the lead chariot, tangling the reins and causing a pile up of the following chariots which buys time for his men to get to safety. Even better, Marcus fully expects to die and probably would have, except his men are as loyal to him as he is to them and come back to rescue him.
• Both awesome and tragic, the last stand of the Ninth Legion. After a mutiny and being hunted for days through unfamiliar territory by the British tribes, the survivors, including Marcus' father, make a final stand, and though they all are killed, they fight fiercely and bravely enough that their enemies are impressed.
• Marcus and Esca's eagle heist. Since they know as visitors, they'll be suspected when the Eagle goes missing, they first hide it near the settlement and then leave in the morning as planned without it. When the clan discovers the Eagle is missing, they pursue Marcus and Esca as expected, search them and don't find it. With suspicion averted, Esca then sneaks back to the village and recovers the Eagle for real. Elegantly planned, and it would have worked perfectly but for a bit of bad luck when Esca retrieves the Eagle, which sets the clan on their tail again. Even then, Esca and Marcus manage to escape despite having an unexpected hunting party on their heels.
• Marcus and Esca are nearly cornered and captured by a couple of the Epidaii hunting them. When one, the brother of Marcus' host, accuses him of violating their hospitality by stealing the Eagle, Marcus sets the record straight that he is no common thief but the son of the man to whom the Eagle rightfully belonged, a claim which the Epidaii respect as giving Marcus a right to try for the Eagle.