The Rosemary Sutcliff historical novel published in 1957 about a young man, Justin, and his friend Flavius, who are surgeon and centurion respectively in the Roman army in third century Britain. During their service, stumble upon a conspiracy to assassinate the emperor Carausius and join La Résistance against the Saxon-allied usurper of Britain. It's based on historical events surrounding Marcus Aurelius Carausius
and Allectus. Often listed with The Eagle of the Ninth and The Lantern Bearers as a trilogy, it marks another installment of the loosely connected The Dolphin Ring series.
This book provide examples of:
- Animal Motif: The Dolphin is both the badge of Flavius and Justin's grandmother's family, and the name of the Portus Adurni wineshop where they meet Paulinus.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: The Saxons set Calleva on fire while they loot it after fleeing Asklepiodotus's army. The flames eventually reach the basilica where the civilians have taken refuge and the Lost Legion has rushed in the defend them.
- Beastly Bloodsports: Justin visits a cockfight while stationed at Hadrian's Wall to hand off a tablet containing details of Allectus' plot to Evicatos of the Spear to deliver to Carausius.
- Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: Allectus's Saxon Guard, who also operate as a secret police.
- Canis Latinicus: Sutcliff was still getting the hang of Roman naming conventions. Lucius Tiberius Justinianus has two first names and a cognomen instead of a first name, gens name, and cognomen.
- Celtic Mythology: The metal percussion instrument Cullen plays, a set of spherical bells dangling from a hollow rod, is inspired by the bards’ “branches” of Celtic legend. The silver branch was also a passport to the other world, which perhaps symbolizes Cullen’s disappearance and reappearance with a message from the dead Carausius.
- Continuity Nod: Flavius's ring combined with Justinianus's name alerts them to their cousinship.It was a heavy and very battered signet-ring. The flawed emerald which formed the bezel was darkly cool, holding the surface reflection of the window as he turned it to catch the light, and the engraved device stood out clearly. “This Dolphin?” he said, with a dawning excitement. “Yes, I have, on—on the ivory lid of an old cosmetic box that belonged to my grandmother. It was the badge of her family.”
- Cool Old Lady: Flavius and Justin's straight-talking cosmetic disaster Great Aunt, Honoria.
- Day of the Jackboot: Allectus poses as a liberator from a corrupt Carausius, but his Saxon backing makes his reign effectively a foreign occupation.
- Delusions of Doghood: Cullen the Fool. How much he truly thinks he is a dog and how much is Obfuscating Insanity is left as an exercise for the reader, but he is certainly at his happiest when he is acting like a hound.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Huge blond Teutonic barbarians marching through the streets of Britain were a fairly recent concern when the book was written, and Carausius's plan for Britain as a last bastion of civilisation after the fall of Rome evokes Britain's position during the Nazi occupation of Europe. Paulinus's organisation is an inversion of French Resistance drama.
- Face Your Fears: Paulinus hides Justin and Flavian in a tiny secret room in the old theatre. Justin, we discover, suffers from Claustrophobia.
- Halloween Episode: Justin and Flavian receive word of Carausius's assassination on Samhain, the Celtic day of the dead.
- Happiness in Slavery: The curious case of Cullen the Fool, who likes to think of himself as a hound, to the point of sleeping on the floor, wearing a dog's tail and wagging it, and Undying Loyalty to his master. He eventually explains to Justin and Flavius that he was Born into Slavery and to him, being ownerless is like being unemployed. Or maybe he's just ahead of his time.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Paulinus lets himself be cut down by the Saxon Guard to allow the others time to escape. Evicatos dies defending Cullen in the basilica.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: As colleagues, friends, and long-lost cousins, Justin and Flavian seem to have hitched their wagons to each other, though unlike some of Sutcliff's other partnerships they aren't balls-deep in
Ho Yay. - La Résistance: A somewhat ironic version, given that they're Carausius's followers supporting Constantius as a liberator from Allectus, who overthrew Carausius, who rebelled against Constantius in the first place.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Flavius's "Lost Legion", including two deserted centurions and a surgeon, a freed gladiator, a teenage cutpurse, and a jester, who use a battered and wingless legionary eagle as their standard.
- The Spymaster: Paulinus, the George Smiley of Portus Adurni. A small – ahem – plump, timid tax collector with an – ahem – Verbal Tic, who enjoys Euripides.
- Legend Fades to Myth: Flavius knows there's a vague family story about their ancestor Marcus having some adventure in the North; he suspects it may have had something to do with the Ninth Legion. Justin thinks this is far-fetched.
- The Medic: Justin is an Army Surgeon. His willingness to treat the local tribesmen around Magnis-on-the-Wall is what earns him and Flavius the benefit of Evicatos of the Spear's information network.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Justin and Flavius are Kicked Upstairs to Hadrian's Wall after accusing Allectus of conspiracy. They realise later that Carausius put them out of Allectus's reach.
- Shout-Out: The "lights will go out everywhere" quote below is probably inspired by the famous remark on the eve of World War One, "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we will not see them lit again in our lifetime."
- A Storm Is Coming: Saxon invasions and the breakup of of the Roman empire, which overshadow all the later Roman novels, are first invoked here.Carausius: Always, everywhere, the Wolves gather on the frontiers, waiting. It needs only that a man should lower his eyes for a moment, and they will be in to strip the bones. Rome is failing, my children...If I can make this one province strong–strong enough to stand alone when Rome goes down, then something may be saved from the darkness. If not, then Dubris light and Limanis light and Rutupiae light will all go out. The lights will go out everywhere.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Carausius did make himself the emperor of Britain and was betrayed by Allectus. History is silent on whether he was warned by a couple of junior officers who later led a resistance with the help of a Proud Warrior Race Guy and a guy who thought he was a dog.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Justin believes he's a disappointment to his father, who wanted him to follow in his footsteps as a soldier. He eventually receives a letter assuring him that no, his father is just terrible at showing affection.
