A review of Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel The Flower of Adonis, historical fiction for adults, said

The Flower of Adonis is an excellent grown-up novel on the theme of Alcibiades, if the Peloponnesian War and Athens in the fifth century BC interests you. As for Eagle of the Ninth, I became (briefly) an archaeologist partly because of the book. All I know about Roman toilet behaviour I learned from her at the age of 12!

• More on Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel The Flower of Adonis about Alcabiades
• More on classic children’s book The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
• More on Roman toilets and cess-pits!