This is news to me, although it is probably originally in her memoir Blue Remembered Hills: the name Esca for the slave in Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth comes from Victorian novelist Whyte-Melville’s The Gladiators. Rosemary’s mother used to read her this aloud.
- Source: Talcroft, B. L. (1995). Death of the corn king: King and goddess in Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical fiction for young adults. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press.
Is there any connection between the name Esca in the Gladiators and the Roman name for Exeter, do you know?
LikeLike
I do not, but someone else here may ….!
LikeLike
Actually, I think it is Isca in the name for Exeter, not Esca?
LikeLike