Author: Anthony Lawton

Chair, Sussex Dolphin, family company which looks after the work of eminent children’s & historical fiction author Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-92). Formerly CEO, chair & trustee of various charity, cultural & educational enterprises in UK. Sometimes a consultant.

The Eagle of the Ninth film | International titles

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I was, of course, disappointed when the US film studio Focus Features decided to shorten the film title to The Eagle from The Eagle of the Ninth, the full and proper title of Rosemary Sutcliff‘s novel. I chose to believe that the studio knew its business and its market, although the subsequent relative failure of their marketing in the US might lead one to wonder a little more … (For those of you interested, the contract for the book rights – a standard 0ne  – gave those of us responsible for Rosemary Sutcliff’s book no veto or locus in the decision).

I have been tracking down the international titles of the film, and it is interesting that in much of Europe the title is still The Eagle of the Ninth (in translation). A shame we here in the UK have to go with the US title, which was chosen, it is said publicly by the director, partly because Amercians’ who were market tested were confused that this might be a film about golf – as in a bogie at the eighth! And I note that The Eagle in Russia (see  full title below) has knocked True Grit into a cocked hat in the money taken stakes.

Орел Девятого легиона Russia

Орелът Bulgaria

Örninn Iceland

9. legion Poland

A Águia da Nona Legião Portugal

A sas Hungary

Acvila legiunii a IX-a Romania

Der Adler der Neunten Legion Germany

Devintojo legiono erelis Lithuania

Dziewiaty legion Poland

El águila de la novena legión Spain

Erelis Lithuania

Kotka Finland

L’ Aigle de la Neuvième Légion France

O aetos tis aftokratorias Greece

Orao Croatia

More women than men follow Rosemary Sutcliff page on Facebook

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This is for any of you who are as intrigued as I am to watch the make-up of the increasing number of users of the Facebook page about Rosemary Sutcliff.

Male & female Facebook likers of Rosemary Sutcliff page on March 16th, 2011

‘It would seem that Sutcliff was right after all” | The Eagle and The Eagle of the Ninth | More on The Roman Ninth Legion’s mysterious loss | BBC News

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

Ninth Legion stampRosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth is grounded in a view about what happened to the ninth Roman legion. The fate of the legion continues to be debated, most recently on the BBC website, by Miles Russell of Bournemouth University.

The British problem was of deep concern to Roman central government. Thanks to a tombstone recovered from Ferentinum in Italy, we know that emergency reinforcements of over 3,000 men were rushed to the island on “the British Expedition”, early in Hadrian’s reign. The emperor himself visited the island in AD 122, in order to “correct many faults”, bringing with him a new legion, the Sixth.

The fact that they took up residence in the legionary fortress of York suggests that the “great losses” of personnel, alluded to by Fronto, had occurred within the ranks of the Ninth.

Archaeological evidence of the legion’s fate is scarce

It would seem that Sutcliff was right after all.

It was the Ninth, the most exposed and northerly of all legions in Britain, that had borne the brunt of the uprising, ending their days fighting insurgents in the turmoil of early 2nd Century Britain.

Source: BC News – The Roman Ninth Legion’s mysterious loss.

See also on this blog a post on The symbolism of The Eagle of the Ninth | What happened to the ninth legion: Part IX?

Writer Amanda Craig on historical novelist and children’s writer Rosemary Sutcliff

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Interview here in The Times newspaper with your blog’s author – about Rosemary Sutcliff, the book The Eagle of the Ninth and the film The Eagle.

Rosemary Sutcliff and BBC Radio 3 | The Eagle film director Kevin MacDonald interview

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Rosemary Sutcliff’s book The Eagle of the Ninth, and more particularly the take on it of director of the film The Eagle Kevin MacDonald, was the subject of a thoughtful interview on BBC Radio 3 last week. Hear here, starting about 1 minute and 12 seconds in!