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The book (and TV series) was such a favourite of mine as a kid, I'd be happy to see it made into a film - even if that means it will perpetuate the myth of the "lost Ninth Legion". So long as the publicity for the movie points out that it's a myth and doesn't do a King Arthur to history.
I remember racing home from school back in the 70s to catch each episode when the TV series was on and I thought it was wonderful (I think I was 10 at the time). Seeing it again in re-runs a few years ago, I found it was actually pretty hokey (lots of recycled I Claudius sets and props) with some really woeful acting.
But still way cool. :lol:
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Btw Tim, how's your Varus filming project doing?
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Avete omnes,
after reading the comments in this topic I ordered the book and in the preface I found a reference to a bronce eagle without wings that was found in Silchester and that is now displayed in a museum at Reading. This fund inspired the author for the novel:
http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album34/Silchester_Eagle
What do You think - do we see here an genuine Legion eagle. Or would You deny this because it is not made of silver or gold? Or is it even from Celtic origin?
Greets - Uwe
Greets - Uwe
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No, we don't. 
Quote:What do You think - do we see here an genuine Legion eagle. Or would You deny this because it is not made of silver or gold? Or is it even from Celtic origin?
The eagle is probably part of a statue of Jupiter, but it's rather eccentric Victorian excavator suggested that it was the aquila of one of Allectus' legions. See For the Glory of Rome, chp 4 notes for refs.
Cheers,
R.
OK, for the history of the Ninth Legion and its demise see pages 220-232 of For the Glory of Rome.
E.B. Birley, 'The Fate of the Ninth Legion' in R. M. Butler (ed.) Soldier and Civilian in Roman Yorkshire. Leicester: 1971, 71-80. Reprinted in Birley's , The Roman Army. Papers 1929-1986. Mavors vol. 4. Amsterdam: 1988, 316-325
L. Keppie, 'Legio VIIII in Britain: The Beginning and the End' in R. Brewer (ed.), Roman Legions and their Fortresses. Cardiff & London: 2000, 83-100. Reprinted in L. Keppie, Legions and Veterans: Roman Army Papers 1971-2000. Mavors vol. 12. Stuttgart: 2000, 201-218.
For the original interpretation of the Silchester eagle as a late third century AD legionary aquila:
J.G. Joyce, 'Account of Further Excavations at Silchester', Archaeologia 46 (1881), 329-365.
Identified as belonging to a statue of Jupiter:
G. Boon, Silchester: The Roman Town of Calleva. Newton Abbot: 1974, 71, 119-120
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Quote:Graham Sumner:1fqa0wm9 Wrote:One good thing might be the BBC will actually release the TV series on DVD! Let's hope so. I loved it. Especially the legionary marching song.
Does anyone know if this BBC series has yet been released on DVD :?: and if so, how/where it may be purchased?
Iosephus Augustus/
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It looks fairly modern to me, but the posture of the bird rings a bell.
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
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This from Hollywood -- Cast Announced for the new film Eagle Of The Ninth...
[size=150:3nw3og9x]Tatum, Bell, Sutherland fly with "Eagle"
[/size]
By Stuart Kemp – Wed Aug 26, 12:11 am ET
LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) – Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland and Mark Strong are sharpening their swords for director Kevin Macdonald's Roman epic "The Eagle of the Ninth."
The quartet have signed to star in the film, which is based on the 1954 children's novel by Rosemary Sutcliff. The script is by Jeremy Brock, who last worked with Macdonald on the Idi Amin drama "The Last King of Scotland."
Set in 2nd-century Britain, the movie follows the story of young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Tatum), who arrives from Rome to solve the mystery of the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland and to restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth.
The film is being financed by Focus Features, a specialty unit of Universal, and U.K. broadcaster Channel Four's filmmaking arm, Film4
:wink:
Narukami
David Reinke
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Quote:Does anyone know if this BBC series has yet been released on DVD :?: and if so, how/where it may be purchased?
No it hasn't because, as far as anyone at the BBC can tell me, no copy exists in their archives.
The master tapes were wiped as part of the great BBC tape purge of the late 1970s. Copies of lost shows sometimes turn up overseas (a lot of lost Dr Who episodes turned up in Australia and New Zealand) but not this one. A great shame.
There's a legend that a copy languishes in the Vatican Library, wrapped up in Harold Godwinson's 'Fighting Man' banner but written requests have thus far been ignored.....
"Medicus" Matt Bunker
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Ripped from Wiki....
Quote:Macdonald intends the film to be historically authentic, but as little is certain about the tribes that the Romans encountered—they were probably Celts, but some may have been Picts—he has made concessions. For example, the tribespeople will speak Gaelic, even though the language probably did not enter widespread use in the region until the fifth century AD. "It's the best we can do," Macdonald said, "All you can do is build on a few clues and trust your own instincts. That way, no one can tell you you were wrong."[3] In August 2009, Macdonald held open auditions in Glasgow for a Gaelic-speaking boy,[2] to play the young tribal hero of the movie".[3] The character will be between nine and twelve years old and be known as "seal boy",[2] a member of a tribe that the novel calls the "seal people"; Macdonald "has his own [interpretation]" of the tribe:[3]
They were a more indigenous folk than the Celts, who were from further south ... They were probably small and dark, like the Inouit, living off seals and dressed in sealskins. We are going to create a culture about which no one knows much, but which we will make as convincing as possible. We are basing it on clues gained from places like Skara Brae and the Tomb of the Eagles in Orkney, so that we will have them worshipping pagan symbols, like the seal and the eagle.
The reason they have seized the emblem of the Roman eagle from the legion is because to them it as a sacred symbol.[3]
Achiltibuie, a village in north west Scotland, will be the filming location for the "seal people"; Macdonald intends to use locals as extras. The "clash of cultures" between the Romans and the tribes is the main theme of the film, as Marcus Aquila "comes to realise that his imperial view of the world has to be reconciled with the beliefs and traditions of other people". The Romans will be played by Americans "to achieve a little contemporary symbolism".[3]
So, stone age seal clubbing Innuit Gaels then?
I thought it was about a crippled chap trying to restore a bit of polish to his father's tarnished reputation not about a 'clash of cultures'.
As for this.... Quote:The Romans will be played by Americans "to achieve a little contemporary symbolism"
....what?
Channing Tatum....who on earth is Channing Tatum?
It's not going to go well, is it?
"Medicus" Matt Bunker
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Quote:It's not going to go well, is it?
It all depends on one's perspective. In my personal opinion, which is by no means the only possible view on this subject matter: if you want to make a movie for young people, and like to give them a sense of what it meant for a Roman to meet barbarians, letting them speak Gaelic is not the worst choice. Young visitors may recognize a word or two, just like a Roman might have understood a bit of what his hosts/enemies said.
In other words, I can live with it. After all, I can also accept -in many movies- that Romans, Germans, Italians, or French speak English.
Jona Lendering
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Tatum is the hot new Hollywood Flavor of the Month.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1475594/
He has had a busy summer appearing in both Public Enemy and the new GI Joe film (say that's not the GI Joe I remember...)
He is now in pre-production on several films besides Eagle, perhaps the most controversial being a new film starring Bruce Willis called Pinkville. This deals with the My Lai massacre. (On US Military maps built up areas were colored a shade of pink, thus the name.)
Now as to casting Americans in the parts of the Romans to "achieve a little contemporary symbolism." :roll:
I would have hoped the director a little more subtle in his art, one more interested in telling the story and letting it lead where it may... oh well.
:|
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David Reinke
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Quote:It's not going to go well, is it?
'fraid not. 
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Hi Matt,
Quote:As for this....Quote:The Romans will be played by Americans "to achieve a little contemporary symbolism"
....what?
Didn't mel G. do the same in Boudicca?
MacDonald could have used English for Romans and Scottish actors for his Dumnonians.
Quote:In August 2009, Macdonald held open auditions in Glasgow for a Gaelic-speaking boy,[2] to play the young tribal hero of the movie
EH??  hock: hock: hock:
WHAT young tribal hero? I thought Marcus was the hero of the book, have they promoted Esca to that position?
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