Dolphin Ring Cycle

In an attempt to recover the eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, young Roman centurion, Marcus Flavius Aquila embarks on a journey. The eagle standard of the Ninth Legion fell when Marcus' father was in command and now he must find the hostile tribe in charge of their demise.

In The Eagle of the Ninth, Marcus Flavius Aquila ventured into the wilds of Caledonia to retrieve the lost Eagle of his father's dishonored Ninth Legion. In this new story of Roman Britain, the mutilated standard is found again by Flavius, a descendant of Marcus, and his cousin Justin, a young surgeon in the Roman army. It is found at a time when conflicting loyalties, violence, and intrigue are undermining Roman rule in Britain. Justin and Flavius are accidentally caught up in this power struggle when they discover a plot to overthrow the emperor. A series of adventures carries them across England and down again to the South, where they become secret agents of Rome. But when the time comes for open revolt, they are ready with a band of loyalists to carry the Eagle of the Ninth into the thick of battle to win new honor for the Eagle and for Rome.

When the last of the Roman Auxiliaries leave Britain forever, they abandon the country to internal strife and the menace of invasion by Saxons. These are dark days indeed for Aquila, a young Roman officer who returns to his family villa to find all that he loves destroyed by the invaders. He escapes slavery only to learn that his sister has married a Saxon, and the knowledge fills him with bitterness. It takes many years of hardship and strenuous fighting under the Roman-British leader Ambrosius before Aquila finds a measure of contentment, learned partly from the kind and gentle Brother Ninnias, partly from the loving loyalty of his wife Ness, and partly from an encounter with his sister's son who is fighting with the enemy. This exciting chronicle, full of stirring incident and bitter conflict, brings to vivid life the turbulent period before the Dark Ages.