The Skystone
Encyclopedia
The Skystone is a historical fiction
novel written by Jack Whyte
, which was first published in 1992. The story is told by a Roman
Officer
called Publius Varrus, who is an expert blacksmith
as well as a soldier. In the early fifth century, amid the violent struggles between the people of Britain
and the invading Saxons
, Picts
and Scots
, he and his former General
, Caius Britannicus, forge the government
and military
system that will become known as the Round Table, and initiate a chain of events that will lead to the coronation
of the High King
known as Arthur
.
The book begins with Publius Varrus laying its framework: he is retelling his history and the history of the Roman withdrawal from Britain. He then begins by talking about an ambush by Celts where he and Caius Britannicus are injured. While thinking about his time spent with Britannicus recovering from these injuries, his thoughts lead to their meeting: Britannicus had been a captive of Berbers
and Varrus freed him from them. After this encounter Varrus recalls how he and Britannicus traveled together to Britain to become primus pilus
and legate, respectively, of Legion XX Valeria Victrix's Second Millarian Cohort
.
While they are in command of this unit, Hadrian's wall is overcome
by a horde of Picts
and other Celtic Tribes. The unit spends a year and a half fighting their way back to Roman Controlled Britain. Outside of Londinium
they encounter a legion from the army of Theodosius
.
Colchester:
After Varrus recovers from his injuries, he returns to Colchester
, the location of his birth. When he returns he finds that his boyhood friend, and his grandfather's helper, Equus had ensured that his Grandfather's smithy
was not devoid of tools. Varrus begins to run the business again, striking deals with Cuno, Equus's brother in law. Verrus also gains several contracts with the local legion, because his swords use a higher quality of iron than the other local suppliers.
Britannicus visits the Colchester legion and finds Varrus. While they are attending a military party, Britannicus proposes that he may create a colony similar to the Bagaudae
's colonies in Gaul
. After a visit when Varrus explains his grandfather's use of skystone metal to create the hardest sword and dagger in existence, Varrus and Plautus discover a conspiracy by family enemies of Britannicus, the Senecas. Another encounter with the Senecas follows several years later as Varrus and Plautus interfere with the youngest of the Seneca brothers. There encounters ends with Varrus beating the brother up and carving a V into his chest.
The attack leads to a massive manhunt by the military because the youngest Seneca had connections with the emperor and the military hierarchy. Because of the persistent nature of this search and a conviction that the eldest brother, Primus, would eventually figure out who his brother's attacker was, Varrus flees Colchester. First heading to Verulamium
, he beds Equus's sister, Pheobe who had previously bedded him for the first time since his injury. From there he leaves for Aquae Sulis
, where Britannicus owns a villa.
Westering:
On the road to Aquae Sulis
, Varrus encounters several bandits who attempt to murder him. He later, after another assassination attempt, finds out that these men had been hired by the Senecas. He finally arrives in Aquae Sulis and encounters Britannicus's brother-in-law Quintus Varo. Varo invites Varrus to his villa
. At the villa, Varrus meets Caius Britannicus's sister Luceiia. Also while at the villa Varrus encounters a Welsh hunchback Cymric. Varrus demonstrates the African bow which his grandfather had left in his collection of weapons.
Luceiia and Varrus return to the Britannicus villa. While there Luceiia introduces him to a druid
who has knowledge of meteor shower that coincides with when Varrus the Elder discovered his skystone. The local people had called this the return of dragon
s, a local myth that had revolved around covert smelting
and metal working by the Pendragons, a local tribe. The druid leads Luceiia and Varrus to the location where a number of cattle had been killed during that same night. There they find impact craters and a lake unknown to the druid. On a return trip from the site, the party gets caught in the dark during a downpour. The druid leads them to a hamlet where they take shelter in a cottage. While there Luceiia and Varrus express a growing interest in each other and agree to marry each other.
The Dragon's Nest:
Varrus finds seven sky stones in the valley, all marked by donut-shaped impact craters. He digs all of them up but they are all small, and Varrus does not think that these are large enough for the cataclysm that happened to the cattle. Meanwhile Caius Britannicus returns to the villa. Upon his arrival he expresses his approval of Varrus and Luceiia's wedding, invitations are sent out and a number of individual soon begin arriving, among which is Equus with Varrus's smithing materials from Colchester
. Also among the arrivals is Bishop Alric who, along with a military friend Atonious Cicero, tell Varrus of Pheobe's death by the hands of Caesarius Seneca, the youngest Seneca.
The wedding is a jolly event despite Varrus' grief over Pheobe. A large group of friends stay at the villa for several weeks. Soon after the wedding Britannicus's friends, Tera and Firma, bring news that they lost their trading fleet to pirates. This news shakes the men of the group and they spend a long night discussing Brittanicus's proposition of a military colony. They all agree to begin recruiting in the colony and invest their livelihoods in the purchase of the villa
s surrounding Caius's and Varo's. Varrus is also able to discover the main part of the meteor, which is buried under the bed of a lake in the valley. By employing a handful of military engineers
, Varrus drains the lake and retrieves the stone.
The Dragon's Breath:
While visiting Aquae Sulis
Varrus encounters Quinctilius Nesca, a cousin of the Senecas. Varrus escapes with the help of a trader who had been hoodwinked by Nesca and by killing two of Nesca's guards. The man mysteriously dies during Varrus's escape. While he escapes, Varrus also learns that Seneca had returned to Britain. Varrus places him under surveillance and soon hatches a plot which he carries through to kill Seneca.
Meanwhile, agents of a the King of the Pendragon clan, Ullic, approaches Britannicus and entreats him for a meeting between the two leaders. They meet and after some vocal sparring the two agree to a protective alliance between the two regional powers as Britons
. Soon after Bishop Alaric passes through the region again, telling the Colonists, they now called themselves such, that Frankish cavalry was now running rampant in parts of the empire, and that the political tensions were rising. Also Alaric brings news of Caius's son Picus, who was now aligned with the Roman emperor
in Constantinople
and the a new military commander Stilicho
who favored the use of heavy cavalry
.
In the final chapter, Varrus reveals that he was able to smelt his skystone and casts a statue of the Celtic goddess
Coventina
who Varrus names The Lady of the Lake.
is consistently termed a Milliarian Cohort.
The text takes the form of an autobiographic memoir written as the information appears in the mind of Varrus not as it appears chronologically. In the first book the time jumps from the present to the time when he and Varrus are injured, to when they met in Africa, back to the present, to retelling the Celtic breach of Hadrian's wall
, back to the time when they were injured, back to the present. Because of this, often conversation and events will be glossed, while at other times the use of dialogue is common.
Each of the first three books of the novel involves an erotic encounter between Varrus and a sister of one of his friends.
, Magnus Maximus
and Emperor Valentinian
, are constant in order to maintain the books historical context. Often this is associated with discussions of the imminent fall of the Roman system and empire, which appear to be statements made in 20/20 Hindsight by Whyte.
The pronunciation guide offered in some editions contains characters' Latin names along with pronunciation notes. This guide conforms to no known system of Latin pronunciation, be it ecclesiastical, medieval, or classical.
rulers Excalibur, Whyte portrays The Lady of the Lake as a statue cast by Varrus as the image of Coventina
a Celtic goddess. Varrus on the last page of the book expresses interest in casting "perhaps one sword" from her, presumably Excalibur.
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
novel written by Jack Whyte
Jack Whyte
Jack Whyte is a Scottish-Canadian novelist of historical fiction. Born and raised in Scotland, Whyte has been living in Canada since 1967. He resides in Kelowna, British Columbia....
, which was first published in 1992. The story is told by a Roman
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
Officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
called Publius Varrus, who is an expert blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
as well as a soldier. In the early fifth century, amid the violent struggles between the people of Britain
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
and the invading Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
and Scots
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
, he and his former General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
, Caius Britannicus, forge the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
system that will become known as the Round Table, and initiate a chain of events that will lead to the coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of the High King
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
known as Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
.
Plot summary
Invasion:The book begins with Publius Varrus laying its framework: he is retelling his history and the history of the Roman withdrawal from Britain. He then begins by talking about an ambush by Celts where he and Caius Britannicus are injured. While thinking about his time spent with Britannicus recovering from these injuries, his thoughts lead to their meeting: Britannicus had been a captive of Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
and Varrus freed him from them. After this encounter Varrus recalls how he and Britannicus traveled together to Britain to become primus pilus
Primus Pilus
The Primus pilus was the senior centurion of a Roman legion.-Historical role:In the late Roman republic, the cohort , became the basic tactical unit of the legions. The cohort was composed of five to eight centuries each led by a centurion assisted by an optio, a soldier who could read and write...
and legate, respectively, of Legion XX Valeria Victrix's Second Millarian Cohort
Cohort (military unit)
A cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
.
While they are in command of this unit, Hadrian's wall is overcome
Great Conspiracy
The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by...
by a horde of Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
and other Celtic Tribes. The unit spends a year and a half fighting their way back to Roman Controlled Britain. Outside of Londinium
Londinium
The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...
they encounter a legion from the army of Theodosius
Count Theodosius
Flavius Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western Roman Empire. He achieved the rank of Comes Britanniarum and as such, he is usually referred to as Comes Theodosius...
.
Colchester:
After Varrus recovers from his injuries, he returns to Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, the location of his birth. When he returns he finds that his boyhood friend, and his grandfather's helper, Equus had ensured that his Grandfather's smithy
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
was not devoid of tools. Varrus begins to run the business again, striking deals with Cuno, Equus's brother in law. Verrus also gains several contracts with the local legion, because his swords use a higher quality of iron than the other local suppliers.
Britannicus visits the Colchester legion and finds Varrus. While they are attending a military party, Britannicus proposes that he may create a colony similar to the Bagaudae
Bagaudae
In the time of the later Roman Empire bagaudae were groups of peasant insurgents who emerged during the "Crisis of the Third Century", and persisted particularly in the less-Romanised areas of Gallia and Hispania, where they were "exposed to the depredations of the late Roman state, and the great...
's colonies in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. After a visit when Varrus explains his grandfather's use of skystone metal to create the hardest sword and dagger in existence, Varrus and Plautus discover a conspiracy by family enemies of Britannicus, the Senecas. Another encounter with the Senecas follows several years later as Varrus and Plautus interfere with the youngest of the Seneca brothers. There encounters ends with Varrus beating the brother up and carving a V into his chest.
The attack leads to a massive manhunt by the military because the youngest Seneca had connections with the emperor and the military hierarchy. Because of the persistent nature of this search and a conviction that the eldest brother, Primus, would eventually figure out who his brother's attacker was, Varrus flees Colchester. First heading to Verulamium
Verulamium
Verulamium was an ancient town in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, Great Britain. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon...
, he beds Equus's sister, Pheobe who had previously bedded him for the first time since his injury. From there he leaves for Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Bath, located in the English county of Somerset.-Baths and temple complex:...
, where Britannicus owns a villa.
Westering:
On the road to Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Bath, located in the English county of Somerset.-Baths and temple complex:...
, Varrus encounters several bandits who attempt to murder him. He later, after another assassination attempt, finds out that these men had been hired by the Senecas. He finally arrives in Aquae Sulis and encounters Britannicus's brother-in-law Quintus Varo. Varo invites Varrus to his villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
. At the villa, Varrus meets Caius Britannicus's sister Luceiia. Also while at the villa Varrus encounters a Welsh hunchback Cymric. Varrus demonstrates the African bow which his grandfather had left in his collection of weapons.
Luceiia and Varrus return to the Britannicus villa. While there Luceiia introduces him to a druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
who has knowledge of meteor shower that coincides with when Varrus the Elder discovered his skystone. The local people had called this the return of dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, a local myth that had revolved around covert smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
and metal working by the Pendragons, a local tribe. The druid leads Luceiia and Varrus to the location where a number of cattle had been killed during that same night. There they find impact craters and a lake unknown to the druid. On a return trip from the site, the party gets caught in the dark during a downpour. The druid leads them to a hamlet where they take shelter in a cottage. While there Luceiia and Varrus express a growing interest in each other and agree to marry each other.
The Dragon's Nest:
Varrus finds seven sky stones in the valley, all marked by donut-shaped impact craters. He digs all of them up but they are all small, and Varrus does not think that these are large enough for the cataclysm that happened to the cattle. Meanwhile Caius Britannicus returns to the villa. Upon his arrival he expresses his approval of Varrus and Luceiia's wedding, invitations are sent out and a number of individual soon begin arriving, among which is Equus with Varrus's smithing materials from Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
. Also among the arrivals is Bishop Alric who, along with a military friend Atonious Cicero, tell Varrus of Pheobe's death by the hands of Caesarius Seneca, the youngest Seneca.
The wedding is a jolly event despite Varrus' grief over Pheobe. A large group of friends stay at the villa for several weeks. Soon after the wedding Britannicus's friends, Tera and Firma, bring news that they lost their trading fleet to pirates. This news shakes the men of the group and they spend a long night discussing Brittanicus's proposition of a military colony. They all agree to begin recruiting in the colony and invest their livelihoods in the purchase of the villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s surrounding Caius's and Varo's. Varrus is also able to discover the main part of the meteor, which is buried under the bed of a lake in the valley. By employing a handful of military engineers
Roman military engineering
The military engineering of Ancient Rome's armed forces were of a scale and frequency far beyond that of any of its contemporaries'. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways institutionally endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by the fact that each Roman legionary had as part of...
, Varrus drains the lake and retrieves the stone.
The Dragon's Breath:
While visiting Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Bath, located in the English county of Somerset.-Baths and temple complex:...
Varrus encounters Quinctilius Nesca, a cousin of the Senecas. Varrus escapes with the help of a trader who had been hoodwinked by Nesca and by killing two of Nesca's guards. The man mysteriously dies during Varrus's escape. While he escapes, Varrus also learns that Seneca had returned to Britain. Varrus places him under surveillance and soon hatches a plot which he carries through to kill Seneca.
Meanwhile, agents of a the King of the Pendragon clan, Ullic, approaches Britannicus and entreats him for a meeting between the two leaders. They meet and after some vocal sparring the two agree to a protective alliance between the two regional powers as Britons
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
. Soon after Bishop Alaric passes through the region again, telling the Colonists, they now called themselves such, that Frankish cavalry was now running rampant in parts of the empire, and that the political tensions were rising. Also Alaric brings news of Caius's son Picus, who was now aligned with the Roman emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and the a new military commander Stilicho
Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of Vandal birth. Despised by the Roman population for his Germanic ancestry and Arian beliefs, Stilicho was in 408 executed along with his wife and son...
who favored the use of heavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
.
In the final chapter, Varrus reveals that he was able to smelt his skystone and casts a statue of the Celtic goddess
Celtic religion
Celtic religion may refer to:*Ancient Celtic polytheism**Druidism*Celtic Christianity**Celtic Rite**Celtic Orthodox Church**Celtic Catholic Church*Celtic Neopaganism**Neodruidism**Celtic Wicca**Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism...
Coventina
Coventina
Coventina was a Romano-British goddess of wells and springs. She is known from multiple inscriptions at one site in Northumberland county of the United Kingdom, an area surrounding a wellspring near Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall...
who Varrus names The Lady of the Lake.
Characters
- Publius Varrus- a Roman soldier whose exploits have earned him the rank of primus pilusPrimus PilusThe Primus pilus was the senior centurion of a Roman legion.-Historical role:In the late Roman republic, the cohort , became the basic tactical unit of the legions. The cohort was composed of five to eight centuries each led by a centurion assisted by an optio, a soldier who could read and write...
in the Valeria Victrix or the XX Legion of the Roman Army. Though initially he was stationed on the North African coast, he was given permission to return to Britain, the land of his birth. His Grandfather, Varrus the Elder, taught his namesake about all the intricacies of being a master smith.
- Caius Britannicus- also a native of Britain and commander of a division Valeria Victrix. He is an upper class Roman and Varrus's commanding officer.
- Equus- Boyhood friend of Varrus and business partner in the new forge.
- Plautus- a senior centurionCenturionA centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
stationed in the fort near Colchester. He and Varrus had been friends while they were stationed at a post in AfricaRoman AfricaRoman Africa may mean:*the Roman Africa province*the history of Africa during the Roman era, see North Africa during Antiquity#Roman era...
and renewed their friendship when they meet in Colchester.
- Bishop Alaric- A ChristianCeltic ChristianityCeltic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...
bishop who is unhappy with the church's and Rome's ostentatious livelihoods. He tries to incorporate the Celtic artistic traditions, such as the Celtic knotCeltic knotCeltic knots are a variety of knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the Celtic style of Insular art. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts, such as the 8th-century...
, into Christian symbolism in order to make Christianity more accessible to the local Britons. He commissions Varrus to make silver crosses in this styleCeltic crossA Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
.
- Quintus Varo- a neighboring farmer, and close friend of the Brittanicus family.
- Luceiia Britannicus- the sister of Caius Britannicus. She is portrayed by Varo as being extremely manly in temperament, however, Varrus soon finds out she is gorgeous. She, however, has taken on a more independent temperament because she has lost two husbands, so has had to manage her life as well as Caius's estates.
Style
Instead of using proper Latin names for terminology, Whyte anglicizes many of the terms. For example cohors milliariaCohort (military unit)
A cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
is consistently termed a Milliarian Cohort.
The text takes the form of an autobiographic memoir written as the information appears in the mind of Varrus not as it appears chronologically. In the first book the time jumps from the present to the time when he and Varrus are injured, to when they met in Africa, back to the present, to retelling the Celtic breach of Hadrian's wall
Great Conspiracy
The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by...
, back to the time when they were injured, back to the present. Because of this, often conversation and events will be glossed, while at other times the use of dialogue is common.
Each of the first three books of the novel involves an erotic encounter between Varrus and a sister of one of his friends.
Historical Discussions
Because the book takes place during a time of turmoil in Roman Britain references to TheodosiusTheodosius
Theodosius is a name which might refer to one of several people:* One of three emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium:** Theodosius I , son of Count Theodosius...
, Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383...
and Emperor Valentinian
Valentinian
Valentinian was the name of several Roman emperors:* Valentinian I , Roman Emperor from 364 to 375, son of Gratian the Elder, commonly known as Valentinian the Great* Valentinian II , Roman Emperor from 375 to 392...
, are constant in order to maintain the books historical context. Often this is associated with discussions of the imminent fall of the Roman system and empire, which appear to be statements made in 20/20 Hindsight by Whyte.
The pronunciation guide offered in some editions contains characters' Latin names along with pronunciation notes. This guide conforms to no known system of Latin pronunciation, be it ecclesiastical, medieval, or classical.
Reconciling the legend
In order to portray how The Lady of the Lake gives the PendragonPendragon
Pendragon or Pen Draig, meaning "head dragon" or "chief dragon" , is the name of several traditional Kings of the Britons:...
rulers Excalibur, Whyte portrays The Lady of the Lake as a statue cast by Varrus as the image of Coventina
Coventina
Coventina was a Romano-British goddess of wells and springs. She is known from multiple inscriptions at one site in Northumberland county of the United Kingdom, an area surrounding a wellspring near Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall...
a Celtic goddess. Varrus on the last page of the book expresses interest in casting "perhaps one sword" from her, presumably Excalibur.