the shame of my esteemed and noble kinsmen gnaeus julius agricola is a story too often told in the
taverns of rome for the entertainment of fools and cowards who never once left the safety of that
great city the loss of the ixth legions standard in battle haunted him throughout his life and only
his untimely death brought him relief and yet the full depth of his suffering is known only to a few
and even i was not taken into his confidence until after his death the truth of the peril in which
he placed the entire roman army was finally revealed to me in the paper she left to me in his will
among them i found this despatch from sextus varus legatus of the ixth legion to gaius suetonius
paul linus proconsul and governor of britannia describing the defeat of then in that camu lo donum
at the writing of this message the iceni have successfully sacked the city including the temple of
claudius where the procurators guard took their heroic final stand we were almost encircled by the
enemy force who seemed possessed of the power to know our thoughts where we were strong they posted
only holding forces where we were weak they attacked in strength and when reinforcements attempted
to join us they were attacked on route we survivors owe our lives and our thanks to gnaeus julius
agricola who in a time of great emergency recognised the strategy of the insurgent forces on our
left flank and commanded our retreat with moments to spare due to this action the majority of our
cavalry were saved along with the reserve forces all other frontline troops have been slaughtered
and it is with great sadness and deepest anger i have to report that the ixth legion lost its aquila
to the enemy i fear that if we are to save londinium and ver ulan ium from a similar fate we must
find the strength to crush this rebellion if we fail then all of britannia is lost this much of
agricola s story is widely known but the full truth must remain hidden for now and as remarked by my
trusted slave and confidant tiro what better place to hide a book than among books