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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Marcus offer in a bet to Cradoc in Chapter 2?

2. What does Cottia do to Stephanos in the courtyard in Chapter 8?

3. What had an artist of a long-departed garrison etch into the bath-house wall, according to the narrator in Chapter 2?

4. What shapes on the shield-boss does Esca say expresses the nature of his people in Chapter 7?

5. In whose charge does Marcus leave Cub as he sets out on his mission in Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the rose in the wine jar symbolize?

2. Why does Marcus release Cub in the wild?

3. How are the slaves described in Uncle Aquila's home?

4. Why does Marcus grant Esca his freedom in Chapter 10?

5. Why does Marcus buy the slave Esca?

6. Why does Marcus worry he may be making a laughing stock out of himself in Chapter 3?

7. From what narrative point of view is the novel related?

8. What two stories inspired the author to write The Eagle of the Ninth, according to her Prologue?

9. What bet with Cradoc does Marcus propose in Chapter 2?

10. How is Cottia described when her character is first introduced?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the character of Esca Mac Cunoval in The Eagle of the Ninth. Where is Esca from? How does he come into the servitude of Marcus? How would you describe his relationship with Marcus? How does Esca change in the story?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of coming of age in The Eagle of the Ninth. In what ways do the central characters "grow up" or transform in the novel? What do they lose in doing so? What do they gain?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the structure of the Roman military and its role in the spread of the Roman Empire. What is Marcus's station in the military? Where is the post that he is assigned? What are his duties at that post?

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