Movie Review: The Eagle (2011)

The Eagle (2011) directed by Kevin Macdonald

Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum) is an up-and-coming Roman soldier who takes his first command...in Britain. It's the second century A.D. and the Ninth Legion disappeared twenty years ago north of Hadrian's Wall. Marcus's father led the Ninth and the family's honor was lost along with the golden eagle that was the emblem not only of the Ninth, but of Rome itself. Marcus is assigned to a small fort which he valiantly defends, enduring a horrible injury during the battle. His company is awarded a great honor and he is given an honorable discharge. Marcus isn't interested in leaving Britain or the army. As he recuperates at his uncle's villa in southern Britain, he hears a legend of where the eagle is. With his new slave Esca (Jaime Bell), he sets off alone on a mission that the army can't do--search for and return the eagle to the empire. Esca has a bit of a chip on his shoulder but Marcus saved his life in a circus battle with a gladiator. Esca has sworn loyalty, but can a Briton be trusted? Esca naturally feels the same way about Romans. Their uneasy alliance become more difficult as they head north of the border and into the Scottish highlands.

The movie moves a bit slow though it does have nice attention to detail. The Roman fort looks realistic to the ruins I've seen in Britain. The Roman wealth isn't quite so extravagant in Britain as it is in Rome and the movie shows that lesser status (the circus is wooden and small, the opposite of the Colosseum). The movie takes the obvious themes of loyalty, friendship, and manhood and puts them through their paces as the plot moves along. The stark countryside looks great. There's no big surprises but also no big flubs either. It's an enjoyable B-movie all around.

Mildly recommended.

The Twice Brewed Inn, Hexham, UK

After our departure from Vindolanda, we sought sustenance at The Twice Brewed Inn, comically named after the nearby national park centre of Once Brewed.

We had a fine meal there, though I had a hard time choosing between all the fine ales, stouts, and ciders available from their taps. The barmaid had the excellent suggestion of buying the sampler, which gives three third-pints of three different drinks. It even came with a handy wooden carrier.

A fine selection of drinks available for consumption

From left to right in the picture, I had the Fraoch Heather Ale, the Twice Brewed Bitter, and the Dragonhead Stout. The stout was very dark and not my favorite though I didn't dislike it. I drank that first (always save the best for last!). Jacob and Lucy love for me to drink a frothy beer and have a beer mustache when I am done. It's so funny for them that it is fun for me. I was able to get mustaches from all three. The Heather Ale was refreshing but a little flowery. The Twice Brewed Bitter, made especially for the pub, was the best of the three.

We sat on the left, though I should have taken the picture when everyone was there!

The pub itself is quite charming, with a warm fireplace and plenty of decor, including some apparent leftovers from Halloween. The staff is friendly and courteous. And the potties get the thumbs up from Jacob. The Twice Brewed Inn was a great lunch stop before we pushed on to Edinburgh. Since I drank, my wife took her turn driving, so no worries about the lunchtime liquor. More on Edinburgh in the next post!

Vindolanda, Roman Fortress and Town on Hadrian's Wall

A lot of the fortifications on Hadrian's Wall were small towers called "milecastles" presumably because the Romans built one every Roman mile (4860 feet or 1481 meters). Larger fortifications were home to a cohort (around 500 men) and outside the fort was a small village of retainers and supporters of the cohort. One such fort was Vindolanda, which is now a major archaeological site and welcomes visitors year round. Visitors see what the Roman presence was really like in the first few centuries after the birth of Christ.

We visited this major fort after seeing Milecastle 42 at Cawfields.  Arriving slightly before their 10 a.m. opening time we had to wait in the car, out of the cold wind blowing over the land. The day was gray and chilly, helping us to imagine the hardship of living along Hadrian's Wall. Seeing the front door of the visitor centre open, we headed in. The entrance had a small courtyard with the sort of artifacts you'd expect in a Roman ruin, a fountain and busts.

You can't see it, but this horse had a fish tail for hindquarters. Pretty weird!

A fine looking fellow

Another fine soldier immortalized

Beyond the courtyard was another building with a model of what the fort and village would have looked like back in the day.

Fort in the foreground with the village out back.

The model had five significant spots marked (the commander's quarters, the bath house, etc.). Buttons on the side of the display case would play an audio about that spot. Jacob and Lucy were very good at taking turns pushing the buttons to hear the audio. They were even good at waiting until the audio was done before pushing another button!

After hearing the audio, we proceeded to the main area. The vast field of excavations and stone foundations of the village and fort were no match for what Jacob found most interesting and to which he immediately raced...

Where is he off to in such a hurry?

Castles! Castles!

One happy boy!!

The original forts in the area (before Hadrian's construction project) were of timber. In the 1970s great enthusiasm was had for replicas and reconstructions of ancient things, so these were built then and have stood up quite well. Jacob loved to climb both the wooden and the stone forts. He went up the wooden one a second time since Auntie Rosemary hadn't gone up on his first trip.

Jacob ascends to new heights!

Barely visible defenders (sorry, Grandpa!)

After this we headed down the hillside to the open air museum and the Chesterholm Museum, which houses many of the recovered artifacts along with the gift shop and cafe. After a brief stop in one of the 17th century buildings where the children pushed another audio button, we had some tea at the cafe. This snack was especially welcome for the adults who were noticing the cold more than the children.

The museum houses many nice artifacts, including dozens of leather shoes, myriad coins, and other bits and pieces from the site. The gift shop has a large selection of books along with the usual assortment of kids military toys (shields, swords, helmets, and such), postcards, magnets, and other assorted souvenirs. I bought a book on Northumberland folk tales.

After that, we visited a few of the waterfalls outside, another favorite for Jacob.

This one has steps!

Just off the path in the woods

We also looked in the Open Air Museum, which consisted of a few buildings representing a Roman temple, a shop, and a home. They were enjoyable but not as interesting as the rest of the area.

Temple, shop, and home

Inside the temple

By this point, lunchtime was approaching. We walked back up the hill and to our car to head off to the charmingly named Twice Brewed Inn in hopes of a hot meal and some good brew, which will be in our next post.

Cawfields, Fort 42 on Hadrian's Wall

For the Veterans' Day Weekend (November 11-13, 2011), we went on a trip to Edinburgh. We left Thursday night and stayed in Haltwhistle at the Burnhead Bed and Breakfast. It was very comfortable and they gave us a nice tray of cookies and cake slices (along with tea) when we checked in around 8 p.m. We had a little trouble finding it, mostly because Google maps steered us wrong about a street name. We wandered through quite a bit of Haltwhistle before we made it out of town, past the Milecastle Inn and within a very short walk of Hadrian's Wall.

The next morning we enjoyed the breakfast part of our B&B and then drove 5 minutes to Cawfields, a park on Hadrian's Wall with a quarry that has fallen out of use and the remains for Fort XLII on the wall.

We parked and didn't do the "pay and display" sticker because it's off season and no one does (as our innkeeper told us). It was a little bit lazy of us to drive, but it saved the children some steps and when we left something in the car, we were glad not to have to go all the way back to the bed and breakfast.

The quarry, now filled with water, was right in front of the car and had a small path leading off to the fort.

Jacob and Lucy are ready to go!

Family on the path to the fort, photographer in the lead!

A quick hike brought us to the fort on the wind-swept hills of the national park. Lucy and Jacob enjoyed scrambling around on remains of the fort and the wall.

Jacob and Mommy had to catch up on the fun!

Wind-swept happiness

Jacob enjoys the rocky walls, too

Auntie Rosemary on Hadrian's Wall

We walked down the wall (or on the wall for Jacob and Lucy) quite a way until we decided to turn back to the car.

The car looks very far away

Back at the parking lot, Jacob and Lucy took advantage of their stompy boots (called Wellies or Wellingtons here in the UK) to jump in the puddles just like Grandpa taught them.

Lucy found a big puddle

Puddling their way to the car!

Then we drove off to Vindolanda to see another larger fort with a museum and replicas of the wooden and the stone walls. More on that in the next post!

Hadrian's Wall: Housesteads Roman Fort

To celebrate Labor Day weekend, we went on a trip to see Hadrian's Wall, the number one labor project of 122 AD in Britain.

The project began under Roman Emperor Hadrian. The intent of the wall isn't quite clear. Most think it was to protect against the Pict barbarians to the north, though some claim it was just a project to keep the soldiers busy or to establish a definite and secure border. The wall ran from Newcastle on the east coast to Carlisle on the west coast. Small forts were built every Roman mile with two smaller turrets evenly spaced inbetween. Twelve large forts were built along the wall as well.

The most complete ruins of a large fort is Housesteads Roman Fort, owned by the National Trust but managed by English Heritage. It's estimated that 800 to 1000 soldiers were quartered there through the 300 years of its use. Historians and archeologists are not sure why the Romans left, though most likely they just abandoned it for what we would now call "budget cuts" in the early 400s. Clearly they didn't succumb to a barbarian onslaught or anything spectacular like that. No physical evidence supports that.

The fort itself is a standard square-shaped fort with gates in the middle of each wall. Barracks, headquarters, a commander's house, a hospital, and granaries are all in evidence. The fort also supported a small town to the south, with the sort of shops, taverns, and homes for families that spring up around soldiers needing to spend their hard earned pay. Not much of the town remains today.

model of fort and town in the museum, behind some glass, unfortunately

Our visit was mostly delightful. The children enjoyed climbing all over the ruins of the fort. Jacob thought it was a big stone maze and scrabbled all over the place. Lucy did likewise. The views were pretty spectacular, though the cloudiness eventually turned to rain. We started to head back down the hill.

Jacob stands on a rock and avoids sheep droppings along the way

Windy days make for crazy hair

Mommy and Lucy on the rocks

Enjoying the remains of the fort

Jacob shows the way out of the maze!

Lucy at the granaries

Lucy on the lookout for Picts at the north gate

Hadrian's Wall continuing off to the east

Jacob had a fairly major meltdown as we were leaving. He wanted to stay and play on the fort but we wouldn't let him. We wound up carrying him down the half mile path to the car park. When I was carrying him, he kept insisting that I couldn't carry him all the way down, though he wanted me to. With such motivation, I did get him all the way to the car. He still wasn't happy. We had a snack in the car and headed off to Hexham to see their abbey and have dinner.