Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
1. Aquila deserts the Roman army when the last troops are recalled to Italy. Why does he feel that he is fighting a personal battle of divided loyalties? His father tells him, "Rome has done too much of thinking what is comfortable." [p. 10] How does this statement suggest his father's loyalties? At what point does Aquila know that his battle of loyalty must be fought alone?
2. Aquila prepares his Roman troops for embarkation, and briefly considers asking Callistus, his Commandant, to dismiss him. Why does he think that Callistus will understand his need to stay in Britain? And how does he know that the Commandant will refuse? Discuss his decision to desert the Roman army. He isn't sure that he has made the right decision, but he feels that he has made the only decision for him. How does he get to this point? Why does his decision bring him to tears?
3. How does his confusion about his loyalty later interfere with his relationship with his sister? Early in the novel, Aquila's father is killed by the Saxons. Aquila's greatest nightmare is of how Flavia must be suffering in the hands of the barbarians. Discuss Aquila's reaction when he later finds his sister in a Saxon camp and learns that she is married to a Saxon and has a child by him.
4. Aquila wants Flavia and the child to go with him, and escape the Saxon camp. Flavia responds, "Aquila, part of me would lie down and die tomorrow and not think it a heavy price to pay, if I might come with you tonight. But there's another part of me that can never come." [p. 78] Discuss her divided loyalties.
5. Discuss why Aquila's father believed that the hope of Britain was with Ambrosius of the House of Constantine. Aquila offers his service to Ambrosius in an effort to satisfy the "emptiness" that he feels inside. Debate whether the emptiness is for his father, Flavia, Britain, or everything that he has lost.
6. What is Aquila's attitude toward women? Ambrosius thinks that Aquila should marry. Why does Aquila choose Ness, the brown sister, over the golden sister? Discuss whether his attitude toward women changes by the end of the novel.
7. A son, Flavian, is born to Aquila and Ness. Trace the relationship that develops between father and son. How does Flavian possess the same sense of duty as his father, and his ancestors?
8. Explain the conflict between light and dark. Who are the Lantern Bearers?
