"[Marcus] called to them in the Celtic tongue, urging them on. 'On, brave hearts! On, bold and beautiful! Thy mares shall be proud of thee, the tribe shall sing thy praises to their children's children! Sweff! Sweff, my brothers!"' Chapter 2, pg. 20

"Strayed cattle; that was all. And yet for Marcus the tension had not snapped into relief. Perhaps if he had never seen the new heron's feathers on an old war spear it might have done, but he had seen them, and somewhere deep beneath his thinking mind the instinct for danger had remained with him, ever since." Chapter 3, pg. 25

"'Better to be a laughing-stock than lose the fort for fear of being one,' returned [Drusillus] the centurion. 'It does not pay to take chances on the Frontier - and there was a new moon last night."' Chapter 3, pg. 26

"'Get ready to form testudo,'...