The Silver Branch

Name: The Silver Branch
Rating: 4.3 (574 reviews)

by Rosemary Sutcliff Book 1 in the The Roman Britain Trilogy series.

First published 1957

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4.3(574)

Roman Britain, late in the third century. The cousins Justin, a young army surgeon, and Flavius, a centurion, meet while the naval commander Carausius rules Britain and northern Gaul as an independent emperor. Their loyalty to his attempt to preserve order brings them into contact with plots, divided garrisons and officials already preparing for the next change of regime.

After Carausius is murdered by Allectus, the cousins become fugitives and gather soldiers, sailors and other dispossessed allies around the silver-branch standard. Their resistance links personal survival to the larger struggle over whether Britain will remain separate or return to the empire. The novel uses the Carausian revolt to show how rapidly official loyalty can be redefined when authority rests on military power and contested legitimacy.