The Fall of the Last Roman Fort, the beginning of the end

By Andrew Hutchison, 2º ESO B

Lucius Quintus Maximus took off his sandals and threw out the stones which had collected in the bottom. Satisfied they were all gone he put the sandals back on his feet. He looked up. The sun was deep on the horizon and light was fading fast. He could see the wall in the distance and knew it would be completely dark by the time he got back, if he got back that is. He was a centurion of the 9th legion 4th cohort. He was sent on a mission in Britania to recover the lost eagle of the ninth. After recovering the sacred standard he journeyed to the closest Roman fort. He arrived at midnight and was tended to but did not sleep. The following morning he was shown to his cohort. He then demanded to see the commander of the fort. As he was travelling to the fort he hadfelt that he was being watched most of the way. He had then seen a man hiding in the forest next to the path. Lucius had been certain that the British were trailing him. He explained all of this to the commander, who rustled through his beard thoughtfully. After Lucius finished, the commander demanded that the fort be ready for battle. During the next few days swords were sharpened and armour cleaned. A ring of defensive stakes was made around the fort. Then they waited. A week passed and nothing happened. And much to Lucius’s distress, the commander gave the order to stand down. 

                                            That night, the British came...

Lucius was woken to the sound of screaming and of sword grinding on sword. Quickly he grabbed his own sword and ran outside. They had broken through the defenses and he could see that there was only a dozen or so Romans left defending the walls. The commander had fallen to the well-placed shot of an archer in the early stages of the battle. Now less than a dozen men were left. They fought to the bitter end and as the last one slumped forward, the British came in in overwhelming numbers. Knowing when to fight and when to run Lucius sprinted to the stables and saddled a horse. He then fought his way past some crazed British warriors and cantered out of the back gate until the fort was a speck in the horizon. The last foothold of Rome was broken and Lucius made his way to a port. He would go back to Rome but it would not be long until the Barbarians invaded it, too. This was the beginning of the end: the fall of Rome.