I’m nearing the end of the first draft of
Eagles and Dragons, Book III – Warriors
of Epona.
This has been a very different book to
write. The characters are farther along their path, and there are many new ones
that have come onto the scene.
I’ve also left the marble of Rome, and the
sands of North Africa behind for the fog-choked hills of Caledonia.
War has come.
My protagonist has fought a long hard
campaign with his men, the most bloody and savage of his career. He’s been on
campaign incessantly for about a year without the comforts of civilization or
of Mediterranean warmth.
He faces an enemy that will not come out
into the open most of the time, and supposed allies that he really cannot
trust.
For him, life has been a constant cycle of
fighting for survival. He has led his warriors, and killed for Rome, all for
the purposes of advancing the Empire’s plans for conquest.
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| Modern Conflict |
Indeed, one of the themes running through
all books is that of the powerful few sending many to die on the battlefields
of the Empire. The soldiers are at the whim of those roaming and ruling the
corridors of power.
Sound familiar? My, how history does repeat
itself.
Always at the back of my protagonist’s mind
is the family that he misses. But if he thinks on them too much, if he loses
his focus at any time, his enemies will tear him apart.
The warrior’s life has never been an easy
one, especially when you have something to lose.
I find myself in an interesting position
now, as I write the last few chapters of Warriors
of Epona.
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| Homecoming Parade in the UK |
It’s time, in a sense, for my protagonist
to ‘come home’.
But how is that even possible after the
life he has led? Can he really ‘come home’?
How have warriors, men and women, dealt
with the aftermath of war?
In his book The Warrior Ethos, Steven Pressfield asks a pertinent question:
“All of us know brothers and sisters who
have fought with incredible courage on the battlefield, only to fall apart when
they came home. Why? Is it easier to be a soldier than to be a civilian?”
In one way, perhaps life at war is more
straightforward. Every day, every moment perhaps, your thoughts, your purpose, are
focussed on the objective – take that position, hold that region, protect your
brothers and sisters in arms, stay alive. In some cases, it’s kill or be
killed.
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| Modern Conflict in Afghanistan |
We’re back to primal instincts here.
Today, we have any number of soldier’s aid
societies and government programs and guides that are intended to help veterans
of wars reintegrate into society.
These groups do good work that is
much-needed, but is it enough? How can non-combatants in civilian society
understand the physical and emotional trauma that is experienced by warriors
after the battle?
In the ancient and medieval worlds, there
were no societies or organizations whose purpose was to help returning warriors
reintegrate.
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| Spartan Warriors Art by Peter Connolly |
Granted, in warrior societies such as
Sparta and Rome, the majority of warriors probably enjoyed the fighting.
Sparta, I should point out, is a unique
example. All Spartan men were warriors. That was their purpose.
But in the Roman Empire, returning warriors
would have had to reintegrate in a way similar to today, rather than ancient
Sparta. Later Roman society valued not just fighting prowess, but also
political acuity, the arts, rhetoric, skill at a trade, generally being a good
citizen in society.
In some ways, the Roman Empire combined the
best of both Spartan and Athenian societies.
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| Modern Warriors |
However, going back to peace time in a
civilian society after the straightforward survival life of a prolonged
campaign on the battlefield would have been tough.
We read about legionaries coming back to
Rome and getting into all sorts of trouble, their days and nights taken up with
gambling, brawling, and whoring.
It’s no wonder that generals and emperors
created coloniae of retired soldiers
on the fringes of the Empire. In these places, veterans would not be able to
cause trouble in Rome, but they would also be given the opportunity to have
some land and make a life for themselves.
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| Family Reunion |
In Warriors
of Epona, my protagonist will soon be reunited with his family. He’ll be
facing peace time.
How will he deal with this? How will his
family deal with him?
War changes a person, whether it is in the
past or the present day. It’s an experience unlike any other and I salute
anyone who faces the conflict that comes with stepping from the world of war
into the world of peace.
In the Roman Empire, they were two very
different battlefields, as they are, I suspect, today.
How will my own character deal with the
transition?
Only the next couple of chapters will be
able to tell me.
Today, there are numerous organizations
whose sole purpose is to help veterans, young and old, to make the transition
from war zone to home front.
If you know someone returning from one of the many conflicts going on the world, here are a few resources:
US Department of Veterans’ Affairs guide to
reintegration: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/reintegration/guide-pdf/smguide.pdf
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: http://iava.org/
Soldiers’ Angels: https://soldiersangels.org/
List of other Military and Veteran
resources: http://www.military.com/spouse/military-life/military-resources/military-and-veteran-associations.html
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