NONNUNQUAM
SYNOPSIS
ACT
I - Britannia, 404 - 406 AD.
In the closing decade of the Roman Empire, General Stilicho persuades
Emperor Honorius to station troops at Hadrian's Wall, the Northern most
border of the Empire in Britannia. Little does Honorius know that this
tactical defense is designed by the clandestine Stilicho to weaken the
Empire's greatest border - the Rhine river in Gaul. The Peterborough
based Cohort led by Terminus Maximus, is assigned to Housteads Fort
(or 'Vercovicium') in order to augment the troops at the Wall. The Cohort's
second in command, Fletus Fortis voices his suspicion that Stilicho
is maneouvring things for his own end. Nevertheless, deserting his wife
and children, Fletus begrudingly follows the orders of his superiors
and re-stations to the Rhine; all the while voicing his concern. With
the Rhine barrier weakened, it is only a matter of time until - in December
406 AD, rival Huns and Barbarians ride roughshod over the Rhine border
- signalling the beginning of the end for Rome. With military morale
at an all time low, the last thing Fletus expects is for his daughter
to fall mortally ill. Despondent and desparate - the continual barrage
of attack from the now overwhelming Picts and Celts from the North is
too much to take, ending in Fletus being killed in action. Terminus
- with Fletus sword in hand' - vows to avenge his much beloved friend
and make his stand for what is rapidly fading: Pax Romana.
ACT
II - Britain, 2001 AD.
Fifteen hundred years have passed since Terminus vowed to avenge
Fletus death; Roman civilisation is still with us in history books and
monuments, and these are being studied by Jake Connolly, a final year
history undergraduate at Oxford University. With his best friends Pete
and Giles, and fiance Mary, he is looking forward to his final year
and graduation. His life has become consumed by Roman history, and as
an adopted child, he has a keen interest in his family genealogy. To
this end, his final year research takes his to Cumbria, and the site
of Hadrian's wall, where Professor Zenkmann is performing a dig and
Housesteads fort. As Jake begins to locate hidden connections with the
past - the present becomes terrifying. The World Trade Centre in New
York is hit by the event of 9/11, with Jake's father-in-law to be, near
fatally injured in the first tower. Torn between his human need to support
Mary and the treasures of his familial obsession, Jake makes to leave
for Oxford, as he discovers his birth name 'Connolly' translates to
'Fortis' in Latin - and Fortis was a soldier stationed at Housesteads.
Presented with an old gladius inscribed with 'FF' on it, Jake cannot
help but me momentarily haunted by the possibilities from the past...
"What we have learned from history, is that we haven't learned
anything from history".
