The Silver Branch is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff CBE was a British novelist, and writer for children, best known as a writer of historical fiction and children's literature. Although she was primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults; Sutcliff herself once commented that she wrote...

 and published in 1957, with illustrations by Charles Keeping

Charles Keeping

Charles William James Keeping was a British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He first came to prominence with his illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twenty picture books...

. Set in Britain in the last decade of the third century AD, it is the story of two cousins in the Roman legion

Roman legion

A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...

s who find themselves in the intrigue and battle surrounding the struggles between Carausius

Carausius

Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, declaring himself emperor in Britain and northern Gaul. He did this only 13 years after the Gallic Empire of the Batavian...

, a self-proclaimed emperor in Britain, Allectus

Allectus

Allectus was a Roman usurper-emperor in Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296.-History:Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapian officer in the Roman navy who had seized power in Britain and northern Gaul in 286...

, Carausius' treasurer, and Constantius

Constantius Chlorus

Constantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the...

, emperor in Rome.

The silver branch of the title is an article in the possession of a friend of the characters. Subtle allusions to it recur in other novels in the Eagle of the Ninth series, and it presumably refers to the otherworldly instrument mentioned in the medieval Irish narrative The Voyage of Bran.

The Silver Branch follows The Eagle of the Ninth

The Eagle of the Ninth

The Eagle of the Ninth is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1954. The story is set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, after the building of Hadrian's Wall....

and precedes "Frontier Wolf", The Lantern Bearers

The Lantern Bearers (Sutcliff novel)

The Lantern Bearers is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1959, with illustrations by Charles Keeping...

and Sword at Sunset

Sword at Sunset

Sword at Sunset is a 1963 book by Rosemary Sutcliff, part of her The Eagle of the Ninth series. It is a modern interpretation of the legends of King Arthur....

.