Asterix the Legionary

Asterix the Legionary is the tenth Asterix book in the Asterix comic book series by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. It was first published as a serial in Pilote magazine, issues 368-389, in 1966.

Synopsis

The book begins with a now familiar scene of the indomitable Gauls' village. Asterix and Obelix are setting off for a wild boar hunt when they pass a beautiful blond young lady by the name of Panacea who has been picking mushrooms. She has returned to the village after studying in Condatum. Obelix immediately falls in love. After a few scenes of Obelix embarrassing himself, Panacea receives word that her fiancé Tragicomix has been conscripted into the Roman army and shipped to North Africa. Asterix and Obelix promise Panacea that they will return Tragicomix to her, even though it breaks Obelix's heart.

Asterix and Obelix head for Condatum where they learn that Tragicomix has already left for Massilia, the Mediterranean port from which the soldiers depart. They then decide to enlist in the Roman army and end up training with Hemispheric, a Goth; Selectivemploymentax, a Briton; Gastronomix, a Belgian; Neveratalos, a Greek; and Ptenisnet, an Egyptian tourist who spends the entire book believing himself to be in a holiday camp.

After completing training (which is rather relaxing for the conscripts while very stressful for the Centurions), the newly formed unit sets off as reinforcements to Caesar who is fighting a losing campaign against a rival Roman faction headed by Caecilius Metellus Scipio in alliance with Afranius and King Juba I of Numidia. Asterix and Obelix soon find out that Tragicomix has gone missing in action after a skirmish.

Asterix and Obelix desert and set out to search for him, raiding Scipio's camp and successfully rescuing the young man. However, due to their actions Caesar and Scipio each believes that the other is attacking and they both prepare for battle. In the confusion that follows, Caesar achieves a great victory (the historical Battle of Thapsus, 6 February 46 BC). The Gauls are cornered by Caesar, but released and sent home for the service they provided.

Panacea is reunited with Tragicomix and everybody is overjoyed. In gratitude, Panacea kisses both Asterix and Obelix. Obelix faints, and Asterix spends the customary banquet sitting on a tree, hopelessly in love as well.

Humour

Stereotypes

The Roman legionaries in Asterix's unit are all comic stereotypes of various nations.

• the hair of the Belgian legionary resembles that of the Belgian comic character Tintin;
• the Egyptian speaks only in hieroglyphics, and when giving his appreciation for the accommodation (he thinks the barracks is a hotel), he says them in the style of Michelin Guide-style icons, such as stars, houses, and forks-and-knives;
• the Goths speak in a Gothic script typeface and the pictures representing Gothic swear words have a Teutonic twist, e.g. when the Gaulish curse represented by a skull and crossbones is translated into Gothic, the skull is shown wearing a Pickelhaube;
• the Greek says "by Zeus" a lot and speaks in a Greek-style typeface;
• just as in Asterix in Britain the notoriously terrible British cuisine is referenced, when the British recruit is the only one to appreciate the horrible food served at mealtime at the Roman garrison. This may also be a reference to the British stereotype of eating and enjoying almost ANY cuisine, and maybe a reference to 70's school dinners, which were known to be horrible in the UK thanks to things like spam, thought to be an acronym for Something Posing As Meat.

Cultural references

When the pirates are first sunk, the ship's remains parody the 19th century painting The Raft of the Medusa. In the English version, the pirate captain even bemoans, "We've been framed, by Jericho", a pun on the artist Géricault.^[1]

Throughout the story the Egyptian makes comments in hieroglyphics about hairy body parts — this is based on child's game in France that involves repeating back a rhyme of whatever was last said in the form of "old hairy (body part)."

Film adaptation

Elements of the plot of this story were blended with Asterix the Gladiator for the animated movie Asterix Versus Caesar.

References