 The text takes the form of an autobiographic memoir written as the information appears in the mind of Varrus not as it appears chronologically.In the first book the time jumps from the present to the time when Britannicus and Varrus are injured, to when they met in Africa, back to the present, to retelling the Celtic breach of Hadrian's wall, back to the time when they were injured, back to the present.Because of this, often conversation and events will be glossed, while at other times the use of dialogue is common.