Identification With King Arthur
The possibility that Lucius Artorius Castus was the inspiration for the figure of Arthur in medieval European literature was first suggested by Kemp Malone in 1924 and has recently been championed by authors C. Scott Littleton and Linda Malcor (who was a research consultant for the 2004 movie King Arthur and on whose hypotheses regarding Artorius the screenplay was based). Although Artorius was not contemporaneous with the Saxon invasions of Britain in the 5th century, it is possible, albeit remotely (given the differences between Artorius' career and that traditionally assigned to King Arthur), that he was remembered in local tales and legends that grew in the retelling. As it stands today, there is no definitive proof that Lucius Artorius Castus was the "real" King Arthur.
| Lucius Artorius Castus | King Arthur | |
|---|---|---|
| Floruit | Unknown; probably late 2nd-early 3rd century AD. | Traditionally assigned to the late 5th-early 6th century AD. |
| Name | Artorius = LAC's family name, his nomen gentile. | Arthur is potentially derived from Latin Artorius, but a Celtic origin is also possible. Treated as a native Welsh first name in medieval Latin texts (where it is always rendered as Arturus and never as Artorius). |
| Ethnicity | The Artorii family have roots in Italy, potentially of Messapic or Etruscan origin; LAC might have been born to a branch of the family that settled in Dalmatia. | Traditionally linked in Welsh literature and genealogies to the British nobility of Cornwall. |
| Religion | Unknown; dedications to the Di Manes, as found on LAC's tomb, are found in both pagan and Christian inscriptions in the 3rd century AD. | At the very least, nominally Christian - according to the Historia Brittonum he bore an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in one of his battles; though later texts depict him as antagonistic towards clergymen. |
| Military Status | High-ranking, career officer in the Roman army, late in his career (likely as an older man) he served as Camp Prefect in Britain and finally as Dux Legionum ("Leader of Legions") in a single military campaign. | In the medieval Latin of the Historia Brittonum, Arthur is called a miles, "knight, mounted warrior, armed horseman" (a shift in meaning of miles from ancient Classical Latin, in which the word meant "professional soldier, common soldier, private, low-ranking foot soldier"). Also, in the Historia Brittonum, Arthur is called dux belli (alternately dux bellorum in some MSS), "leader of the battle(s)" (specifically, the 12 battles that he fought with the aid of the British kings against the Saxons), but this is a conventional Latin phrase and does not indicate that Arthur held the military title of Dux in a Post-Roman British army (in fact, non-Roman war leaders are sometimes called dux belli/bellorum in ancient Latin texts, including the biblical hero Joshua, in the Latin Vulgate Bible). In later medieval Welsh sources he is called both "emperor" and "king" (the latter title preferred in medieval Arthurian Romance). |
| British Battles | During battle, Camp Prefects normally remained at their unit's base with the reserve troops, so it is unlikely that LAC fought while in Britain. LAC later oversaw an expedition of troops with some sort of British connection, either to Gaul or Armenia. | In the 9th century Historia Brittonum, Arthur, along with the British kings, fought 12 battles in Britain against the invading Saxons and Arthur allegedly slew many hundreds of Saxons by his own hand (the exact number differs in the various manuscripts). In later texts (such as the 11th century Life of St. Goeznovius and the 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae), Arthur is stated to have fought battles in Gaul as well as in Britannia. |
| Death | Unknown date and circumstances; probably died at an advanced age, potentially during his procuratorship of Liburnia (where he was buried). | In Welsh literature, traditionally stated to have died during the Battle of Camlann (of unknown location in Britain); his burial site was unknown to medieval Welsh. |
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