Chapter One: Lucius Tiberius Calls Together the Eastern Kings Against the Britons. #

¹ On receiving this answer, Lucius Tiberius, by order of the senate, published a decree commanding the eastern kings to come with their forces and assist in the conquest of Britain. In obedience to it, the following arrived within a very short time: Epistrophius, king of the Grecians; Mustensar, king of the Africans; Alifantinam, king of Spain; Hirtacius, king of the Parthians; Boccus, of the Medes; Sertorius, of Libya; Teucer, king of Phrygia; Serses, king of the Itureans; Pandrasus, king of Egypt; Micipea, king of Babylon; Polytetes, duke of Bithynia; Teucer, duke of Phrygia; Evander, of Syria; Æthion, of Boeotia; and Hippolytus, of Crete, together with the generals and nobility under them. From the senatorial order also came Lucius Catellus, Marius Lepidus, Caius Metellus Cotta, Quintus Milvius Catulus, Quintus Carutius and as many others as brought the total number to forty thousand one hundred and sixty.

Chapter Two: Arthur Commits to His Nephew Modred the Government of Britain. His Dream at Hamo’s Port. #

¹ After the necessary arrangements had been made, they began their march towards Britain on the kalends of August. When Arthur learned of this, he committed the government of the kingdom to his nephew Modred and Queen Ganhumara, and marched with his army to Hamo’s Port, where the wind was favourable. But while he was sailing joyfully with a brisk gale, surrounded by his numerous fleet, it happened that around midnight he fell into a very deep sleep. In a dream, he saw a bear flying through the air, at whose roar all the shores trembled, and also a terrible dragon flying from the west, which illuminated the country with the brightness of its eyes. When the two met, they began a dreadful fight; but the dragon, with its fiery breath, burnt the bear, which repeatedly attacked it, and cast it scorched to the ground. Arthur awoke at this and related his dream to those attending him. They undertook to interpret it and told him that the dragon signified Arthur himself, while the bear signified some giant who would encounter him; the fight foretold the duel that would take place between them, and the dragon’s victory foretold the victory that Arthur himself would gain. But Arthur believed that it foretold something else, and that the vision applied to himself and the emperor. As soon as morning dawned after that night’s voyage, they found that they had arrived at the mouth of the river Barba. There they pitched their tents to await the arrival of the kings of the islands and the generals of the other provinces.

Chapter Three: Arthur Kills a Spanish Giant Who Had Stolen Away Helena, the Niece of Hoel. #

¹ Meanwhile, Arthur received news that a giant of monstrous size had come from the shores of Spain, forcibly taken Helena, the niece of Duke Hoel, away from her guard, and fled with her to the top of what is now called Michael’s Mount. The soldiers of the country who pursued him were unable to do anything against him. Whether they attacked him by sea or by land, he either overturned their ships with enormous rocks or killed them with various kinds of darts, besides taking many of them and devouring them half alive. Therefore, at the second hour of the following night, Arthur took Caius the sewer and Bedver the butler with him, left the camp secretly, and hastened towards the mountain. Being a man of undaunted courage, he did not wish to lead his army against such monsters, both because he could inspire his men by his own example in this way and because he alone was sufficient to deal with them. As soon as they approached the mountain, they saw a fire burning upon its summit and another upon a smaller mountain not far from it. As they were uncertain upon which of them the giant lived, they sent Bedver to discover the truth of the matter. Finding a boat, he first sailed in it to the smaller mountain, which he could reach in no other way because it stood in the sea. When he began to climb towards its summit, he was at first frightened by the dismal, howling cry of a woman above him and imagined that the monster was there. But quickly recovering his courage, he drew his sword and, upon reaching the summit, found nothing but the fire he had previously seen from a distance. He also discovered a newly made grave and an old woman weeping and howling beside it. At the sight of him, she immediately cried out in words broken by sighs: “O unhappy man, what misfortune brings you to this place? O the inexpressible torments of death that you must suffer! I pity you, I pity you, because the detestable monster will destroy the flower of your youth tonight. For that most wicked and odious giant, who brought the duke’s niece, whom I have only just buried here, and me, her nurse, with her to this mountain, will come and immediately murder you in the cruellest manner. O deplorable fate! This most illustrious princess, overcome by the fear conceived in her tender heart when the foul monster attempted to embrace her, fainted and died. When he could not satisfy his brutish lust upon her, who was the very soul, joy and happiness of my life, he became enraged at the frustration of his bestial desire and forcibly raped me, though, as God and my old age bear witness, I abhorred his embraces. Flee, dear sir, flee, for fear that he may come, as he usually does, to lie with me and, finding you here, butcher you most barbarously.” Bedver, moved by her words as deeply as human nature could be, tried with kind words to ease her grief and comforted her with the promise of speedy help. He then returned to Arthur and gave him an account of what he had encountered. Arthur greatly lamented the damsel’s sad fate and ordered his companions to leave him to deal with the giant alone, unless there was an absolute necessity for them to intervene, in which case they were to come boldly to his assistance. From there, they went directly to the next mountain, left their horses with their armour-bearers and climbed to the summit, with Arthur leading the way. The deformed savage was beside the fire, his face smeared with the clotted blood of swine, part of which he had already devoured while roasting the remainder on spits over the fire. At the sight of them, whose appearance took him by surprise, he hastened towards his club, which two strong men could scarcely lift from the ground. The king then drew his sword and, guarding himself with his shield, ran with all speed to prevent him from reaching it. But the other, who understood his intention, had already snatched it up and struck the king’s shield with such a terrible blow that the noise rang along the shores and completely stunned the king’s ears. Enraged by this, Arthur raised his sword and wounded him in the forehead. The wound was not mortal, but it caused blood to gush over his face and eyes, blinding him, for he had partly warded the blow away from his forehead with his club and prevented it from being fatal. However, the loss of his sight, caused by the blood flowing over his eyes, made him exert himself with still greater fury. As an enraged boar rushes against a hunting-spear, so he rushed against Arthur’s sword and, grasping him around the waist, forced him down upon his knees. But Arthur, nothing daunted, slipped out of his grasp and wielded his sword so vigorously that he gave the giant no respite until he had driven it through his skull as far as the back of his head. At this, the hideous monster gave a dreadful roar and, like an oak torn up by the roots by the winds, made the ground resound with his fall. Arthur burst into laughter at the sight and commanded Bedver to cut off the giant’s head and give it to one of the armour-bearers, who was to carry it to the camp and expose it to public view, though he ordered those who had witnessed the combat to remain silent. He told them that he had encountered no one of such great strength since he killed the giant Ritho, who had challenged him to fight upon the mountain Aravius. This giant had made himself furs from the beards of kings he had killed and had sent word to Arthur to flay off his beard carefully and send it to him. Then, out of respect for Arthur’s pre-eminence over other kings, his beard would have the honour of the principal place. But if Arthur refused, he challenged him to a duel, offering that the victor should possess the furs and also the beard of the defeated man as a trophy of his victory. Arthur therefore proved victorious in this conflict and took the giant’s beard and spoils. As he had said before, he had encountered no one who could be compared with Ritho in strength until this latest combat. After this victory, they returned to the camp with the head during the second watch of the night. A great crowd gathered to see it, all extolling this wonderful exploit of Arthur, by which he had freed the country from a most destructive and voracious monster. But Hoel, deeply grieved by the loss of his niece, commanded a mausoleum to be built over her body on the mountain where she was buried. Taking the damsel’s name, it is called Helena’s Tomb to this day.

Chapter Four: Arthur’s Ambassadors to Lucius Tiberius Deliver Petreius Cotta, Whom They Took Prisoner, to Arthur. #

¹ As soon as all the forces Arthur expected had arrived, he marched from there to Augustodunum, where he supposed the general to be. But when he reached the river Alba, he received intelligence that the general had encamped not far away and had come with so vast an army that Arthur would be unable to withstand it. Nevertheless, this did not deter him from pursuing his enterprise. He pitched his camp upon the bank of the river, both to make it easier for his forces to come up and to secure his retreat if necessary, and sent Boso, the consul of Oxford, Guerinus Carnotensis and his nephew Walgan to Lucius Tiberius, demanding that he either withdraw from the coasts of Gaul or come the following day so that they might settle their right to that country with their swords. The company of young courtiers attending Walgan, greatly rejoicing at this opportunity, urged him to find some occasion for a quarrel in the commander’s camp so that they might engage the Romans. Accordingly, they went to Lucius and commanded him either to withdraw from Gaul or risk battle the following day. But while he was answering that he had not come to withdraw but to govern the country, his nephew Caius Quintilianus, who was present, said, “The Britons are better at boasting and threatening than they are at fighting.” Walgan immediately became enraged, rushed upon him with his drawn sword and cut off his head, after which he and his companions swiftly retreated to their horses. The Romans, both horse and foot, pursued them to avenge the death of their countryman upon the ambassadors, who fled with great haste. But Guerinus Carnotensis, just as one of them caught up with him, suddenly turned and drove his lance through both the man’s armour and the centre of his body, laying him prostrate upon the ground. The sight of this noble exploit stirred Boso of Oxford to emulation. Wheeling his horse around, he drove his lance into the throat of the first man he met and unhorsed him, mortally wounded. Meanwhile, Marcellus Mutius, in his eagerness to avenge Quintilian’s death, came close behind Walgan and seized hold of him. Walgan quickly forced him to release his grip by cleaving both his helmet and his head down to his breast with his sword. He also told him that, when he reached the infernal regions, he should tell the man Walgan had killed in the camp, “This is how the Britons show their boasting and threatening.” Then, having reassembled his men, he encouraged each of them to despatch his pursuer in the same manner as he had done, which they did not fail to accomplish. Nevertheless, the Romans continued their pursuit with lances and swords, with which they harassed the others, though without killing any or taking prisoners. But as they approached a certain wood, a force of six thousand Britons, who had seen the consuls fleeing and had hidden themselves so that they might be ready to assist them, sallied out and, spurring their horses, rent the air with their loud shouts. Well protected by their shields, they suddenly attacked the Romans and forced them to flee. It was now the Britons’ turn to pursue, which they did with greater success, for they unhorsed, killed or captured several of the enemy. On hearing this news, Petreius, the senator, hastened to assist his countrymen with ten thousand men and forced the Britons to retreat to the wood from which they had sallied, though not without losses among his own men. For the Britons, being well acquainted with the ground, killed a great number of their pursuers as they fled. As the Britons were thus giving ground, Hider advanced swiftly with a further reinforcement of five thousand men to support them, so that they again faced those upon whom they had turned their backs and renewed the assault with great vigour. The Romans also stood their ground and continued the fight with varying success. The great fault of the Britons was that, although they had been very eager to begin the fight, once it had begun they were less careful about the danger they faced. The Romans, however, were under better discipline and had the advantage of a prudent commander, Petreius Cotta, who directed them where to advance and where to give ground, and by these means inflicted great harm upon the enemy. When Boso observed this, he drew aside from the rest a large company of those whom he knew to be the stoutest men and addressed them in this manner: “Since we have begun this fight without Arthur’s knowledge, we must take care not to be defeated in the enterprise. For if we are, we shall both place our men in very great danger and incur the king’s severe displeasure. Rouse your courage and follow me through the Roman squadrons, so that, with the favour of good fortune, we may either kill Petreius or take him prisoner.” At this, they spurred their horses and, breaking through the thickest ranks of the enemy, reached the place where Petreius was giving his commands. Boso swiftly rushed upon him and, grasping him around the neck, fell with him to the ground, as he had intended. The Romans then ran to rescue him, while the Britons ran to assist Boso. This caused great slaughter, noise and confusion on both sides, as one party struggled to rescue its leader and the other to keep him prisoner. This therefore proved the fiercest part of the entire fight, and the part in which their spears, swords and arrows were most fully employed. At length, the Britons formed themselves into a close body and, patiently enduring the assaults of the Romans, withdrew to the main body of their army with Petreius. No sooner had they done so than they attacked the Romans again, who, now deprived of their leader, were greatly weakened, dispirited and beginning to flee. The Britons therefore pursued them eagerly, struck down and killed several of them and, as soon as they had plundered the fallen, pursued the rest. They took the greatest number of them prisoner, however, because they wished to present them to the king. When they had at last harassed them sufficiently, they returned to the camp with their plunder and prisoners, where they gave an account of what had happened and presented Petreius Cotta and the other prisoners before Arthur, greatly rejoicing in their victory. Arthur congratulated them upon it and promised to advance them to greater honours for behaving so gallantly in his absence. He then commanded some of his men to conduct the prisoners to Paris the following day and deliver them there to be held in custody until further orders. He ordered that the party undertaking this charge should be escorted by Cador, Bedver and the two consuls, Borellus and Richerius, together with their servants, until they were beyond all fear of disturbance from the Romans.

Chapter Five: The Romans Attack the Britons With a Very Great Force, but Are Put to Flight by Them. #

¹ But the Romans happened to learn of their plan and, at their general’s command, selected fifteen thousand men who were to get ahead of the others during their march that night and rescue their fellow soldiers from their hands. They were to be commanded by Vulteius Catellus and Quintus Carutius, senators, as well as Evander, king of Syria, and Sertorius, king of Libya. Accordingly, they began their march that very night and took possession of a place suitable for an ambush, through which they supposed the others would pass. In the morning, the Britons set out along the same road with their prisoners and approached the place in complete ignorance of the enemy’s cunning stratagem. No sooner had they entered it than the Romans sprang out, greatly surprising them, and attacked them furiously. Nevertheless, the Britons eventually recovered from their consternation, assembled together and prepared to resist boldly by appointing one party to guard the prisoners and drawing up the rest in battle order against the enemy. Richerius and Bedver commanded the party placed over the prisoners, while Cador, duke of Cornwall, and Borellus led the others. But all the Romans had sallied out without being placed in any order and did not trouble to form themselves, so that they would lose no time in slaughtering the Britons, whom they saw occupied in marshalling their troops and preparing only to defend themselves. By this action, the Britons were severely weakened and would have shamefully lost their prisoners had not good fortune brought them assistance. For Guitard, commander of the Pictavians, happened to learn of the planned stratagem and arrived with three thousand men, with whose help they at last gained the advantage and repaid the slaughter upon their insolent assailants. Nevertheless, the losses they suffered at the beginning of this action were very considerable. They lost Borellus, the famous consul of the Cenomanni, in an encounter with Evander, king of Syria, who drove his lance into his throat, as well as four noblemen, namely Hirelgas Deperirus, Mauricius Cadorcanensis, Aliduc of Tintagel, and Hider his son, than whom braver men could scarcely be found. Yet even this loss did not dispirit the Britons, but instead made them more determined to keep the prisoners and kill the enemy. The Romans, now finding themselves unable to continue the fight any longer, suddenly abandoned the field and headed towards their camp. But the Britons pursued and slaughtered them, also taking many prisoners, and gave them no respite until they had killed Vulteius Catellus and Evander, king of Syria, and completely dispersed the rest. Afterwards, they sent their former prisoners on to Paris, where they had been ordered to conduct them, and returned to the king with those newly captured. They gave him great hope of a complete conquest of their enemies, since very few of the great number who had come against them had met with any success.

Chapter Six: Lucius Tiberius Goes to Lengriæ. Arthur, Designing to Vanquish Him, by a Stratagem Possesses Himself of the Valley of Suesia. #

¹ These repeated disasters caused no small disturbance in the mind of Lucius Tiberius and made him hesitate whether to bring matters to a general battle with Arthur or to retire into Augustodunum and wait until the emperor Leo could come to his assistance with his forces. At length, yielding to his fears, he entered Lengriæ with his army, intending to reach the other city the following night. Arthur, discovering this and wishing to get ahead of him on his march, left the city on his left and entered that same night a certain valley called Suesia, through which Lucius was to pass. There he divided his men into several bodies, commanding one legion, over which Morvid, consul of Gloucester, was appointed general, to remain close by so that he might retreat to them if necessary and from there rally his broken forces for a second battle. He divided the rest into seven parts, placing in each five thousand five hundred and fifty-five men, all fully armed. He also assigned different positions to his horse and foot and commanded that, just as the foot advanced to the attack, the horse, keeping close together in their ranks, should at the same moment advance obliquely and attempt to throw the enemy into disorder. The companies of foot were drawn up in a square, according to the British manner, with a right and left wing under the command of Augusel, king of Albania, and Cador, duke of Cornwall, the former presiding over the right wing and the latter over the left. Over another division were placed the two famous consuls, Guerinus Carnotensis and Boso of Richiden, called Oxineford in the Saxon tongue; over a third were Aschillius, king of the Dacians, and Lot, king of the Norwegians. The fourth was commanded by Hoel, duke of the Armoricans, and Walgan, the king’s nephew. After these, four other divisions were placed in the rear: the first commanded by Caius the sewer and Bedver the butler; the second by Holdin, duke of the Ruteni, and Guitard of the Pictavians; the third by Vigenis of Legecester, Jonathal of Dorchester and Cursalem of Caicester; and the fourth by Urbgennius of Bath. Behind all these, Arthur chose a place for himself and the legion that was to remain near him, where he set up a golden dragon as a standard, to which the wounded or weary might retreat in case of necessity as though into their camp. The legion with him consisted of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men.

Chapter Seven: Arthur’s Exhortation to His Soldiers. #

¹ After he had placed them all in their positions, Arthur made the following speech to his soldiers: “My brave countrymen, who have made Britain the mistress of thirty kingdoms, I congratulate you upon your recent noble exploit, which proves to me that your valour, far from being diminished, has instead increased. Although you have gone five years without military exercise, during which the softening pleasures of an easy life occupied more of your time than the use of arms, none of this has caused you to degenerate from your natural bravery, which you have shown by forcing the Romans to flee. The pride of their leaders has encouraged them to attempt the invasion of your liberties. They have tested you in battle with numbers greater than yours and have been unable to stand before you, but have shamefully withdrawn into that city, from which they are now ready to march out and pass through this valley on their way to Augustodunum, so that you may have an opportunity to fall upon them unawares like a flock of sheep. They must surely have expected to find in you the cowardice of the Eastern nations when they thought to make your country tributary and you their slaves. Have they never heard of your wars with the Dacians, Norwegians and princes of the Gauls, whom you brought under my power and freed from their shameful yoke? We, then, who have succeeded in a greater war, need not doubt our success in a lesser one, provided that we strive with the same spirit to vanquish these poltroons. You shall not lack rewards of honour, so long as you obey my commands strictly, as faithful soldiers. For as soon as we have routed them, we shall march directly to Rome and take it; and then all the gold, silver, palaces, towers, towns, cities and other riches of the vanquished shall be yours.” He had scarcely finished speaking before they all declared with one voice that they were ready to suffer death rather than leave the field while he remained alive.

Chapter Eight: Lucius Tiberius, Discovering Arthur’s Design, in a Speech Animates His Followers to Fight. #

¹ But Lucius Tiberius, discovering the plans that had been formed against him, would not flee as he had first intended. Instead, taking fresh courage, he resolved to march against them in the same valley and, calling together his principal commanders, spoke to them in these words: “Venerable Fathers, to whose empire both the Eastern and Western kingdoms owe obedience, remember the virtues of your ancestors, who were not afraid to shed their blood when the defeat of the commonwealth’s enemies required it. Wishing to leave their descendants an example of their courage and military virtues, they conducted themselves in every battle with such contempt for death as though God had given them some assurance against it. By this conduct they often triumphed, and by triumphing escaped death. Such was the reward that Divine Providence, which governs all events, gave to their virtue. The growth of the commonwealth and of their own valour arose from this; and all those virtues that usually adorn the great, such as integrity, honour and munificence, flourished in them for a long time and raised them and their descendants to dominion over the whole world. Let their noble examples inspire you. Rouse the spirit of the ancient Romans, and do not be afraid to march out against our enemies who lie in ambush for us in the valley, but boldly demand your rightful claims from them with your swords. Do not think that I withdrew into this city because I was afraid to engage them. Rather, I thought that, since their pursuit of us was rash and foolish, we might suddenly intercept them from here and, by dividing their main body, inflict great slaughter upon them. But now, since they have changed the course we supposed they had taken, let us also change ours. Let us go in search of them and fall bravely upon them; or, should they happen to gain the advantage at the beginning of the battle, let us only stand our ground during the fury of their first assault, and the victory will undoubtedly be ours, for in many battles this course of action has brought victory.” As soon as he had finished saying these and other things, they all declared their agreement, swore to stand by him and hastened to arm themselves. When they had done so, they marched out of Lengriæ to the valley where Arthur had drawn up his forces in battle order. They then also began to marshal their army, which they divided into twelve companies and, according to the Roman manner of battle, drew up each company in the form of a wedge, consisting of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men. Each company also had its own leaders, who were to direct when it should advance and when it should remain on the defensive. One was led by Lucius Catellus the senator and Alifantinam, king of Spain; another by Hirtacius, king of the Parthians, and Marius Lepidus, a senator; a third by Boccus, king of the Medes, and Caius Metellus, a senator; and a fourth by Sertorius, king of Libya, and Quintus Milvius, a senator. These four companies were placed at the front of the army. Behind them were four others, one commanded by Serses, king of the Itureans; another by Pandrasus, king of Egypt; a third by Polytetes, duke of Bithynia; and a fourth by Teucer, duke of Phrygia. Behind all these were another four, whose commanders were Quintus Carucius, a senator, Lælius Hostiensis, Sulpitius Subuculus and Mauricius Sylvanus. As for the general himself, he moved from one place to another to encourage and direct them as the occasion required. As a standard, he ordered a golden eagle to be firmly set up in the centre, to which his men could return whenever they happened to become separated from their company.

Chapter Nine: A Battle Between Arthur and Lucius Tiberius. #

¹ The Britons and Romans now stood with their weapons pointed at one another. At the sound of the trumpets, the company led by the king of Spain and Lucius Catellus immediately rushed boldly against the one led by the king of Scotland the duke of Cornwall, but they were unable to make the slightest breach in its firm ranks. While these men stood their ground, Guerinus and Boso came up at full speed with a body of horsemen, broke through the party that had begun the assault, and encountered another that the king of the Parthians was leading against Aschillius, king of Dacia. After this first attack, both armies joined in a general engagement with great violence, and several breaches were made on each side. The shouting, the slaughter, the quantity of blood spilled and the agonies of the dying created a dreadful scene of horror. At first, the Britons suffered a great loss through the death of Bedver the butler and the mortal wounding of Caius the sewer. When Bedver encountered Boccus, king of the Medes, he fell dead from a thrust of his lance amid the enemy’s troops. Caius, while attempting to avenge his death, was surrounded by the Median troops and received a mortal wound there. Yet, like a brave soldier, he opened a path for himself with the wing he commanded, killed and dispersed the Medes, and would have made a safe retreat with all his men had he not encountered the king of Libya and the forces under him, who threw his entire company into disorder. The disorder was not so great, however, that he could not still escape with a few men and flee with Bedver’s corpse to the golden dragon. The Neustrians bitterly lamented when they saw the mangled body of their leader, as did the Andegavians when they saw their consul wounded. But there was now no time for lamentation, for the furious and bloody clashes between the two armies made it necessary for them to provide for their own defence. Hirelgas, Bedver’s nephew, therefore became extremely enraged at his death, called three hundred men to him and, like a wild boar among a pack of dogs, broke through the enemy’s ranks on horseback, heading towards the place where he had seen the standard of the king of the Medes. He cared little what might happen to him, provided that he could avenge the loss of his uncle. At last, he reached the place, killed the king, carried his body back to his companions and laid it beside that of his uncle, where he mangled it in the same manner. Then, calling loudly to his countrymen, he encouraged their troops and urgently pressed them to exert themselves to the utmost, now that their spirits had risen and the enemy had become disheartened, especially as they had the advantage of being drawn up in better order and could therefore inflict more grievous harm upon them. Encouraged by this exhortation, they began a general assault upon the enemy, which resulted in terrible slaughter on both sides. On the Roman side, besides many others, there fell Alifantinam, king of Spain, Micipsa of Babylon, and the senators Quintus Milvius and Marius Lepidus. On the British side fell Holdin, king of the Ruteni, Leodegarius of Bolonia, and three consuls of Britain: Cursalem of Caicester, Galluc of Salisbury and Urbgennius of Bath. The troops they commanded, being severely weakened, retreated until they reached the army of the Armorican Britons, commanded by Hoel and Walgan. But these, inflamed by the retreat of their friends, encouraged them to stand their ground and, with the help of their own forces, enabled them to put their pursuers to flight. As they continued the pursuit, they struck down and killed several of them and gave them no respite until they reached the general’s troop, which, seeing the distress of his companions, hastened to their assistance.

Chapter Ten: Hoel and Walgan Distinguish Themselves by Their Valour in the Fight. #

¹ In this latest encounter, the Britons were now defeated, with the loss of Kimareoe, consul of Trigeria, and two thousand men with him, besides three famous noblemen: Richomarcus, Bloccovius and Jagivius of Bodloan. Had they possessed the dignity of princes, they would have been celebrated for their valour throughout all succeeding ages. For during this assault, which they made together with Hoel and Walgan, no enemy within their reach could escape the fury of their swords or lances. But when they fell among Lucius’s party, they were surrounded and suffered the same fate as the consul and the other men. The loss of these men made those matchless heroes, Hoel and Walgan, much more eager to attack the general’s ranks and to try on every side where they might make the greatest impression. Walgan, whose valour could never be overcome, attempted to reach Lucius himself so that he might encounter him, and with this purpose struck down and killed everyone who stood in his way. Hoel, who was not inferior to him, rendered no less service elsewhere, inspiring his men and giving and receiving blows among the enemy with the same undaunted courage. It was difficult to determine which of them was the stouter soldier.

Chapter Eleven: Lucius Tiberius Being Killed, the Britons Obtain the Victory. #

¹ But Walgan, forcing his way through the enemy’s troops, as we said before, at last gained the access to the general that he had desired and immediately engaged him. Lucius, being then in the flower of his youth and a man of great courage and vigour, desired nothing more than to fight someone who might put his strength fully to the test. Placing himself, therefore, in a posture of defence, he received Walgan with joy and was not a little proud to test his courage against one of whom he had heard such great things. The fight between them continued for a long time, with great force in their blows and no less skill in warding them off, each being resolved upon the other’s destruction. During this fierce conflict between them, the Romans suddenly recovered their courage and attacked the Armoricans. Having relieved their general, they drove back Hoel and Walgan with their troops until they unexpectedly encountered Arthur and the forces under him. For Arthur, hearing of the slaughter recently inflicted upon his men, had swiftly advanced with his legion and, drawing his Caliburn, addressed them in a loud voice: “What are you doing, soldiers? Will you allow these effeminate wretches to escape? Let not one of them get away alive. Remember the strength of your arms, which have brought thirty kingdoms under my rule. Remember your ancestors, whom the Romans made tributary when they were at the height of their power. Remember your liberties, of which these pitiful fellows, who are greatly inferior to you, are attempting to deprive you. Let none of them escape alive. What are you doing?” With these reproaches, he rushed upon the enemy and made terrible havoc among them, and every man he encountered he laid dead upon the ground with a single blow, either the man himself or his horse. They therefore fled from him in astonishment, like a flock of sheep from a fierce lion driven by raging hunger to devour whatever comes near him. Their armour offered them no protection against the force with which this valiant prince wielded his Caliburn. Two kings, Sertorius of Libya and Polytetes of Bithynia, unfortunately felt its fury and had their heads cut off by it. When the Britons saw their king performing such wonders, they took courage again. With one accord, they attacked the Romans, kept close together in their ranks and, while assaulting the foot soldiers in one place, attempted to strike down and break through the horsemen in another. Nevertheless, the Romans made a brave defence and, at the urging of Lucius, strove to repay the slaughter inflicted upon them by the Britons. The eagerness and force now displayed on both sides were as great as though it were the beginning of the battle. Arthur continued to inflict great destruction with his own hand encouraged the Britons to maintain the fight, just as Lucius Tiberius encouraged the Romans and caused them to perform many memorable exploits. Meanwhile, Lucius himself was very active, moving from place to place and allowing none who came within reach of his sword or lance to escape alive. The slaughter now inflicted on both sides was dreadful, and fortune changed repeatedly, sometimes favouring the Britons and sometimes the Romans. At last, while this fierce struggle continued, Morvid, consul of Gloucester, came swiftly with his legion, which, as we said before, had been stationed between the hills, and attacked the enemy from the rear. To their great surprise, he assaulted, broke through and dispersed them with great slaughter. This final and decisive blow proved fatal to many thousands of Romans and even to the general Lucius himself, who was killed among the crowds by a lance wielded by an unknown hand. But the Britons, after maintaining the fight for a long time, at last gained the victory with great difficulty.

Chapter Twelve: Part of the Romans Flee; the Rest, of Their Own Accord, Surrender Themselves as Slaves. #

¹ The Romans, now dispersed, fled in fear, some to the byways and woods, some to the cities and towns, and others to whatever places offered them the greatest safety. But the pursuing Britons either killed, captured or plundered them, so that a great many voluntarily and shamefully held out their hands to receive their chains, hoping thereby to prolong their wretched lives for a little while. In all this, the justice of Divine Providence was clearly visible, considering how unjustly the ancestors of the Britons had formerly been invaded and harassed by those of the Romans, and that the Britons were now merely defending the liberty of which the Romans wished to deprive them and refusing the tribute that the Romans had no right to demand.

Chapter Thirteen: The Bodies of the Slain Are Decently Buried, Each in Their Respective Countries. #

¹ After completing his victory, Arthur gave orders that the bodies of his nobility should be separated from those of the enemy and that magnificent funerals should be prepared for them. When they were ready, they were to be carried to the abbeys of their respective countries and honourably buried there. But Bedver the butler was carried, amid the great lamentation of the Neustrians, to his own city of Bajocae, which Bedver the first, his great-grandfather, had built. There, with great solemnity, he was laid close beside the wall in a burial place on the south side of the city. Cheudo was carried, grievously wounded, to Camus, a town that he had built himself, where he soon died of his wounds and was buried, as befitted a duke of Andegavia, in a convent of hermits situated in a wood not far from the town. Holdin, duke of Ruteni, was also carried to Flanders and buried in his own city of Terivana. The other consuls and noblemen were conveyed to the neighbouring abbeys in accordance with Arthur’s orders. In his great clemency, he also ordered the country people to arrange the burial of the enemy and to carry the body of Lucius to the senate, telling them that this was the only tribute Britain ought to pay them. After this, he remained in those regions until the following winter had ended and spent his time subduing the cities of the Allobroges. But at the beginning of the following summer, while he was marching towards Rome and beginning to cross the Alps, news was brought to him that his nephew Modred, to whose care he had entrusted Britain, had through tyrannical and treasonous practices placed the crown upon his own head, and that Queen Guanhumara, in violation of her first marriage, had wickedly married him.