According to legend, King Arthur and his knights gathered around the Round Table at Camelot to discuss ways of battling the invading Saxons.
The precise location of the famous city of Camelot of Athurian legend has always been a mystery.
But now historians believe that Camelot was the city of Chester and that the Round Table was not actually a table but Chester's large, round Roman ampitheatre.
The Romans started construction of the Chester ampitheatre - which they called Deva Victrix (Deva is what the Romans called the city) - about the year 74AD. It is the largest Roman ampitheatre so far discovered in Britain.
Historians now believe that Arthur would have reinforced the circular ampitheatre's 40ft walls to create an imposing and well fortified base - Camelot.
The king’s regional noblemen would have sat in the central arena’s front row, with lower-ranked subjects in the outer stone benches.
The Romans left Britain in 410. The exact time of Arthur's existence is not known, but one school of though sees Arthur as living around the late 400s to early 500s, around the time that the Anglo-Saxons, the founding fathers of the English nation, started coming to these shores.
The Round Table was first described in 1155 by Wace, an Anglo-Norman historian.
King Arthur's Round Table 'found' - except it's not a table, but a Roman amphitheatre in Chester
By Nigel Blundell
11th July 2010
Daily Mail
His is among the most enduring legends in our islands' history.
King Arthur, the gallant warrior who gathered his knights around the Round Table at Camelot and rallied Christian Britons against the invading pagan Saxons, has always been an enigma.
But now historians believe they have uncovered the precise location of Arthur’s stronghold, finally solving the riddle of whether the Round Table really existed.
And far from pinpointing a piece of furniture, they claim the ‘table’ was in fact the circular space inside a former Roman amphitheatre.
Round table? An artist's impression of Chester's Roman Amphitheatre, where historians now believe King Arthur may have held court
The experts believe that Camelot could in fact have been Chester Amphitheatre, a huge stone-and-wood structure capable of holding up to 10,000 people.
They say that Arthur would have reinforced the building’s 40ft walls to create an imposing and well fortified base.
The king’s regional noblemen would have sat in the central arena’s front row, with lower-ranked subjects in the outer stone benches.
Arthur has been the subject of much historical debate, but many scholars believe him to have been a 5th or 6th Century leader.
The legend links him to 12 major battles fought over 40 years from the Scottish Borders to the West Country. One of the principal victories was said to have been at Chester.
King Arthur, portrayed here by Clive Owen on film in 2004, held court at Camelot - which historians now believe may have been in Chester
Rather than create a purpose-built Camelot, historian Chris Gidlow says Arthur would have logically chosen a structure left by the Romans.
‘The first accounts of the Round Table show that it was nothing like a dining table but was a venue for upwards of 1,000 people at a time,’ he said.
‘And we know that one of Arthur’s two main battles was fought at a town referred to as the City of the Legions. There were only two places with this title. One was St Albans, but the location of the other has remained a mystery.’
The number of Knights of the Round Table is not known but there may have been as many as 150. Amongst them were Sir Lancelot, Sir Anselm, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Dinadan, Sir Segwarides, Sir Tristram, Sir Ywain the Bastard, Sir Caradoc, and Sir Elyan the White.
Sir Thomas Malory (1405-1471), an English writer who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur, describes the Knights' code of chivalry as:
Mr Gidlow said: ‘In the 6th Century, a monk named Gildas, who wrote the earliest account of Arthur’s life, referred both to the City of the Legions and to a martyr’s shrine within it.
'That is the clincher. The discovery of the shrine within the amphitheatre means that Chester was the site of Arthur’s court – and his legendary Round Table.’
The precise location of the famous city of Camelot of Athurian legend has always been a mystery.
But now historians believe that Camelot was the city of Chester and that the Round Table was not actually a table but Chester's large, round Roman ampitheatre.
The Romans started construction of the Chester ampitheatre - which they called Deva Victrix (Deva is what the Romans called the city) - about the year 74AD. It is the largest Roman ampitheatre so far discovered in Britain.
Historians now believe that Arthur would have reinforced the circular ampitheatre's 40ft walls to create an imposing and well fortified base - Camelot.
The king’s regional noblemen would have sat in the central arena’s front row, with lower-ranked subjects in the outer stone benches.
The Romans left Britain in 410. The exact time of Arthur's existence is not known, but one school of though sees Arthur as living around the late 400s to early 500s, around the time that the Anglo-Saxons, the founding fathers of the English nation, started coming to these shores.
The Round Table was first described in 1155 by Wace, an Anglo-Norman historian.
King Arthur's Round Table 'found' - except it's not a table, but a Roman amphitheatre in Chester
By Nigel Blundell
11th July 2010
Daily Mail
His is among the most enduring legends in our islands' history.
King Arthur, the gallant warrior who gathered his knights around the Round Table at Camelot and rallied Christian Britons against the invading pagan Saxons, has always been an enigma.
But now historians believe they have uncovered the precise location of Arthur’s stronghold, finally solving the riddle of whether the Round Table really existed.
And far from pinpointing a piece of furniture, they claim the ‘table’ was in fact the circular space inside a former Roman amphitheatre.
Round table? An artist's impression of Chester's Roman Amphitheatre, where historians now believe King Arthur may have held court
The experts believe that Camelot could in fact have been Chester Amphitheatre, a huge stone-and-wood structure capable of holding up to 10,000 people.
They say that Arthur would have reinforced the building’s 40ft walls to create an imposing and well fortified base.
The king’s regional noblemen would have sat in the central arena’s front row, with lower-ranked subjects in the outer stone benches.
Arthur has been the subject of much historical debate, but many scholars believe him to have been a 5th or 6th Century leader.
The legend links him to 12 major battles fought over 40 years from the Scottish Borders to the West Country. One of the principal victories was said to have been at Chester.
King Arthur, portrayed here by Clive Owen on film in 2004, held court at Camelot - which historians now believe may have been in Chester
Rather than create a purpose-built Camelot, historian Chris Gidlow says Arthur would have logically chosen a structure left by the Romans.
‘The first accounts of the Round Table show that it was nothing like a dining table but was a venue for upwards of 1,000 people at a time,’ he said.
‘And we know that one of Arthur’s two main battles was fought at a town referred to as the City of the Legions. There were only two places with this title. One was St Albans, but the location of the other has remained a mystery.’
The number of Knights of the Round Table is not known but there may have been as many as 150. Amongst them were Sir Lancelot, Sir Anselm, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Dinadan, Sir Segwarides, Sir Tristram, Sir Ywain the Bastard, Sir Caradoc, and Sir Elyan the White.
Sir Thomas Malory (1405-1471), an English writer who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur, describes the Knights' code of chivalry as:
- To never do outrage nor murder
- Always to flee treason
- To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy
- To always do ladies, gentlewomen and widows succor
- To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows
- Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods
Mr Gidlow said: ‘In the 6th Century, a monk named Gildas, who wrote the earliest account of Arthur’s life, referred both to the City of the Legions and to a martyr’s shrine within it.
'That is the clincher. The discovery of the shrine within the amphitheatre means that Chester was the site of Arthur’s court – and his legendary Round Table.’
- King Arthur’s Round Table Revealed is on The History Channel on Monday, July 19, at 9pm.
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