Riothamus: a possible Arthur

1
Riothamus a possible Arthur?

• British war-leaders in the 5th century

2
Riothamus

• There were evidently many Brittonic war-leaders
  during the course of the 5th century, attempting
  after the collapse of Roman rule and the threat
  by barbarians to impose some measure of control
  and peace in Britain.

3
Riothamus

• The main Brittonic war-leaders we have heard
  about are the following
• Ambrosius Aurelianus (Gildas, Nennius)
• Vortigern (Gildas, Nenius, Bede)
• Riothamus (Continental sources)
• Arthur (Nennius, Annals)

4
Riothamus

• One of these leaders became famous on the
  Continent during that period. His name is
  Riothamus (a Celtic name meaning supreme king).
• The original Brittonic form would be Rigotamos
• Rigo(n)king, ruler
• -tamossuperlative formmost, est

5
Riothamus

• Around 470AD, Sidonius Apolinaris, a Gallic
  aristocrat closely associated with the early
  church corresponded with Riothamus who was
  apparently well-known in Gaul.

6
Riothamus

• Sidonius praises the character of Riothamus, but
  complains that certain Britanni associated with
  him- a crowd of noisy, armed disorderly men-
  were enticing slaves away from the estate of one
  of his friends.
• In another letter, Sidonius locates these Britons
  north of the Loire.

7
Riothamus

• The respect and familiarity shown by Sidonius
  towards Riothamus may indicate they were friends
  or had had previous communications.
• The letters do not however celary indicate what
  business Riothamus had in Gaul, nor his response
  to the letters.

8
Riothamus

• More detail about Riothamus are provided by a
  Gothic cleric and notarius called Jordanes,
  writing c 550AD (but apparently basing his work
  on the work of an earlier writer Cassiodorus).
• In this work he relates how the king of the
  Visigoths seeing the weakness of the Romans,
  sought to increase his hold on Gaul.

9
Riothamus

• The western emperor heard of this and asked the
  Brittones for help
• Their king Riotimus (sic) came with twelve
  thousand men into the state of the Bituriges
  (Aquitania) by the way of Ocean, and was received
  as he disembarked from his ships (Jordanes,
  Getica, 45. 237-38).

10
Riothamus

• Historians have placed this event around 468AD.
  The prefect of Gaul, one Arvandaus, betrayed the
  emperor by advisng Eudic to attack the Britons
  before they could join the anti-Goth coalition.
• We are told that Euric routed Riotimus, before
  the Romans could join him. 470AD.
• We are not sure what happened to Riotimus after
  this battle.

11
Riothamus

• An important writer Gregory of Tours
  (c.538-c.594)- his most important work is
  Historia Francorum- wrote that Brittani were
  expelled from Bourges by the Goths and many fleed
  to various parts of Burgundy. Clovis is said to
  have defeated a British army on the Loire in
  490AD.
• The Britons may remained on the Continent since a
  legio Britannica was stationed at Orléans in
  530AD.

12
Riothamus

• How should we interpret Riothamus and these bands
  of Britons on the Continent?
• Firstly Jordanes comment about Riothamus
  arriving by sea is unclear.
• Were they already sttled in Brittany?
• Recent opinion has swung to Britain

13
Riothamus

• Several scholars now view Riothamus as an insular
  king (ie of Britain) whose authority reached
  across the Channel.
• Rather than being an obscure Breton (never very
  convincing), there are now claims that Riothamus
  was really Ambrosius Aurelianus or even Arthur
  himself.

14
Riothamus

• Still others have proposed a Late Roman military
  context.
• Ian Wood (1987) said, he is perhaps best seen as
  a general who left Britain because he wanted to
  serve the Imperial cause.
• Certainly there must have been good lines of
  communication between Britain and the Continent
  during the mid-5th century in order for Vortigern
  and his council to hire Germanic mercenaries.

15
Arthur and Riothamus/Ambrosius

• There has been considerable discussion about the
  identity of a recognisable historical figure from
  the late 5th and early 6th century in Britain and
  the Continent.
• The meaning of Riothamus is supreme king/leader
  (Brythonic). a title and not a name as such.

16
Ambrosius

• According to Leslie Alcock, Ambrosius was most
  likely a general responsible to a High King, ie
  Vortigerns successor, possibly Riothamus.
• He may have had something to do with the
  Armorican settlements.

17
Arthur and Riothamus/Ambrosius

• The main players in this discussion have been
• Ashe, Padel, Fleuriot, Snyder, Alcock. Morris.
• They have not by any means come to a concensus
  that has been accepted generally and the
  discussion continues.

18
Arthur and Riothamus/Ambrosius

• Briefly, vigorous claims have been made for
  identifying Riothamus and Ambrosius Aurelianus as
  the same person- a late Romano-Celtic supreme
  leader of the Britons in a time of crisis.
  (Fleuriot)
• Further claims have been made however that
  Riothamus is in fact another name for the elusive
  historical Arthur. (Ashe)

19
Riothamus

• The chronicler Jordanes relates that in 469-70, a
  force under Riothamus (supreme king or leader)
  was fighting for Emperor Anthemius in the Loire
  Valley against the Visigoths.
• According to Jordanes, Riothamus landed in the
  territory of the ancient Bituriges (Aquitania) c
  468.
• Should we see him as a federate king?

20
Riothamus

• The first theory that Ambrosius Aurelianus is
  another name for Arthur.
• The theory has been mainly expounded by Léon
  Fleuriot (Les origines de la Bretagne).

21
Gildas on Ambrosius Aurelianus

• Their leader was Ambrosius Aurelianus, a
  gentleman who, perhaps the last of the Romans,
  had survived the shock of this notable storm
  certainly his parents, who had worn the purple,
  were slain in it. His descendants in our day have
  become greatly inferior to their grandfathers
  excellence. Under him our people regained their
  strength

22
Riothamus

• Fleuriot has seen this character as being one and
  the same as Riothamus.
• Fleuriot has also attributed to
  Ambrosius/Riothamus a cross-Channel thalassocracy
  largely on the basis of comments in Saints Lives
  about the existence of an Brittonic joint-kingdom
  linking the SW of Britain and Northern Brittany.

23
Riothamus

• Certainly there is evidence of a British
  general leading Celtic British troops in
  Europe. The question is how they got there.
• Around 470AD the Gallic (pre-French) aristocrat
  Sidonius corresponded with Riothamus who was
  apparently already well-known in Gaul.
• He praises Riothamus but complains that

24
Riothamus

• The Britanni (Britons) with him were a crowd of
  noisy, armed, disorderly men. He also complains
  that these mercenaries were enticing slaves (or
  maybe servants) away from the neighbouring
  estates.
• Sidonius locates these British troops to the
  north of the river Loire.

25
Riothamus

• Léon Fleuriot makes the important point that the
  earliest sources talk more about Ambrosius than
  about Arthur which is very surprising in view of
  the predominant place taken by Arthur in later
  narrative materials.
• Fleuriot claimes (1980s) that Ambrosius and
  Riothamus are one and the same person.
• Here are Fleuriots ideas in greater detail

26
Riothamus Fleuriots theory

• Ambrosius and Riothamus are clearly
  contemporaries. Riothamus appears in history in
  469-470AD. Ambrosius period of greatest activity
  is c 460-480AD.
• The Celtic and Continental Churches seem to hold
  both in esteem. This is not the case with respect
  to the other kings (Gildas especially).

27
Riothamus

• Gildas praises Ambrosius (the last of the
  Romans) by saying that he provided 44 years of
  relative peace against the Saxon invader, after
  the Battle of Badon.
• Another remarkable fact (Fleuriot) is that
  Ambrosius is the only British chieftain who can
  be described as reigning as well south of the
  Channel amongst the Bretons and the Franks who
  had settled there.

28
Riothamus

• Ambrosius must have been a very formidable
  opponent since in Nennius (HB), it says of
  Vortigern he was under pressure..from fear of
  the Picts and the Scots..and from dread of
  Ambrosius.
• In an early translation of Historia Britonnum
  into Irish, the same section adds (from dread of
  Ambrosius), king of the Franks and Bretons.

29
Riothamus

• The evidence for Ambrosius connection with
  Brittany does not only rely on this text
  (Fleuriot) but also on a Welsh text from the
  so-called Triads of the Island of Britain. In
  this Triad which is a mixture of history and
  legend, Ambrosius is described as being exiled to
  Brittany with his brother Uthr Pendragon
  (Arthurs father in later tradition) who later
  take revenge against Vortigern who had taken
  control of Britain.

30
Riothamus

• Nennius describes Ambrosius as king amongst all
  the kings of the British people. Thus he is a
  kind of high-king.
• The name Riothamus has exactly this meaning. It
  comes from a more Brythonic form Rigotamus.
  During the period we are discussing, this name
  would have the status of a title rather than just
  a name.

31
Riothamus

• Although it is credible to think of Ambrosius as
  king on both sides of the Channel (the west), it
  is more challenging (ie we will have a problem)
  to imagine him as king of the Franks.
• In fact, the only time that the Bretons overran
  the Franks was in the short period 465-481 AD.
  (in northern France.)

32
Riothamus

• Fleuriot attempts to summarize the career of
  Ambrosius in this way
• Born c 410-20
• Vortigern invites the Saxons c 430-440
• Ambrosius opposes Vortigern and may at one point
  have had to take refuge in Brittany.
• Ambrosius defeats Vortigern and assumes the
  leadership for the resistence against the Saxons.
• During the period 460-469 Ambrosius succeeds in
  forcing the Saxons to retreat eastwards.

33
Riothamus

• In 469, the western Emperor Anthemius, requests
  the aide of the Britons to help him in his
  campaign against the Visigoths.
• Ambrosius Aurelianus Riothamus, crosses with an
  army and lands in Bourges where he enters into
  combat with the Visigoths. Riothamus is defeated.
• ?Riothamus returns to Britain. He may have been
  the victor at the battle of Badon (c 480-500).

34
Riothamus

• Fleuriots theory makes Ambrosius Aurelianus and
  Riothamus into one historical character.
• A counter-argument might argue that possibly some
  of the material about Arthur was borrowed
  extensively from the figure of Ambrosius
  Riothamus.(rather than claim Rio.Arthur)
• This is especially true regarding the later
  traditons about Arthur where he is described as
  having led military expeditions to Europe.

35
Riothamus

• Was Arthur then the inheritor of Ambrosius
  /Riothamus as a kind of overall military
  commander?
• (Remembering that a few scholars have made claims
  for Riothamus as a title used by Arthur himself
  see later..).
• The identification RiothamusArthur is often
  supported by Arthurian enthusiasts (in search of
  something more solid).

36
Riothamus

• Theory 2.
• Can it be argued that Riothamus is in fact
  another name for Arthur?
• This theory has mainly been proposed by Geoffrey
  Ashe who has written many books on Arthur.
• His theory was first presented in the journal
  Speculum and later published in the revised
  version of his book The Discovery of King Arthur
  (2003).

37
Riothamus/Arthur

• Ashe proposes that during the 450s and 460s so
  form of British High Kingship may have survived.
  This was the period according to Jordanes that
  the emperor Anthemius sought help from the
  Britons. Already there were many emigrant Britons
  living along the Loire confronting the Saxons.

38
Riothamus/Arthur

• It is during this period (450-470AD) that
  Jordanes refers to Riotimus as king of the
  Britons who came with his twelve thousand.
• Ambrosius may still have been active after 470AD
  (Riotimus was defeated by the Goths in c470AD).

39
Riothamus/Arthur

• Geoffrey Ashe builds his theory on his
  interpretation of later part of Arthurs life as
  portrayed in the 12th century work by Geoffrey of
  Monmouth The History of the Kings of Britain.
• In this work which is part fiction, part oral
  tradition, part early Welsh literature and part
  history, GofM describes a campaign by King Arthur
  in Gaul against the Romans.

40
Riothamus/Arthur

• In GofMs book this campaign in Gaul takes up
  half of the material about Arthur- Geoffrey
  claimed he had obtained this part of Arthurs
  story form an ancient book.
• In fact medieval writers about Arthur do not
  hesitate to put Arthur on the continent as well
  as Britain (especially Brittany). Malory.

41
Riothamus/Arthur

• Careful reading of GofM shows that the author
  thought of Arthur as being most active in the
  third quarter of the 5th century.
• The way that GofM describes the collapsing Roman
  Empire of the time, Ashe believes that the Gallic
  campaign he describes belongs to the period
  c455-476AD.
• He mentions the emperor Leo (468-475AD).

42
Riothamus/Arthur

• Ashe believes that these dates and the events
  described in The History of the Kings of Britain
  c1138 were inspired by the career of Riothamus,
  who also led an army of Britons into Gaul and was
  the only British king to do so.
• Ashe notes other similarities

43
Riothamus/Arthur

• Arthur and Riothamus (Riotimus) are both
  described as advancing into the Burgundy region
  (Bourgogne).
• Both were betrayed by a deputy ruler who
  cooperated with barbarian enemies).
• Both disappear after a fatal battle (Arthur in
  Britain).
• The name Childeric (Frankish king who made a pact
  with the Saxons) Cheldric is GofM name given to
  the Saxon overlord with whom Modred makes his
  treaty.

44
Riothamus/Arthur

• If we accept Ashes theory, why if the kings
  name was Riothamus does he appear in the History
  of the Kings of Britain as Arthur?
• As part bof the answer he proposes that the two
  names were possible since some Britons had a
  purely Celtic name as well as a Roman name (eg
  PatrickPatricius and Maun/Magonus).

45
Riothamus/Arthur

• He also proposes another possibility
• Ashe treats the name Riothamus as a title not as
  a real name. (Compare Genghis Khan/Temujin,
  Augustus/Octavianus, Plutarchs use of
  basileutatos/Minos of Crete.
• Could the term rigotamos mean High-king?
• We can compare the name Vortigern which means
  much the same, and probably Vortimer.
• Fleuriot had already suggested that R. was really
  only a title.

46
Riothamus/Arthur

• There are, as Ashe himslef admits, two problems
  with the theory
• The main enemy is different in the two versions
  (Roman in the case of Arthur, and Visigoths in
  the case of Riotimus). In fact in GofM, a
  character mentions that Arthur is going overseas
  to fight Romans and Germans.
• The second problem is the date given for Arthurs
  death by GofM, 542AD.
• The older Christian method of dating (28 year
  discrepancy).

47
Riothamus/Arthur

• Briefly, we can say there is no doubt about the
  existence of Riothamus, who was a king.
• The question remains as whether the traditions
  and legends of Arthur are about this man.
• The evidence of the Breton Legend of St
  Goeznovius. Date by Fleuriot to 1019AD (ie before
  GofM 1138AD).

48
Riothamus/Arthur

• In the Life of Goeznovius (Gwyddno), the
  following appears in a section that describes 5th
  century Britain
• Presently their pride was checked for a while
  through the great Arthur, king of the Britons.
  They were largely cleared from the island and
  reduced to subjection. But when this same Arthur,
  after many victories in Britain and Gaul was
  summoned at last from human activity, the way was
  open for the Saxons to go again into the island.

49
Riothamus/Arthur

• The text is interesting because this section come
  immediately after Vortigern. There is no mention
  of Ambrosius for instance.
• Briefly, The Life of Goeznovius puts Arthurs
  Gallic warfare in the 460s, when if fact the
  Loire saxons were tackled and defeated.
• The author of this life seems to embed Arthur in
  real history in a way not found elsewhere.

50
Riothamus/Arthur

• Two details
• The death of Arthur, c470?
• The author of the Life makes Arthur live when he
  could have fought most of the battles listed in
  Nennius. But he doesnt have him live long
  enough to fight at Badon and Camlan.

51
The beginnings of legend and the oral tradition

• Cassivellaunus (Caswallon)
• Vortigern (Gwrtheyrn)
• Arthur

52
Vortigern

• The sources
• Gildas c540 (the invitation of the saxons
  conflict over the annona. He rules with a
  council. Not unflattering description.
• Bede early 9th century. From Gildas. The proud
  usurper.
• Historia Brittonum cearly 9th century.historical
  tradition as well as folk tale and legend. His
  authority over southern Britain and parts of
  Wales. Sons, the treachery of the Saxons,
  dealings with Saint Germanus, connections with
  Dinas Emrys.

53
Vortigern

• Sources (continued)
• The Pillar of Eliseg. In the abbey of Valle
  Crucis, north Wales. Vortigern mentioned.
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Mentioned in two entries
  for 449 and 455. He is descibed as King of the
  Britons and invites Hengist and Horsa to
  Britain. For 455 a battle between the Britons and
  the Saxons is mentioned after which no mention is
  made of Vortigern.
• Geoffrey of Monmouth c1138.