Rob Shults

1/21/09

Ambrosius Aurelius: The Real King Arthur

The legend of King Arthur is undoubtedly fictitious, but it may be based on actual

historical events. Multiple historical characters fit some of the descriptions of King Arthur;

Ambrosius Aurelius (also known as Ambrosius Aurelianus) fits the characteristics of King Arthur

perfectly. After reading the facts, it is evident that the origins of the Arthurian legend have roots

in the life of Ambrosius Aurelius.

Ambrosius Aurelius was the second son of the Roman emperor Constantine. Being the

son of a Roman emperor, Ambrosius Aurelius had much to live up to. Throughout the ages, even

Ambrosius Aurelius has legends based on his achievements, such as those in the Historia

Britonum, which tell of Ambrosius slaying dragons underneath his fortress. Many legends speak

of Ambrosius Aurelius; however, he was a real man who achieved real things. According to the

Annal Chronicon Maiora, Aurelius came to rule in 479 A.D. over the Britons. He faced many

challenges, such as uniting the Britons after the brutality of which they were served by the

Saxons and then defeating the Saxons at the Battle of Badon Hill. The unification of the Britons

after the destruction of their homeland was a battle in itself, and the defeat of the Saxons at the

Battle of Badon Hill made Aurelius an icon of hope and security for the Britons; hence the

elaborate stories of Arthur being an epic hero. It is logical to deduce that the legend of King

Arthur is based on the life of Ambrosius Aurelius due to the parallels between the fictitious life

of Arthur and the factual life of Aurelius.

Moreover, the personality that Aurelius depicts throughout the historical accounts is

nearly perfectly aligned with the traits that Arthur shows throughout the legend. For example, a
monk by the name of Saint Gildas wrote of Arthur and the Saxon’s destruction as they traveled

through Britain:

The remnants (of the British)...take up arms, and challenge their victors to battle under

Ambrosius Aurelianus. He was a man of unassuming character, who, alone of the Roman

race, chanced to survive the storm in which his parents, people undoubtedly clad in the

purple, had been killed. Their offspring in our days have greatly degenerated from their

ancestral nobleness. From that time the citizens were sometimes victorious, sometimes

the enemy...up to the year of the Siege of Mons Badonicus.

Many scholars argue that Ambrosius Aurelius was too old to have physically fought in the Battle

of Badon Hill; rather, Ambrosius was the supreme commander of the Britons as they battled

against the raging Saxons. Nevertheless, Ambrosius remains a very brave and bold character in

the history of the Britons’ defeat of the Saxon army. Ambrosius Aurelius shared the same

qualities of Arthur, especially in the area of personality qualities in that Ambrosius was brave and

fearless.