The standard explanation proposed by Kemp Malone (I believe he was the first?) that Artorius of the 5th-6th centuries is to be derived from the L. Artorius Castus of the 2nd century is now thought to be extremely improbable. Most discount it entirely. Professor Roger Tomlin has summarized the current thinking on the subject in legitimate academic circles many times. What follows is the most recent I have from him on this matter:
"Why should this Italian or Dalmatian-born general inspire a legend in Britain which persisted for (say) four centuries, and made him a champion of British resistance to the German invaders? He was a senior officer of the Sixth Legion at York who distinguished himself in Armenia, after his service in Britain. In Britain, at least, he was not a remarkable figure. He never fought the Saxons there, if indeed they were available for being fought in the second century. We don't even know that he ever visited the Wall, although I agree it is likely.
I am not happy with the idea of his creating a legend which was passed down by garrisons who may not even have known him, and who did not retain the racial memory you would like them to have, since they did not (so far as we know) continue recruiting from where they were originally raised. And if they did, why should they be so keen on a British hero?
I am all for continuity, but I don't think I can accept this one."
Hence the need to find a connection to the name Artorius that lies not only far closer to Arthur chronologically speaking, but also narrows down the focus very narrowly in terms of geographical location. We can do this with the Seguntienses and Illyricum, as the consensus is they were removed from Segontium in the early 5th century by Stilicho. I have proven the Uther/Arthur link with Dinas Emrys/Caer Dathal near Segontium.
In other words, we can't effectively associate Artorius of the 2nd century with Arthur of the 6th without an intermediary means of name transmission. We can, of course, simply accept that the name Artorius existed for some other reason in NW Wales during the sub-Roman period, but if we must accept that we might well be dealing with ANY Artorius, including one we have no knowledge of.
Although I am confident in my identification of Ceredig son of Cunedda/Cerdic of Wessex with the legendary Arthur, accounting for the presence of the Arthur name in this context is difficult, if not impossible. I found myself settling for the possibility that Artorius was a decknamen substituted for a "Bear-king" or "Bear-man" style Celtic name or title. But here is the problem with that idea:
Why would a Roman name be used to replace a superficially similar Celtic one when Cerdic already had a perfectly good Celtic name, viz. Cerdic? Arthur would have to be a second name, indicating a Roman name formation that included the Celtic Cerdic. Furthermore, it is not very likely that the name Artorius was substituted for a title ("Bear-king" or "Bear-man", for example). Celtic linguists are united in support of the Artorius etymology for Arthur. All purely Celtic derivations have been discounted.
So, it seems we must have Artorius come to NW Wales on its own, by some other means, and be used for a warrior chieftain who became famous in the sub-Roman period. If we can't demonstrate the mechanism by which this occurred, we are stuck throwing up hands in resignation, admitting that the name for some unknown reason happened to be current in the Wales of the 5th century A.D.
Fortunately, I think there is a way out of this dilemma. I have shown that the main fortress of Cunedda (= Uther Pendragon) was Dinas Emrys in Arfon [1], a citadel previously named Caer Dathal (https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2021/01/dinas-emrys-as-caer-dathal-late.html). The story of the worms/dragons on/in the cloth of the urns, situated at Dinas Emrys, almost certainly involves the double serpent standard of the Seguntienses Roman military unit of the nearby Segontium fort. We know that this unit was transferred in the early 5th century to Illyricum.
While it was once thought Maximus or one of the subsequent pretenders (including Constantine III, whose career contributed to the creation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fictional Constantine, father of Uther Pendragon) had withdrawn the Seguntienses from Segontium, it is now more generally believed that this was the responsibility of Stilicho in 402 A.D.
Why might this be important in our search the transmission method used to get the name Artorius to NW Wales?
Well, we know that Illyricum was replete with Artorii (concentrated at Salona in Dalmatia [2]). The best known of these was Lucius Artorius Castus, whose memorial stone was found in Pituntium, modern Podstrana. LAC, as he is affectionately termed, is known to have taken vexillations of the three British legions to the great campaign in Armenia under Lucius Verus.
Well, we know that Illyricum was replete with Artorii (concentrated at Salona in Dalmatia [2]). The best known of these was Lucius Artorius Castus, whose memorial stone was found in Pituntium, modern Podstrana. LAC, as he is affectionately termed, is known to have taken vexillations of the three British legions to the great campaign in Armenia under Lucius Verus.
This seemed a rather amazing coincidence to me. But the next question I had to ask was this: okay, sure, we have some troops from Segontium near Uther's/Arthur's Caer Dathal going to a place were Artorii had established themselves with some prominence, and where an Artorius famous for his exploits in Britain and in Armenia with British troops happened to have left an impressive grave stone recording his deeds. Can we, though, extrapolate from this that at least one member of the Seguntienses, having reached the end of his term of service in Illyricum, not only returned home to NW Wales, but brought the name Artorius back with him?
To establish the possibility of this happening, I approached Professor Roger Tomlin, one of the world's foremost experts on Roman military history. What follows is an actual transcript of the questions I posed to the professor, followed by his answers in italics:
"When Romans retired from service, was it at all common for them to return to their homelands, or at least to the region they were originally drawn from?
As an example, it is generally agreed (but not proven) that the Seguntienses mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum hailed from Segontium in NW Wales. They were moved to become a part of the Comes Illyricum. Is it unreasonable to suppose that one of these men, upon retiring or being discharged for injury, etc., might return to NW Wales? Especially if he had been born there (i.e. recruited/conscripted from the local population) or had a wife and/or children there?
Or did this kind of thing simply not happen? Would such a retired soldier instead have automatically been made to settle in his last posting area, in this case Illyricum?"
"There was no compulsion on a veteran as to where he might settle. The closest I can think of is in the early Empire when legionary veterans were given land, often in a colonia near their place of service – for example veterans of IX Hispana in Lincoln when the legion moved on to York.
In practice, I think auxiliary veterans would mostly settle where they had served – because they had come there as young adults, and found friends and partners there. 'Home' might be a long journey away, and hadn't been seen for twenty years or more. In the case of your 'Seguntienses' they would be likely to return to North Wales only if they had served most of their time there – so it will be quite a small sample that you can have in mind. That said, there are certainly veterans who do return 'home': I am thinking of the diploma I published in Britannia 2017: found in Lanchester, near Hadrian's Wall, but issued to a veteran of the German fleet. My impression is that 'late' diplomas of Praetorian Guard veterans turn up in the Danubian provinces, as if they chose not to settle in Rome, but in where they came from – probably as legionaries before being promoted to the Guard.
You would have to trawl through inscriptions from auxiliary forts and diplomas (when the provenance is known, and you can compare it with the origin of the veteran), to see where veterans settled on discharge. My guess, as I said, is that it would generally be where they had served – but not necessarily so."
"All of my research on a prospective historical Arthur candidate points to a man who originates very near the Segontium fortress in Wales. This fort has as its insignia (N.D.) what looks like two crossed or fighting snakes. It is possible this insignia lies behind the folk tale at nearby Dinas Emrys, where the two worms or dragons are on a cloth inside or covering funeral urns. Dinas Emrys, linked to Arthur's father Uther, was earlier known as Caer Dathal, a fort linked specifically to Arthur.
I found it an interesting coincidence that the Seguntienses, supposedly drawn from Segontium, were sent to Illyricum - a place which included the Liburnia of L. Artorius Castus, who you and I have gone back and forth on for quite some time. The Liburnia province is known for a concentration of Artorii names, in fact.
No one has been able to account for the transmission of the Artorius name to Dark Age Wales. Yes, I
know you question whether Arthur comes from Artorius, but all of the Celticists absolutely insist on this being the case. They will not entertain any other possible etymology. That being the case, we are
forced to suggest that it was merely a name known to the Welsh in NW Wales at that time or to see it
as a decknamen for a Celtic name like 'Bear-king' or 'Bear-man.'
What I am asking myself is whether it is reasonable to suggest that some retired members of the Seguntienses returned home from the Liburnia region with knowledge of the Artorii, and in particular knowledge of LAC. They might even have seen LAC's grand memorial stone, where he brags of high-ranking service in Britain and the taking of British troops to the great war in Armenia. If they were British themselves, they might even have seen in the name Artorius a bear name, not unlike some of their own *Arto- constructions. I have pointed out the presence of the bear god or hero Math son of Mathonwy at Caer Dathal, as well as the Arth River in Ceredigion and the Arth- personal names in the Ceredigion royal genealogy.
Arthgen map Seissil map Clitauc Artgloys map Artbodgu map Bodgu map Serguil map Iusay map Ceretic map Cuneda. [Harleian genealogies]
All of these bear associations in western Wales may have contributed to the Artorius name making its way to Britain, to appear in the early Welsh sources as Arthur.
Reasonable hypothesis, do you think? Or impossible?"
"I think your hypothesis is possible. I have no views on when the Seguntienses were withdrawn from Britain – it might have been Magnus Maximus (d. 388) , Stilicho (d. 408), even Constantine III (d. 411).
In the earlier Empire some veterans did make the long journey back 'home': you might look at J.C. Mann, 'The Settlement of Veterans Discharged from Auxiliary Units Stationed in Britain', Britannia 33 (2002), 183–8, who collects the evidence for Britain. Mostly they settled where they had been stationed, but a few (see pp. 183–4) did return to other provinces.
But it was a long way, and in the early fifth century Britain even ceased to be part of the Empire. It would have been a long and difficult journey from Liburnia, and would surely have appealed only to a minority of veterans who had spent most of their service in North Wales and retained connections there."
While this is not exactly an endorsement of the notion that the name Artorius could have been brought back to Britain from Dalmatia by a veteran or veterans of the Seguntienses, I think we can provisionally allow for this having happened. At the very least we must admit it is an incredible coincidence that men from Segontium just happened to go the one place where they would be the most likely to pick up the Artorius name, or even to have been told stories of the famous LAC, to have seen his stone, etc. Sure, coincidence may be all this is. But if I wanted to account for the Arthur name in the immediate environs of Segontium, I could not have conjured a better explanation. I mean, of all the places they could have been sent, the Seguntienses were sent to Illyricum - where we find the Salonae of the Artorii and Podstrana of the LAC memorial!
[1]
The best modern summary of the findings at Dinas Emrys is from https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue3/snyder/gaznew.html. This content is drawn from https://books.google.com/books?id=AFxFkwmnRJMC&pg=PA188&lpg=PA188&dq=%22Dinas+Emrys%22%2B%22ewan+Campbell%22&source=bl&ots=jK4nI4gy12&sig=ACfU3U0HBr0mI1-pSZYGFeV8EZaa8QYcZA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2koKI3I74AhWQATQIHcZqC-cQ6AF6BAgYEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Dinas%20Emrys%22%2B%22ewan%20Campbell%22&f=false, pp. 188-189.
[2]DINAS EMRYS Definite
Description:
Hillfort
Dating Evidence:
Gilt-bronze studs (late or post-Roman)
Late Roman pottery (fourth century)
Seven glass vessels (c.400)
Imported potttery (Biv and E ware)
Chi-Rho stamped plate (sixth century)
Sources:
Breese, C.E. "The Fort at Dinas Emrys." Archaeologia Cambrensis 85 (1930): 342-54.
Campbell, Ewan. "Dinas Emrys." In Early Medieval Settlements in Wales AD 400-1100, ed. N. Edwards and A. Lane, pp. 54-57 and Appendix 1. Cardiff: Univ. of Wales Press, 1988.
Laing, Lloyd and Jennifer. "Scottish and Irish Metalwork and the conspiratio barbarica." PSAS 116 (1986): 211-21
Savory, H.N. "Excavations at Dinas Emrys, Beddgelert, Caernarvonshire, 1954-6." Archaeologia Cambrensis 109 (1960): 13-77.
The craggy hillfort of Dinas Emrys lies on one of the principal routes through Snowdonia. Excavations in 1910 and in the 1950s revealed several stone walls and revetted platforms surrounding a small summit. On the summit were found the stone foundations of an oval structure, a square pool or cistern, several post-holes (possibly belonging to a palisade), and other structures of indeterminate date and function.
The artifactual evidence ranges from the early Roman to the medieval period. Roman period finds include pottery, glass, an iron brooch, and three "Donside" terrets (rein-rings from a chariot). Late Roman and early medieval finds include gilt-bronze studs, mortaria (late third or fourth century), color-coated wares and calcite-gritted vessels (late fourth century), at least seven glass vessels, a two-handled Biv amphora (fifth or sixth century), and a roundel cut from a pottery sherd with a Chi-Rho pattern on it (sixth century).
Dating the periods of occupation at Dinas Emrys has proven to be difficult and controversial. The early material, thought to belong to Iron Age or early Roman occupation, may have been brought to the site at a later date.FN251 Late Roman occupation seems certain--because of the abundance of pottery and glass--and probably spans the fourth century. Early medieval occupation is indicated by the imported pottery (fifth to sixth centuries), and both the middle and main ramparts rest on late Roman material.FN252
More questions surround the nature of the pool, discovered in Savory's excavations. The 1910 excavation sought the legendary sinking tower of Vortigern, but uncovered the remains of a Norman castle instead. When Savory uncovered the pool and found it contained fifth- or sixth-century imported pottery, it was hard not to see it as the pool where Vortigern is confronted by the prophetic boy as described in the Historia Brittonum. Radiocarbon dating and a sherd of medieval pottery seem to contradict this, though this material may be intrusive.FN253 Even more perplexing is the presence of some 33 posts erected within the pool, which must have seen a long and complex sequence of activity.
The following is taken from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269990062_Artorii_u_rimskoj_provinciji_Dalmaciji_The_Artorii_in_the_Roman_Province_of_Dalmatia.
THE ARTORII IN THE ROMAN PROVINCE OF DALMATIA
S u m m a r y
Conventional wisdom holds that the Artorii of the Roman province of Dalmatia were
a family of Italian descent, which inhabited the area of Salona around
the second century. This assumption is based on two sepulchral inscriptions that
commemorate the equestrian status of Roman officer L. Artorius Castus. The
inscriptions were found in the area of ancient Pituntium, today’s Podstrana. The
inscription marked CIL III, 1919=8513=12813, the two passages of which were
until recently built into the outer walls of the church of Saint Martin in Podstrana
as spolia, lists the imposing cursus honorum of L. Artorius Castus, who had a
distinguished military career (centurio, primus pilus, praepositus, praefectus, dux).
Since the inscription chronologically lists the order he conducted his duties in, it
is clear that L. Artorius Castus ended his career serving in the controversial role of
regent of the region of Liburnia (procurator centenarius provinciae Liburniae iure
gladi). A passage on the second inscription (CIL III, 12791=14224) lists only his
name and the two duties he performed as an officer. Upon completing his duties as
regent, L. Artorius Castus withdrew to his estate in Pitunia, where he lived out the
rest of his life in peace. This is where he was entombed in the mausoleum he built
»during his life for himself and his family«. The inscription clearly lists sibi et suis,
with the possible reconstruction [ex te]st(amento), which suggests that L. Arturius
Castus lived there with his family, and had heirs. The spatially closest inscription to
bear mention of the Artorius name was documented in nearby Jesenice (Nareste),
where a tombstone (CIL III, 8476) mentioning Aurelia Ursina, who had erected
a monument to her deceased mother Artoria Privata, was found. An inscription
from Klis (CIL III, 2520=8641) commemorates L. Gellius Artorius, son of
Gellius Felix and Artoria Secundina. It is important to point out that this inscription
documents a woman from the Artorius family and her son, whose praenomen was
changed to Lucius and cognomen to Artorius, which derives from his mother’s
gentilicium, and which could indicate close family ties to L. Artorius Castus. One
Artorius Felicissimus of Narona, was known to have erected a monument to his
wife Aemelia Barbara (CIL III, 1846=8425). Considering the inscription it bears,
queius beneficio me exportavi Salona, its origins must be connected to the Artorius
family from the regional capital. The fragmented remains of a tombstone in Salona
(CIL III, 9403) commemorate one C. Vibius Firmus, however, along with his
official title (tria nomina) it also lists his nickname, qui et Artorius. The vocabulum
he was known by among his peers, perhaps even more so than his official title,
alludes to his potential connections to the Artorius family.
All of the above mentioned inscriptions bearing the gentilicia Artorius, based
on their epigraphic characteristics, belong to the period of the late Principate, i.e.
they can be roughly placed in the period of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries.
70
While we cannot make the claim with certainty, what we know today is certainly
sufficient to assume that the first Artorius to inhabit the territory of Salona was L.
Artorius Castus. During the later period in Salona and its territories, the family
grew and developed, and the last documented mention of the gentilicia Artorius
in Salona is found on the inscription of a sarcophagus from the late 3rd or early 4th
centuries (CIL III, 9226), where Artoria Frontina is commemorated.
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