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Treffie
07-11-2010, 03:42 PM
Historians claim to have finally located the site of King Arthur’s Round Table – and believe it could have seated 1,000 people.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01586/round-table_1586701c.jpg

Researchers exploring the legend of Britain’s most famous Knight believe his stronghold of Camelot was built on the site of a recently discovered Roman amphitheatre in Chester.

Legend has it that his Knights would gather before battle at a round table where they would receive instructions from their King.

But rather than it being a piece of furniture, historians believe it would have been a vast wood and stone structure which would have allowed more than 1,000 of his followers to gather.

Historians believe regional noblemen would have sat in the front row of a circular meeting place, with lower ranked subjects on stone benches grouped around the outside.

They claim rather than Camelot being a purpose built castle, it would have been housed in a structure already built and left over by the Romans.

Camelot historian Chris Gidlow said: “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.

“We know that one of Arthur’s two main battles was fought at a town referred to as the City of Legions. There were only two places with this title. One was St Albans but the location of the other has remained a mystery.”

The recent discovery of an amphitheatre with an execution stone and wooden memorial to Christian martyrs, has led researchers to conclude that the other location is Chester.

Mr Gidlow said: “In the 6th Century, a monk named Gildas, who wrote the earliest account of Arthur’s life, referred to both the City of 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.”

Source (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7883874/Historians-locate-King-Arthurs-Round-Table.html)

Wulfhere
07-11-2010, 03:45 PM
That's bollocks. Gildas never mentioned Arthur at all, famously so, in fact, and this has always puzzled historians.

Liffrea
07-11-2010, 03:58 PM
It is interesting that at some stage a magic boundary is crossed in which historians and archaeologists engage in story telling of the highest art. A similar trend is noticeable in cosmology where a boundary between what is reasonable and what sounds nice is crossed.

Beorn
07-11-2010, 04:09 PM
Doesn't need much to imagine the Romano-Britons would have used what was there already built under Roman rule. Besides, I always thought it more dramatic to set King Arthur and his knights meeting under the stars in one of the many Neolithic stone circles dotted around the Western parts of what is now England, Cornwall and Wales.

Osweo
07-11-2010, 10:59 PM
a recently discovered Roman amphitheatre in Chester.
What? Another one?!? Or is this the one that's been exposed outside the western gate for the best part of two generations? :rolleyes:

“We know that one of Arthur’s two main battles was fought at a town referred to as the City of Legions. There were only two places with this title. One was St Albans but the location of the other has remained a mystery.”
What is this shite?!? Caerleon STILL bears that name!!! ANd Chester itself was called Legaceastre even by Englishmen. :rolleyes:

The recent discovery of an amphitheatre with an execution stone and wooden memorial to Christian martyrs, has led researchers to conclude that the other location is Chester.
Fuck. A'm gunna aff te google it. :tsk:


Besides, I always thought it more dramatic to set King Arthur and his knights meeting under the stars in one of the many Neolithic stone circles dotted around the Western parts of what is now England, Cornwall and Wales.
THat's cos you're a goddamn hippy. Now get a haircut! :D

Osweo
07-12-2010, 03:36 AM
What? Another one?!? Or is this the one that's been exposed outside the western gate for the best part of two generations? :rolleyes:
Since 1929 I see now... :p

Fuck. A'm gunna aff te google it. :tsk:

Okay, there's been some excavating lately. There's a blog here;
http://capweb.blogspot.com/
... some nice finds.

But all i can find on 'shrines to martyrs' keeps leading me (via the gutter press) back to this Gidlow character. :rolleyes:

Conclusion; Mr. Gidlow needs to put food on his table. :thumb001:

Lithium
07-12-2010, 05:47 AM
I can't imagine the Round Table made for 1000 people.