King Arthur, a movie filmed in 2004, portrayed Roman Britain in the winter of 467 A.D. Artorius Castus, also known as Arthur, was a Roman officer who commanded a unit of Sarmatian auxiliary cavalry in Britain. These Sarmatian knights include Lancelot, Bors, Gawain, Galahad, Dagonet and Tristan. When the knights completed their years of service in the army, Bishop Germanus asked them to complete one more mission for the Romans in order to gain their freedom. During their task, Arthur and the Sarmatians became close friends with a Woad, or Pict, named Guinevere. The Woads were tribespeople from Northern Britain who were one of Rome’s greatest enemies. Artorius formed an alliance with Merlin, the leader of the Picts. Once Artorius and
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All young men were expected to fight and win if they wanted to gain any political office (Odijk, 1989, pp.). Plutarch, a Greek historian said that a boy’s “father was his reading teacher, his law teacher… and taught his son to hurl the javelin, fight in armor and ride a horse” (Roberts, 2009, 50). As part of their education, young men had military training to prepare them for war (Roberts, 2009, 48), and when he became a man, Rome gained a new soldier (Roberts, 2009, 51). This huge importance of military for Romans is not as well developed in the film as it was in actuality. The training that all these men went through is not evident in their battle skills in scene three where the Woads attack the Bishop’s carriage. The Roman soldiers who defended the carriage were very easily defeated by the Woads, and the only reason the bishop stayed alive was because Arthur and his knights arrived just on time. These soldiers should have been trained their whole lives, so they should have been able to fight better. In the movie, just like in actual Rome, there were auxiliary troops – in this case the Sarmatians. They are non-citizens who provided specialized units (Roberts, 2009, 37). In the movie, the Sarmatians gained their freedom after fifteen years. However in Rome, auxiliary troops only received their freedom after twenty-five years of service. After their service, he and his family would become Roman citizens
All young men were expected to fight and win if they wanted to gain any political office (Odijk, 1989, pp.). Plutarch, a Greek historian said that a boy’s “father was his reading teacher, his law teacher… and taught his son to hurl the javelin, fight in armor and ride a horse” (Roberts, 2009, 50). As part of their education, young men had military training to prepare them for war (Roberts, 2009, 48), and when he became a man, Rome gained a new soldier (Roberts, 2009, 51). This huge importance of military for Romans is not as well developed in the film as it was in actuality. The training that all these men went through is not evident in their battle skills in scene three where the Woads attack the Bishop’s carriage. The Roman soldiers who defended the carriage were very easily defeated by the Woads, and the only reason the bishop stayed alive was because Arthur and his knights arrived just on time. These soldiers should have been trained their whole lives, so they should have been able to fight better. In the movie, just like in actual Rome, there were auxiliary troops – in this case the Sarmatians. They are non-citizens who provided specialized units (Roberts, 2009, 37). In the movie, the Sarmatians gained their freedom after fifteen years. However in Rome, auxiliary troops only received their freedom after twenty-five years of service. After their service, he and his family would become Roman citizens