Roman Senate

The Roman Senate is a political authority in the Roman campaign narrative, first implicated in the demand that King Arthur submit to the emperor and pay tribute, then present among the Roman leaders who seek peace and arrange his imperial coronation. Its changing response marks the movement from competing claims of sovereignty to Arthur’s acceptance as ruler of Rome.

Rome’s Demand for Tribute

At a royal feast attended by Arthur’s allies and the Knights of the Round Table, twelve elderly ambassadors arrived bearing olive branches as a sign of their mission from Emperor Lucius. They demanded that Arthur acknowledge Lucius as his lord and send the tribute Rome claimed Britain owed under the precedents of Julius Caesar and earlier rulers. The ambassadors warned that refusal would bring war. Though some young knights wanted to attack them, Arthur protected the messengers, ordered them safely lodged, and reserved his answer for counsel.

Arthur rejected the claim. With his lords and knights assembled, he declared that he owed no tribute to Rome or any earthly prince, and asserted instead that he had a right to the empire through his predecessors. He announced his intention to march on Rome and ordered the ambassadors to convey his demand that the Romans acknowledge him as emperor and governor. He also gave them gifts, covered their expenses, and assigned Sir Cador to escort them from Britain: a forceful rejection delivered with formal diplomatic protections.

Defeat and the Message to Rome

After Arthur’s forces defeated Lucius, Arthur found the emperor dead alongside several kings and Roman senators. He ordered the bodies treated and identified according to their rank and country, then entrusted three surviving senators with carrying them to Rome. His message turned the original tribute demand into a bitter counter-tribute: he sent Lucius’s body and the other dead as payment, said he would pay more upon arrival, and forbade Rome to demand further tribute or tax from him or his lands.

The three senators carried out this mission and reported the defeat to the Roman authorities. They recounted the losses in France and advised against renewing the war, warning that Arthur’s power and prowess, together with those of the Knights of the Round Table, were not to be challenged lightly. The Senate thus received not simply Arthur’s defiance, but the tangible consequences of Rome’s failed attempt to compel his submission.

Recognition of Arthur’s Rule

Later, as Arthur advanced through Italy, he sent word to the senators asking whether they would recognize him as their lord. The surviving senators came to him with the most prominent cardinals in Rome, sued for peace, and proposed a six-week interval in which the Romans could assemble and prepare to crown him emperor with the appropriate anointing. Arthur accepted their terms, stipulating that the coronation take place at Christmas and that he hold his Round Table there as he pleased.

At the appointed time, Arthur entered Rome and received the imperial crown from the Pope. He remained there for a period, established his territories from Rome to France, and distributed lands and realms among his servants and knights according to their deserts. The Senate’s appearance in the peace negotiations therefore completes its political reversal: the authority associated with Rome’s demand for Britain’s tribute now participates in recognizing Arthur’s authority over the empire.