Lucius Artorius Castus
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Lucius Artorius Castus (fl. 2nd century AD) was a military commander of ancient Rome, suggested by some as the historical basis for King Arthur, and depicted as such in the 2004 movie King Arthur.
What we know of Castus comes from inscriptions on fragments of a sarcophagus, and a memorial plaque, both found in Podstrana on the Dalmatian coast. Although undated, the likely time period of the sarcophagus (before 200), combined with the inscription's mention of Castus being a dux, suggests that he was the unnamed commander of a 185 expedition to Armorica mentioned by Herodian.
As a member of the gens Artoria he was likely a native of Campania, a region of Southern Italy. According to the inscription, Castus was a centurion of the Legio III Gallica, then moved to VI Ferrata, then to V Macedonica, where he was promoted to primus pilus. He was then made praepositus of the classis Misenatium (the Bay of Naples fleet), followed by a position as praefectus alae of the VI Victrix.
Castus went with VI Victrix to Britain in 181, and likely participated in the guarding of Hadrian's Wall, possibly from Bretennacum with a contingent of Sarmatians. When VI Victrix mutinied, Castus seems to have remained loyal, since Pertinax soon after promoted him to dux and sent him to Armorica with several cohorts of cavalry, where he was successful in suppressing an uprising.
Castus then retired from the army and became procurator centenaris (governor) of Liburnia, a part of Dalmatia. Nothing further is known certainly of him, although the father of Cassius Dio was governor of Dalmatia while Castus was in Liburnia, and some of the material in Dio's history may have come from Castus directly.
The possibility of Castus as Arthur was first suggested by Kemp Malone in 1924. Although more recent study indicates that it is unlikely that Castus was contemporaneous with the Saxon invasions of Britain in the 5th century, it is certainly possible that he was remembered in local tales and legends that grew in the retelling.