Nowhere is Dark Ages generalship more personified than in the legendary Arthur of Britain. Yet the very existence of this personage is open to speculation. Only fragments of poems and references made by the King of Dal Riata and the King of Dyfed naming their sons Arthur in the early 7th century lend evidence to substantiate the impact of such a man on British history.

According to Dr. David Nicolle, Celtic oral tradition as well as records of place-names along the Anglo-Celtic frontier supports the existance of both Ambrosius and Arthur. Whether called Arthur, Arturus, or the Romanized Arturios, the commander from the north of Britain was equal to the task of breaking the back of the German invasion in the 6th century.

The legendary Arturios most probably was the Comes Britanniarum, or what was its equivalent, under the overlordship of the Dux, Ambrosius. Whether these terms had survived the century once the Romans left is open to argument, but there is no evidence to dispute their retention.

Located in the northern part of Britain, which remained relatively German-free until the Angles arrived in the mid-6th century, the Comes primary task remained keeping the north free from Picts, Scots and rebellious British chieftains. It is not logical, as N.L. Goodrich assumed, to place his base of operations in the vicinity of Edinburgh. Referring to the Mabigonion as well as common sense in analyzing the military traditions of the north in the preceding century, it is evident the the Comes' command was largely mounted: "The party rode out until they had reached a great level plain. (And) On Arthur's advice, a troop of horsemen were sent out" .

The Gododdin, Aneirin's poem circa 600 A.D., while not specifically referring to the army of the Comes Britanniarum by name, notes that the northern Britons of a full half century later were not only mounted, but armored, disciplined and trained. The battle described in the poem is very much akin to contemporary and later impressions of the elusive Mons Badonicus.

The argument could even be made that the Britons of the Comes are actually the very subject of that poem. Perhaps some of the Celtic oral traditions had been passed along until Aneirin wrote his epic battle-poem, heartily embellishing it with the heroes he had heard sung of as a boy around campfires.

Ambrosius, realizing that the Romanized-British army had all but vanished in the face of attrition, constant war and old-age (he would, himself, be in his seventies by the first decade of the 6th century), called upon the army of the North, which still superficially resembled the forces of the old Roman Britain, to suppress the never-ending German influx.

Campaign

As Nennius describes it, in a series of a dozen battles, the army of the North defeated the Germans, culminating in the climactic battle at Mons Badonicus fought, according to Welsh and Gallic chronicles, in 516 or 517 A.D.

By that date, the Saxons had subjugated most of south- eastern Britain. Their continual attacks were not halted until the Comes severely smashed their army. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth and traditional chroniclers, a large (for the time) Saxon army, probably of 3-6,000 men, had marched to the town of Bath and besieged it.

Well aware of German attitudes towards the populace of a captured town, the Comes, upon hearing of the siege, rode with his mounted troops along one of the major existing Roman roads, the Fosse Way, to relieve the town. It is safe to say that a forced march could have been made from the north of Britain to Bath in less than a week, perhaps in 3-4 days following the Roman roads (Harold Godwinson would make the 180 mile ride from London to York in four days--on dirt paths in 1066).

The Germans, surprised at finding a well-armed and mounted army of Britons arriving on the scene, wasted little time in preparing to meet their enemies. As Geoffrey noted, and here his 'history' written over 600 years after the fact is most probably accurate, the Saxon infantry formed themselves into the famous 'boar's-head' or wedges favored from pre-Roman times by the Germanic tribes.

The Comes Britanniarum no doubt gave a brief speech to his warriors, numbering perhaps a thousand cavalry and 2,000 foot. Geoffrey, reflecting his own times, as later chroniclers usually did, embellished the words to sound more like a call to invade the Holy Land than to repel German invaders, yet some of Geoffrey's reported speech could have been used by the British general, notably the references to the commonality of being Christian, owing loyalty to nation and countrymen and the need to "Fight for your fatherland, and if you are killed suffer death willingly ... that in itself is victory and a cleansing of the souls".

Using standard Romano-British tactics, the mounted contingents would have formed up in the center of the British army, while the infantry would have dismounted to fight in their familiar, ordered ranks. Breaking with the Roman tradition, the Comes would be in the front rank, for as the Gododdin noted, a leader would be "With violence in his post in the front rank ... where is the prince to be found ... a reaper in combat ... he would be charging forwards before armies".

With him would be the standard bearer who, according to the poet Taliesin, raised "...his staff of enchantment/Called upon the Lord, upon Christ making pleas/So that he, the Lord who had made him, might deliver him". This amalgamation of pagan and Christian symbols shows us that though ostensibly Christianized, the Celtic warriors still retained elements of their past superstitions and beliefs and would continue to do so well into the 12th century.

The Germans were totally pagan, having brought their fertility cult religions en masse to Britain. The German warriors adorned themselves with pagan symbols, even wearing the sacred boar-emblem on their shields, believing it gave them protective powers. This symbol would later be found on English helmets as evidenced in the epic poem Beowulf.

In the Gododdin, much was made of pre-battle preparations insofar as the warriors "...drank sweet, yellow ensnaring mead," to ensure their bravery, not that far distant a tradition from the pint of gin in the English armies of Napoleonic times. Of course, there is no such reference to this in any of the ecclesiastical writings.

The Welsh and Scots poets wrote that "The men hastened forth, they were bounding forwards together, short-lived they were, drunk over clarified mead", and "They were bold, after drunkenness and mead drinking". This chemically altered ability to build up aggressiveness, bravery and disregard for fear in warriors would be part of the later Norse sagas. It cannot be discounted that the Britons and Saxons were in an altered state of mind before the battle.

The British commander, according to the Gododdin, "Stationed his true men in the van, he set up a stronghold in the face of battle ... (of) Battle-horsemen ... wearing mail coats". This is consistent with Romano-British tactics. The Comes would try to break the German ranks with a mounted charge. He also made certain that his person would be recognizable in the chaos of battle. Nennius stated that -(He) carried the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" and the image of Mary on his shield, no doubt to inspire his Christian warriors. Seeing his cavalry and lighter-armored foot in readiness, the order would be given to advance.

Being disciplined and partially trained, the Comes' troops had the ability to do something the Saxons could not--make tactical deployments during the advance. As the leader Neirthiad in the Gododdin, the Comes could have adjusted his lines as they moved forward, making a "bold design" and angling toward the weaker sections of the Saxon army, which were where the tribal warbands joined each other. The Saxons awaited the mounted assault, chanting their warcries to Woden and brandishing their deadly swords and axes.

According to tradition, as the Britons closed, missiles flew from the ranks of both armies. Then the horsemen hit the German wedges. Though few, the British cavalry were formidable fighters.

As the Gndnddin described it, the assault of British horse on Saxon foot was devastating: "The men went ... in a battalion, with a war cry; the force of horses with dark blue armor and shields ... You did not see the great fury of the horsemen; they slew, they gave no quarter to the Saxons".

Geoffrey noted that the Saxons "All that day resisted the Britons bravely, although the latter launched attack upon attack".

The very fact that there were few horsemen allowed the Saxons the ability to reform after each attack as the Britons failed to break them at once. Eventually, however, the Germans were force to retire to a hill to their rear, being forced to give up the open field.

Son of Sywno

An interesting passage in the Gododdin records that "The son of Sywno sold his life that his glory might be told forth. He charged forwards in the forefront of the men of Gwynedd". The reference to dieing for glory to become part of a storyteller's tale is an early example of the later Horse concept of honorable death in war.

In the 6th century, it was enough reason to die to be remembered around campfires by a wandering bard and have one's deeds recounted to future generations.

Night fell as the exhausted Britons camped around the hill to which the Saxons had fled. Priests reportedly brought strength back to the tired warriors as they prepared to assault the Germans at dawn; Bede wrote that "Christ warred with them in their camp", feeling as an ecclesiastes that God was ever present around the field of battle.

Thus far, the Comes had won a minor victory by relieving the siege of Bath and forcing the more numerous Germans to fall back to a defensive position.

In the morning, the Britons again attacked the Saxons, striving to overthrow their ranks with first infantry and then mounted assaults. As Geoffrey wrote:

The Saxons, rushing down from their high position, could inflict wounds more easily, for the impetus of their descent gave them more speed than the others, who were toiling up. For all that, the Britons reached the summit by a superlative effort and immediately engaged the enemy in hand to hand conflict. The Saxons stood shoulder to shoulder and strove their utmost to resist, holding firm together as a warband.