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Greco Roman Wrestling
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Snap Down
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Sunday, September 24, 2006
Blackbeard the Pirate. . . and the Presumed Wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge
During The Golden Age of Piracy (1689-1718), numerous rogues pursued their lawless and murderous trade throughout the New World. Restrictive laws passed by the British Parliament had made smuggling acceptable and even desirable in North Carolina and the other American colonies. Preying upon lightly armed merchant ships, the pirates seized their contents and sometimes killed those who resisted. Because of its shallow sounds and inlets, North Carolina's Outer Banks became a haven for many of these outlaws in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Blackbeard was the most notorious pirate in the history of seafaring. With a beard that almost covered his face, he would strike terror into the hearts of his victims, according to some early accounts, by weaving wicks laced with gunpowder into his hair, and lighting them during battle. A big man, he added to his menacing appearance by wearing a crimson coat, two swords at his waist, and bandoleers stuffed with numerous pistols and knives across his chest.
The sight of Blackbeard was enough to make most of his victims surrender without a fight. If they gave up peacefully, he would usually take their valuables, navigational instruments, weapons, and rum before allowing them to sail away. If they resisted, he would often maroon the crews and burn their ship. Blackbeard worked hard at establishing his devilish image, but there is no archival evidence to indicate that he ever killed anyone who was not trying to kill him.
Blackbeard's lawless career lasted only a few years, but his fearsome reputation has long outlived him. Thought to have been a native of England, he was using the name Edward Teach (or Thatch) when he began his pirating sometime after 1713 as a crewman aboard a Jamaican sloop commanded by the pirate Benjamin Hornigold. In 1716 Hornigold appointed Teach to command a captured vessel. By mid-1717 the two, sailing in concert, were among the most feared pirates of their day.
In November 1717, in the eastern Caribbean, Hornigold and Teach took a 26-gun, richly laden French "guineyman" called the Concorde (research indicated she had originally been built in Great Britain). Hornigold subsequently decided to accept the British Crown's recent offer of a general amnesty and retire as a pirate. Teach rejected a pardon, decided to make the Concorde his flagship, increased her armament to 40 guns, and renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge or (QAR).
Shortly thereafter, the QAR encountered another vessel flying the black flag. She was the ten-gun pirate sloop Revenge from Barbados, commanded by Stede Bonnet, "The Gentleman Pirate." Bonnet had been an educated and wealthy landowner before turning to piracy. After inviting the Revenge to sail along with the QAR, Blackbeard soon realized that Bonnet was a poor leader and an incompetent sailor. He appointed another pirate to command Revenge, and forced Bonnet to become a "guest" aboard QAR, where he remained, a virtual prisoner, until she wrecked six months later.
During the winter of 1717-1718, the QAR and Revenge cruised the Caribbean, taking prizes. Along the way, Blackbeard decided to keep two more smaller captured vessels. When he sailed northward up the American coast in the spring of 1718, he was in command of four vessels and over 300 pirates.
Blackbeard's reign of terror climaxed in a week-long blockade of the port of Charleston, S.C. in late May 1718. One week later, the QAR was lost at Beaufort Inlet. One of the smaller vessels in Blackbeard's flotilla, the ten-gun sloop Adventure, was lost the same day while trying to assist the stranded flagship.
Before leaving Beaufort Inlet, Blackbeard marooned about 25 disgruntled pirates on a deserted sandbar, stripped Bonnet's sloop the Revenge of her provisions, and absconded with much of the accumulated booty aboard another smaller vessel. Bonnet rescued the marooned men and, with them, resumed his lawless ways aboard the Revenge, which he re-named the Royal James.
In October 1718, Bonnet and his crew were captured near present-day Wilmington, North Carolina, and taken to Charleston, where they were tried for piracy. All except four were found guilty. All of the rest except Bonnet were hanged that November 8th. (The record of that trial, published in London in 1719, provided researchers with important clues to the location of the QAR site.) Bonnet escaped briefly, but was recaptured and then hanged on December 10, 1718.
Meanwhile, Blackbeard and his confidants had sailed to Bath, then the capital of North Carolina, where they received pardons from Governor Charles Eden. In November 1718, Governor Alexander Spottswood of Virginia, knowing that Blackbeard and his men had continued taking ships long after the period of amnesty had expired, sent a Royal Navy contingent to North Carolina, where Blackbeard was killed in a bloody battle at Ocracoke Inlet on November 22, 1718. During the action, Blackbeard received a reported five musketball wounds and more than 20 sword lacerations before dying. Blackbeard had captured over 40 ships during his piratical career, and his death virtually represented the end of an era in the history of piracy in the New World.
FACT SHEET
Blackbeard the Pirate
Little is known concerning the origin of Blackbeard the pirate. Documents suggest both Bristol and London in England, the island of Jamaica, and even Philadelphia as his home. He is said to have operated out of Jamaica as a privateer during Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) previous to having been a pirate.
Historical sources vary as to Blackbeard's real name. Though most publications mentioning the pirate by name over the past couple of centuries have identified him as Edward Teach, the majority of primary source documents written during the time of his activities indicate that "Thatch" or some other phonetic derivation (i.e., Thach, Thache, etc.), was actually the name he was going by at the time. The name Drummond is mentioned by one early source, but this is not supported by the vast volume of other documentation.
It appears that Blackbeard began his piratical career under the command of Benjamin Hornigold. Though Hornigold's activities as a pirate can be traced back to as early as 1714, it is not known exactly when Thatch joined his crew. The earliest mention of Blackbeard by name is in the Boston News-Letter in October 1717.
Thatch and Hornigold captured a French slave ship called the Concorde off the island of St. Vincent around November 1717. Hornigold gave Blackbeard the ship and retired from piracy soon after. Thatch strengthened the armament of the vessel, renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge, and for the next seven months used the ship in consort with smaller sloops to harrass shipping throughout the Caribbean and up the eastern seaboard of North America.
It is not currently known how many vessels Blackbeard captured during his exploits, but a preliminary database compiled by museum researchers currently contains over 45 prizes which can be directly attributed to Thatch's activities.
Blackbeard was eventually tracked down to Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina by the Royal Navy and killed in a brief but bloody battle on November 22, 1718.
© 2002 North Carolina Office of Archives and History. All rights reserved. — North Carolina Maritime Museum
Sunday, February 19, 2006
The Greek Phalanx
Little is known about Dark Age warfare in many previously civilized areas. By 700 BC, however, a new military system called the phalanx had been established in Greece.
Phalanx organization.
The Greek phalanx was a column formation of heavy infantry carrying long spears, or pikes, and swords. The pikes were six to twelve feet long, much longer than spears of the past. Men in the phalanx carried a round shield called a hoplon, from which the infantry took their name, hoplites. The hoplites wore metal armor on their chests, forearms, and shins at least, plus a metal helmet that covered the head down to the neck. The addition of armor classified the hoplites as heavy infantry, as opposed to light infantry that wore little or no armor. A typical phalanx unit was ten men across the front rank and ten men deep, but many such units were combined into one larger unit.
The phalanx in battle.
The phalanx was an offensive infantry formation for hand-to- hand shock combat. It usually fought without light troop or cavalry support, which should have been an important disadvantage, but the Greeks largely ignored these auxiliary troops. As long as they fought among themselves, lack of missile troops and cavalry was not a problem.
The heavy infantry on each side in a battle would close with each other at a deliberate pace, maintaining formation. When the opposing phalanxes came together, the first several ranks would lower their pikes and the two sides would thrust at each other, attempting to strike an unprotected area on an opponent. The pike points of several men in a file could project beyond the front rank. Men in the front were simultaneously attacked by several spears.
The Greek armies of the period 700 to 400 BC may have been the only ones in history to rely completely on shock tactics. The clash of phalanxes was resolved entirely in hand-to-hand fighting. The city-state of Sparta was the recognized master of phalanx warfare. The entire state was organized as a military camp. All non-serf males served in the Spartan phalanx and trained at length.Because the hoplites carried their shields on their left arm, the phalanx was most exposed on its right side. For that reason, the best phalanx units were positioned normally on the right side of the army. Battles often became a contest to see which army's right wing would first destroy the other side's left wing.
Phalanx armies were susceptible to missile and cavalry attacks from the right and rear, but only if the enemy had these units and used them.Phalanx warfare reached its peak in two great fifth-century wars: the war with Persia at the start of the century and the Peloponnesian War near its end. In both wars, sea power played a crucial role, but land fighting centered on the phalanx.
The phalanx at war.
The Peloponnesian War was a Greek civil war for the dominance of Greece between the sea-oriented Athenians and the land-based Spartan League. One major lesson of the war was the inability of the phalanx to be strategically decisive. Heavy infantry alone could not capture cities once the battle outside the walls had been won.
The war with Persia was especially interesting because the Greek phalanx, the finest heavy infantry in the world at the time, faced an integrated army of infantry, skirmishers, and cavalry. The Persians and Assyrians before them backed their infantry with auxiliary troops of every kind. They were also advanced in the art of siege warfare.The two great land battles of the Persian war occurred at Marathon in 490 BC and Plataea in 479 BC. At both battles a smaller Greek army consisting almost entirely of heavy infantry was victorious. Historians generally agree that Greek discipline and training were greatly responsible for these results, but admit that they were also at least partly due to Persian mistakes and incompetence.
At both battles the Persians had substantial light troops and cavalry that should have been effective against the massed phalanx formations. The Persian army at Plataea contained 10,000 cavalry, for example. At both battles, however, the auxiliary troops were poorly used and ineffective, allowing the Greek heavy infantry to defeat the weaker Persian infantry and achieve victory. Greek heavy infantry morale was not significantly reduced prior to the moment of shock. When the two infantries clashed, the Greeks were able to overwhelm the Persian infantry and drive it from the field.
The Greeks resisted the conversion of their heavy infantry armies to integrated armies into the late fourth century. Despite much evidence that the phalanx was at a disadvantage when facing skirmishers and surrounded by cavalry, the concept of the phalanx was too important a fixture of their culture. The phalanx had won the Persian war, with the help of the navy, and Greek heavy infantry served with distinction as mercenaries in surrounding lands. It took a clear demonstration of the system's weakness to bring it to an end. That demonstration was carried out by invaders from Macedonia under the leadership of Philip, father of Alexander the Great.
King Arthur
There is considerable debate among Historians about the historical basis of King Arthur. The King Arthur of Arthurian legend appears in many "Legend" but it it has not been decisively established whether his origin was entirely mythical or whether he was based on one or more historical figures.
Deities and legends
The word arth is modern Welsh language" for "bear", and among Continental Celts (although not in Britain) there were several bear gods named Artos or Artio. Also, artur (Welsh) and arturus (Latin) meant "bear-man". King Arthur was supposedly referred to by some writers as the Bear of Britain.
It has also been suggested that Arthur was originally a Celtic or prehistoric demigod, whose legends were gradually adapted to fit historical fact as a means of keeping the Celtic legends alive after Christianity was introduced. An example would be the sea-god Llyr, who became the legendary King Lear.
Still another theory is that Arthur was a completely legendary person, the hero of Celtic bards meant to inspire and enthrall listeners, similar to the Germanic stories of Beowulf (or, in some stories, Bodvar Biarki). In fact, Beowulf was composed (c. late 8th Century) by Saxon settlers in Britain around the time of the first stories of Arthur were emerging, and Arthur and Beowulf share several similarities: both were brave war-leaders who later became king; both carried magical swords; both were betrayed by their men; and both died without an heir. Dragons figure prominently in both stories, and like Arthur, the name Beowulf means "bear" (the alternate name for Beowulf, Bodvar Biarki, means "battle bear").
It is conceivable that Beowulf could have provided at least some influence on the emerging legends of King Arthur, or vice-versa, or both; Beowulf is set in the 6th Century, the time period of the early Arthurian legends. Even if the earliest spoken form of the Anglo-Saxon legends did not influence the early stories of Arthur, the written version – first transcribed by monks (who Christianized it, just as they Christianized earlier Celtic legends) in England in the 10th Century, could have influenced later Arthurian writers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth (who wrote in Wales in the 12th century).
Arthur also may hold influences from Sigmund of the Volsunga Saga. Both Arthur and Sigmund had royal ties. Both drew a sword in order to prove those ties (Arthur drew his from a stone while Sigmund drew his from the roots of a tree). Both of them also had involvement with incest (and without actual knowledge until afterwards.)
Lucius Artorius Castus
Lucius Artorius Castus was a Roman general who lived in the late Second Century AD. He was dux (commander) of several legions in Britannia, where Emperor Commodus sent him in the year 181. Along with his personal legion, he guarded Hadrian's Wall (the border between Britannia, or Roman England, and Caledonia, or barbarian Scotland) with a contingent of 5,500 Sarmatian (south Ukrainian) heavy cavalry. Castus’ standard was a large red dragon pennant; auxiliary forces did not use eagle standards.
From 183-185, the Caledonians overran Hadrian’s Wall, and Castus led the defense of Britannia. In 185, when his legion collapsed, Castus returned to the northern city of Eboracum, and was then sent by the governor of Britannia to lead cavalry cohorts against an uprising in northwest Gaul.
Etymological links can be made tracing the name Arthur to Artorius; it is also true that no other recorded person in Britain, Ireland, or Scotland bears a name similar to Arthur until after Castus’ tour of duty in Britannia was over (However, Arthur is always Latinized into Arthurus, never Artorius, thus suggesting that it was a distinct name). Arthur’s pennant is said to be the Pendragon, a red dragon similar to the modern Welsh flag — and as mentioned above, Castus used a dragon standard. In the earliest descriptions of Arthur, he is not a king, but is referred to as a dux bellorum or "commander of war"; as also mentioned above, Castus held the Roman rank of dux.
In the Historia Britonum, written shortly after AD 820, there is a list of twelve battles Arthur is
stated to have been victorious in. About three centuries later, Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain, places these twelve battles in the north against barbarians. Seven of these battles can, with little stretching, be matched to battles Castus fought. Geoffrey also adds that Arthur fought a civil war, and twice took troops across the sea to Armorica, once to support the Roman emperor and once to deal with his own rebels. Castus’ own legion mutinied against him, and he was sent to lead cavalry units in northwest Gaul – the location of the region of Armorica – both against rebels and in support of the Roman emperor.
Earlier sources also place Arthur’s headquarters not at Camelot but at Caerleon, the "Fortress of Legions". Eboracum, sometimes referred to as Urbe Legionum or the "City of the Legion", was the headquarters of both Castus and of legions patrolling Hadrian’s Wall.
The legends of the Sarmatians themselves – whose numbers made up a majority of Castus’ army – are also relevant to those of Arthur. Sarmatians held great, near religious fondness, for their swords, and were buried with their swords sticking out of the ground at the head of the grave – which could have given rise to the legend of the sword in the stone by which Arthur was named king in response to a prophecy by Merlin the wizard. The fact that the Sarmatians were heavy cavalry could also be seen as earlier versions of knights.
In addition, the Sarmatian folklore have stories about a warrior named Batraz, who rides with an elite group of warriors called Narts who engage in quests. Batraz has a magical sword that, according to the stories, is cast back into the ocean just before his death. Batraz could be Arthur, his magical sword could be Excalibur – which was thrown into a lake just before Arthur died – the Narts could be the Knights of the Round Table, and their quests can easily have inspired the tales of the Arthurian Grail Quest. After their tour of duty was up, many of the Sarmatian cavalry remained in Britannia, settling in a colonia (city established for retired legionnaires), where their stories could easily have spread to the local Celtic populace.
Although they lived hundreds of years too early (the Saxons first came to Britain three centuries later), Lucius Artorius Castus and his Sarmatian cavalry were probably remembered in some form, and could have helped to create the basis for the early tales of King Arthur.
The Arthur of the film King Arthur is loosely based on Castus, although he is transplanted to the fifth century, and he takes Ambrosius Aurelianus' role in fighting the Saxons at Mount Badon
Magnus Maximus and other Western Emperors
As the Western Roman Empire crumbled in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries, a number of ambitious generals in command of provincial armies rebelled and proclaimed themselves emperor. In 383, the Roman dux of Britannia, Magnus Maximus (aka Maximinius or Macsen Wledig) proclaimed himself emperor and crossed, with his army, into Gaul. He quickly defeated and killed the Western Emperor Gratian, and for the next five years ruled the Western Empire, until Theodosius defeated and executed him in 388.
The connections that the title dux and the crossing into Gaul to battle with a Roman emperor have to Arthur already been made. In addition, according to Medieval Welsh texts, Arthur is described not as a king or a dux, but as an ymerawdwr (Welsh for "emperor", from the Latin imperator). Maximianus himself was Celtic, although from the continent (having been born to a family of Celtiberian descent in Hispania). According to Geoffrey, Maximianus was one of the kings of the Britons to precede Arthur, and was the nephew of Old King Cole, who was also Arthur's ancestor. With the name Macsen Wledig, Maximianus is featured in a story of the Mabinogion, a collection of Medieval Welsh texts that also feature two stories on Arthur and one on Taliesin.
As the Roman Empire continued to decay, there were numerous generals in Britannia who were raised to the purple, if even for a short time. One such was Constantine III, who ruled for four years before being executed; according to Geoffrey, Constantine III was Arthur's grandfather.
Riothamus
Riothamus (aka Rigothamus or Riotimus) was a historical figure who ancient sources listed as "a king of the Britons". He lived in the late 5th Century, and the most of the stories about him were recorded in the Byzantine historian Jordanes’ The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, written in the mid 6th Century, only about 80 years after the presumed death of Riothamus.
Circa 460, the Roman diplomat and bishop Gaius Sollius Modestus Sidonius Apollinaris sent a letter to Riothamus, asking his help to quell unrest among the Brettones, British colonists living in Armorica. This letter still survives.
In the year 470, the Western Emperor Anthemius began a campaign against Euric, king of the Visigoths who were invading Gaul. Anthemius requested help from Riothamus, and Jordanes wrote that he crossed the ocean into Gaul with 12,000 warriors. The location of Riothamus’s army was betrayed to the Visigoths by the jealous Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, and Euric defeated him in a battle in Burgundy. Riothamus was last seen retreating near a town called Avallon.
As said earlier, Arthur was said by the early sources to have crossed into Gaul twice, once to help a Roman emperor and once to subdue a civil war. Assuming that Riothamus was a king in Britain as well as Armorica, he did both. Arthur was also said to have been betrayed by one of his advisors, and Riothamus was betrayed by one of his supposed allies. Finally, it is well known how King Arthur was carried off to Avalon (which Geoffrey of Monmouth spells "Avallon") before he died; Riothamus, escaping death, was last known to have been in the vicinity of a town called Avallon.
It is unknown whether Riothamus was a king in Britain, in Ireland or of Armorica; as Armorica was a British colony and Jordanes wrote that Riothamus "crossed the ocean", it is possible both are correct. The name Riothamus itself means "highest king", and so may just have been a title, perhaps worn by someone named Artorius or Arthur. On the other hand, Irish sources claim that Niall of the Nine Hostages, Riothamus (High King) of Ireland, was campaigning in Gaul at this time, possibly dieing about 455 in a campaign that went as far as the Alps. "All traditions agree that he died outside of Ireland. According to legend his followers carried his body back to Ireland, fighting seven battles along the way, and whenever they carried Niall's body before them they were unbeatable." The succeeding High King, Feradach Dathí, also known as Nath Í, son of Fiachrae, son of Eochaid Mugmedon, was also said to have made foreign conquests in Gaul at about this time, and died after being struck by lightning in the Alps.
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus (also sometimes referred to as Aurelius Ambrosius) was a powerful Celto-Roman leader of Britain. He is believed to have been the British commander at the Battle of Badon Hill.
According to Gildas (an early British historian and priest who may have been born during Aurelianus’ lifetime) in his sermon, On the Ruin of Britain, following a massive Saxon invasion, Aurelianus was the only person who stayed calm (despite the fact that his parents and most other Roman settlers, had supposedly been killed in the attacks). Subsequently, Aurelianus became leader of the remaining British (according to the Major Chronicle Annals, he entered power in 479), organized them, and led them in their first victory against the Saxons, although subsequent battles went both ways. Gildas also wrote that Aurelianus’ parents "wore the purple", and thus were apparently descendant from Roman emperors. The Aurelii were a noted Roman senatorial family, and it is possible that Ambrosius was descended from them.
Badon Hill, depending on varying sources and archeological evidence, was fought sometime between 491 and 516 (Gildas, born in 494, wrote that the battle took place at the year of his birth) with most scholars believing about 500 to be the right time. The location of the battle is thought to have been in southwest England, perhaps near the town on Bath (called Badon by the Saxons) or the nearby Solsbury Hill, where an ancient hillfort existed. However, some believe that Badon Hill is actually somewhere to the north, near or in modern Scotland.
Badon Hill was fought between the British and the invading Saxons, believed to have been the South Saxons under their Bretanwealda (Lord of Britain, also spelled Bretwalda) Aelle, whose reign was 477-c. 514. This title, used by the Saxons, is an odd one as it is etymologically related to the Welsh Brythonic "Gweldig" meaning "Emperor", applied to a number of British rulers such as Cunedda, Cole and Maelgwyn. The Saxons were utterly defeated by the British (it is theorized that Aelle may have died in the battle) and did not again attack the Celts until 571; even by the 590s the Celts were still inflicting large defeats on the Saxon kingdoms, leaving a final "golden age" for Celtic civilization in Britain.
According to the Welsh bard Taliesin, who lived approximately 534-599, the British commander at Badon was the "chief giver of feasts" (supreme commander, perhaps related to dux) Arthur. Owing to a possible mistranslation of a word from Gildas, describing Aurelianus as either the "ancestor" or the "grandfather" of his descendants of Gildas’ generation, it is possible that Aurelianus lived the generation before the Battle of Badon. Gildas fails to name the commander at Badon but he referred to one of his contemporary "fetter kings" as having been "charioteer to the bear".
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain also states that Arthur led the forces at Badon; on the other hand, Geoffrey is notoriously unreliable and much of what he wrote is incompatible with factual history. However, Geoffrey made Aurelianus a king of Britain, and older brother of Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur, thus relating Aurelianus and Arthur. He also states that Aurelianus was the son of the usurper emperor Constantine III, although it is extremely unlikely to have actually been true.
Arthnou
Arthnou was a prince of Tintagel, who ruled in the 6th Century. Not much else is known of him. A piece of slate (the "Arthur stone"), apparently originally built to dedicate a building or other public works, was discovered in excavations at a 6th-Century fortress in Tintagel. The slate states, in Latin, that "Artognou, father of a descendant of Coll, has had this built". Artognou was the Latin form of a name that would be pronounced Arthnou, meaning "bear-like" and certainly linked to the name Arthur.
Also from the fort at Tintagel were pieces of expensive pottery from Mediterranean civilizations of that time, showing that whoever ruled Tintagel then was rich, powerful, and notable, and had trade with the rest of the world that the rest of Britain did not have.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth and numerous other stories, King Arthur was born at Tintagel. It also said by Geoffrey that Arthur is a distant descendent of Old King Cole, whose name can also be spelled Coll.
Aidan mac Gabran
Aidan mac Gabran was a king of the Dalriada Scotti from c. 574 to c. 608. He was not British, but could have been an influence on Arthur nonetheless; some theories say that Arthurian legends began in the north, and spread south. It has also been said that the Battle of Badon Hill, supposedly commanded by Arthur, was fought in the north.
Aidan was crowned on the island of Iona by St. Columba. Iona was the center of Scottish Christianity and the place where the first Christian church in Scotland was built, and Columba the priest who brought Christianity to Scotland. Thus, Iona and Columba can be compared to the southern Avalon and Joseph of Arimathea, both of which are important in Arthurian legend. Iona and Avalon are even similarly named. As a matter of interest, Columba was educated by a priest taught by Gildas, the chronicler of the Battle of Badon Hill.
Aidan sought to make Dalriada independent from the Irish whose support Dalraida had previously required, and in 603 went to war against the pagan Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. The resulting Battle of Degsastan (whose location, like Badon Hill, is unknown) could have helped fuel the northern Badon Hill theory, although Aidan lost to the Saxons.
In 608, Aidan died and was buried on Iona, similar to how Arthur was supposedly buried on Avalon. One of his sons, Artur, is also seen as a possible model for the legendary leader (see below).
Artur mac Aidan
Though he was the eldest son of Aidan mac Gabran, Artur never became king of Dalriada; his brother Eochaid ruled after his death. When Aidan apparently gave up his role and retired to monastic life, Artur became war leader, though Aidan was officially still king. Thus it was Artur who led the Scotti of Dalraida in a war against the Picts, separate from the later war with Northumbria. He was ultimately killed in battle in 582. His name is almost certainly connected to the British Arthnou.
Many aspects of the King Arthur legend correspond to Artur’s life. Artur made use of an old Roman fortress known as Camelon (possibly the later Camelot), and he died in battle near the river Allan , also known as Camallan (possibly Camlann). Like the Arthur of legend he had a sister called Morgan, and was a contemporary of Myrddin (who later came to be called Merlin). In myth, the mortally wounded Arthur was taken to an island called Avalon. In the 6th century there was an island surrounded by three rivers, Allan, Forth and Teith. On the island was a settlement called Invalone. This island was near the site of the real Artur’s death and may be the inspiration for Avalon.
However, this Artur may have lived too late to be "the" Arthur, and he may have fought the wrong enemies. From the earliest accounts, Arthur's chief enemies were the Saxons, not the Picts, and Aidan fought the Northumbrians after Artur's death. Artur was part of the generation born after the Battle of Badon Hill, which took place between 491 and 516. He was not the only person named "Artur" or some variant of the name in his time. There was also an Arthur King of Elmet, and an Arthur in Pembroke. By contrast, "Artur[us]" had been a rare name, almost unattested until after Badon was fought — which suggests that he was named after the original Arthur (whose name might have been a nom de guerre or an honorific). Also, Artur mac Aedan died in battle with the Picts, while Arthur died in battle with Medraut (Mordred) of Lothian, who was not Pictish. While he may not be the original Arthur-figure per se, his story, like that of the other "Arthurs" may well have contributed to the growing legends.
Other Arthurian characters and locations
It is clear that Avalon has long been connected in literary and folklore tradition with Glastonbury. However, Avalon as the location of Arthur's burial is probably derived from the Celtic myth of an "Isle of Apples" ("Ynys Afallach", hence Avalon) or "Isle of Glass". For theories regarding the location of Avalon, please look to this article.
Possible locations for Camelot can be found here.
The Battle of Camlann, the final battle between Arthur and Mordred, is likely to be fictional; however, it is recorded in the Welsh Annals or "Annales Cambriae" (although this is probably a later addition), and several sites in Britain have been associated with it.
As he is recorded in the Annales Cambriae and other early sources, Mordred may have been a real person. The Annales Cambriae for the year 537 puts them at the Battle of Camlann, although it does not state that they fought on opposite sides. Instead, it refers to: "The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) perished" (This has led some historians, as well as fiction authors like Mary Stewart to wonder if the historical Arthur and Mordred could have fought on the same side, against the Saxons).
Morgan le Fay, Arthur's half-sister of legend, was possibly based off of the Celtic goddesses Morrigan or Modron.
The Fisher King may be based on the legend of Joseph of Arimathea or the Celtic god Avalloc. As a matter of interest, in Celtic legend Avalloc was the father of Modron.
As explained above, the Grail Quest may have been largely influenced by the Sarmatian folklore of Batraz and his Narts. However, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon traditions also are filled with quests by heroes, and in Celtic folklore there are tales of a magical cup with healing powers. These tales undoubtedly were adapted to refer to the Holy Grail as Britain became Christianized.
Bedivere is, along with Arthur and Merlin, one of the oldest characters in Arthurian legend, and thus, is more likely to have been a real person than newer additions. He appears in the Mabinogion and is connected with the Welsh Finddu dynasty; his father, Pedrod, may have been the historical Welsh monarch Pedr.
Merlin was the name given to two historical figures, Myrddin Wyllt ("Wild Merlin") and Myrddin Emrys ("Majestic Merlin"), combined by Geoffrey of Monmouth into one. The former was a bard who went mad after his king was killed by two rivals (one of whom was the above-mentioned Pedrod) and went to live in a forest. Merlin may also have been influenced by Taliesin. However, both Merlins and Taliesin all lived in the late 6th Century, after the time of most of the above-listed historical Arthurs.
Vortigern, the usurper king who, according to legend, invited the Saxons to land in Britain as mercenaries before being killed by Uther Pendragon, was a historical person, as were Hengest and Horsa, the Saxon leaders who rebelled against him. Vortigern itself (like Riothamus) apparently means "highest king", and he could possibly have been named something else.
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Deities and legends
The word arth is modern Welsh language" for "bear", and among Continental Celts (although not in Britain) there were several bear gods named Artos or Artio. Also, artur (Welsh) and arturus (Latin) meant "bear-man". King Arthur was supposedly referred to by some writers as the Bear of Britain.
It has also been suggested that Arthur was originally a Celtic or prehistoric demigod, whose legends were gradually adapted to fit historical fact as a means of keeping the Celtic legends alive after Christianity was introduced. An example would be the sea-god Llyr, who became the legendary King Lear.
Still another theory is that Arthur was a completely legendary person, the hero of Celtic bards meant to inspire and enthrall listeners, similar to the Germanic stories of Beowulf (or, in some stories, Bodvar Biarki). In fact, Beowulf was composed (c. late 8th Century) by Saxon settlers in Britain around the time of the first stories of Arthur were emerging, and Arthur and Beowulf share several similarities: both were brave war-leaders who later became king; both carried magical swords; both were betrayed by their men; and both died without an heir. Dragons figure prominently in both stories, and like Arthur, the name Beowulf means "bear" (the alternate name for Beowulf, Bodvar Biarki, means "battle bear").
It is conceivable that Beowulf could have provided at least some influence on the emerging legends of King Arthur, or vice-versa, or both; Beowulf is set in the 6th Century, the time period of the early Arthurian legends. Even if the earliest spoken form of the Anglo-Saxon legends did not influence the early stories of Arthur, the written version – first transcribed by monks (who Christianized it, just as they Christianized earlier Celtic legends) in England in the 10th Century, could have influenced later Arthurian writers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth (who wrote in Wales in the 12th century).
Arthur also may hold influences from Sigmund of the Volsunga Saga. Both Arthur and Sigmund had royal ties. Both drew a sword in order to prove those ties (Arthur drew his from a stone while Sigmund drew his from the roots of a tree). Both of them also had involvement with incest (and without actual knowledge until afterwards.)
Lucius Artorius Castus
Lucius Artorius Castus was a Roman general who lived in the late Second Century AD. He was dux (commander) of several legions in Britannia, where Emperor Commodus sent him in the year 181. Along with his personal legion, he guarded Hadrian's Wall (the border between Britannia, or Roman England, and Caledonia, or barbarian Scotland) with a contingent of 5,500 Sarmatian (south Ukrainian) heavy cavalry. Castus’ standard was a large red dragon pennant; auxiliary forces did not use eagle standards.
From 183-185, the Caledonians overran Hadrian’s Wall, and Castus led the defense of Britannia. In 185, when his legion collapsed, Castus returned to the northern city of Eboracum, and was then sent by the governor of Britannia to lead cavalry cohorts against an uprising in northwest Gaul.
Etymological links can be made tracing the name Arthur to Artorius; it is also true that no other recorded person in Britain, Ireland, or Scotland bears a name similar to Arthur until after Castus’ tour of duty in Britannia was over (However, Arthur is always Latinized into Arthurus, never Artorius, thus suggesting that it was a distinct name). Arthur’s pennant is said to be the Pendragon, a red dragon similar to the modern Welsh flag — and as mentioned above, Castus used a dragon standard. In the earliest descriptions of Arthur, he is not a king, but is referred to as a dux bellorum or "commander of war"; as also mentioned above, Castus held the Roman rank of dux.
In the Historia Britonum, written shortly after AD 820, there is a list of twelve battles Arthur is
stated to have been victorious in. About three centuries later, Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain, places these twelve battles in the north against barbarians. Seven of these battles can, with little stretching, be matched to battles Castus fought. Geoffrey also adds that Arthur fought a civil war, and twice took troops across the sea to Armorica, once to support the Roman emperor and once to deal with his own rebels. Castus’ own legion mutinied against him, and he was sent to lead cavalry units in northwest Gaul – the location of the region of Armorica – both against rebels and in support of the Roman emperor.
Earlier sources also place Arthur’s headquarters not at Camelot but at Caerleon, the "Fortress of Legions". Eboracum, sometimes referred to as Urbe Legionum or the "City of the Legion", was the headquarters of both Castus and of legions patrolling Hadrian’s Wall.
The legends of the Sarmatians themselves – whose numbers made up a majority of Castus’ army – are also relevant to those of Arthur. Sarmatians held great, near religious fondness, for their swords, and were buried with their swords sticking out of the ground at the head of the grave – which could have given rise to the legend of the sword in the stone by which Arthur was named king in response to a prophecy by Merlin the wizard. The fact that the Sarmatians were heavy cavalry could also be seen as earlier versions of knights.
In addition, the Sarmatian folklore have stories about a warrior named Batraz, who rides with an elite group of warriors called Narts who engage in quests. Batraz has a magical sword that, according to the stories, is cast back into the ocean just before his death. Batraz could be Arthur, his magical sword could be Excalibur – which was thrown into a lake just before Arthur died – the Narts could be the Knights of the Round Table, and their quests can easily have inspired the tales of the Arthurian Grail Quest. After their tour of duty was up, many of the Sarmatian cavalry remained in Britannia, settling in a colonia (city established for retired legionnaires), where their stories could easily have spread to the local Celtic populace.
Although they lived hundreds of years too early (the Saxons first came to Britain three centuries later), Lucius Artorius Castus and his Sarmatian cavalry were probably remembered in some form, and could have helped to create the basis for the early tales of King Arthur.
The Arthur of the film King Arthur is loosely based on Castus, although he is transplanted to the fifth century, and he takes Ambrosius Aurelianus' role in fighting the Saxons at Mount Badon
Magnus Maximus and other Western Emperors
As the Western Roman Empire crumbled in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries, a number of ambitious generals in command of provincial armies rebelled and proclaimed themselves emperor. In 383, the Roman dux of Britannia, Magnus Maximus (aka Maximinius or Macsen Wledig) proclaimed himself emperor and crossed, with his army, into Gaul. He quickly defeated and killed the Western Emperor Gratian, and for the next five years ruled the Western Empire, until Theodosius defeated and executed him in 388.
The connections that the title dux and the crossing into Gaul to battle with a Roman emperor have to Arthur already been made. In addition, according to Medieval Welsh texts, Arthur is described not as a king or a dux, but as an ymerawdwr (Welsh for "emperor", from the Latin imperator). Maximianus himself was Celtic, although from the continent (having been born to a family of Celtiberian descent in Hispania). According to Geoffrey, Maximianus was one of the kings of the Britons to precede Arthur, and was the nephew of Old King Cole, who was also Arthur's ancestor. With the name Macsen Wledig, Maximianus is featured in a story of the Mabinogion, a collection of Medieval Welsh texts that also feature two stories on Arthur and one on Taliesin.
As the Roman Empire continued to decay, there were numerous generals in Britannia who were raised to the purple, if even for a short time. One such was Constantine III, who ruled for four years before being executed; according to Geoffrey, Constantine III was Arthur's grandfather.
Riothamus
Riothamus (aka Rigothamus or Riotimus) was a historical figure who ancient sources listed as "a king of the Britons". He lived in the late 5th Century, and the most of the stories about him were recorded in the Byzantine historian Jordanes’ The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, written in the mid 6th Century, only about 80 years after the presumed death of Riothamus.
Circa 460, the Roman diplomat and bishop Gaius Sollius Modestus Sidonius Apollinaris sent a letter to Riothamus, asking his help to quell unrest among the Brettones, British colonists living in Armorica. This letter still survives.
In the year 470, the Western Emperor Anthemius began a campaign against Euric, king of the Visigoths who were invading Gaul. Anthemius requested help from Riothamus, and Jordanes wrote that he crossed the ocean into Gaul with 12,000 warriors. The location of Riothamus’s army was betrayed to the Visigoths by the jealous Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, and Euric defeated him in a battle in Burgundy. Riothamus was last seen retreating near a town called Avallon.
As said earlier, Arthur was said by the early sources to have crossed into Gaul twice, once to help a Roman emperor and once to subdue a civil war. Assuming that Riothamus was a king in Britain as well as Armorica, he did both. Arthur was also said to have been betrayed by one of his advisors, and Riothamus was betrayed by one of his supposed allies. Finally, it is well known how King Arthur was carried off to Avalon (which Geoffrey of Monmouth spells "Avallon") before he died; Riothamus, escaping death, was last known to have been in the vicinity of a town called Avallon.
It is unknown whether Riothamus was a king in Britain, in Ireland or of Armorica; as Armorica was a British colony and Jordanes wrote that Riothamus "crossed the ocean", it is possible both are correct. The name Riothamus itself means "highest king", and so may just have been a title, perhaps worn by someone named Artorius or Arthur. On the other hand, Irish sources claim that Niall of the Nine Hostages, Riothamus (High King) of Ireland, was campaigning in Gaul at this time, possibly dieing about 455 in a campaign that went as far as the Alps. "All traditions agree that he died outside of Ireland. According to legend his followers carried his body back to Ireland, fighting seven battles along the way, and whenever they carried Niall's body before them they were unbeatable." The succeeding High King, Feradach Dathí, also known as Nath Í, son of Fiachrae, son of Eochaid Mugmedon, was also said to have made foreign conquests in Gaul at about this time, and died after being struck by lightning in the Alps.
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus (also sometimes referred to as Aurelius Ambrosius) was a powerful Celto-Roman leader of Britain. He is believed to have been the British commander at the Battle of Badon Hill.
According to Gildas (an early British historian and priest who may have been born during Aurelianus’ lifetime) in his sermon, On the Ruin of Britain, following a massive Saxon invasion, Aurelianus was the only person who stayed calm (despite the fact that his parents and most other Roman settlers, had supposedly been killed in the attacks). Subsequently, Aurelianus became leader of the remaining British (according to the Major Chronicle Annals, he entered power in 479), organized them, and led them in their first victory against the Saxons, although subsequent battles went both ways. Gildas also wrote that Aurelianus’ parents "wore the purple", and thus were apparently descendant from Roman emperors. The Aurelii were a noted Roman senatorial family, and it is possible that Ambrosius was descended from them.
Badon Hill, depending on varying sources and archeological evidence, was fought sometime between 491 and 516 (Gildas, born in 494, wrote that the battle took place at the year of his birth) with most scholars believing about 500 to be the right time. The location of the battle is thought to have been in southwest England, perhaps near the town on Bath (called Badon by the Saxons) or the nearby Solsbury Hill, where an ancient hillfort existed. However, some believe that Badon Hill is actually somewhere to the north, near or in modern Scotland.
Badon Hill was fought between the British and the invading Saxons, believed to have been the South Saxons under their Bretanwealda (Lord of Britain, also spelled Bretwalda) Aelle, whose reign was 477-c. 514. This title, used by the Saxons, is an odd one as it is etymologically related to the Welsh Brythonic "Gweldig" meaning "Emperor", applied to a number of British rulers such as Cunedda, Cole and Maelgwyn. The Saxons were utterly defeated by the British (it is theorized that Aelle may have died in the battle) and did not again attack the Celts until 571; even by the 590s the Celts were still inflicting large defeats on the Saxon kingdoms, leaving a final "golden age" for Celtic civilization in Britain.
According to the Welsh bard Taliesin, who lived approximately 534-599, the British commander at Badon was the "chief giver of feasts" (supreme commander, perhaps related to dux) Arthur. Owing to a possible mistranslation of a word from Gildas, describing Aurelianus as either the "ancestor" or the "grandfather" of his descendants of Gildas’ generation, it is possible that Aurelianus lived the generation before the Battle of Badon. Gildas fails to name the commander at Badon but he referred to one of his contemporary "fetter kings" as having been "charioteer to the bear".
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain also states that Arthur led the forces at Badon; on the other hand, Geoffrey is notoriously unreliable and much of what he wrote is incompatible with factual history. However, Geoffrey made Aurelianus a king of Britain, and older brother of Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur, thus relating Aurelianus and Arthur. He also states that Aurelianus was the son of the usurper emperor Constantine III, although it is extremely unlikely to have actually been true.
Arthnou
Arthnou was a prince of Tintagel, who ruled in the 6th Century. Not much else is known of him. A piece of slate (the "Arthur stone"), apparently originally built to dedicate a building or other public works, was discovered in excavations at a 6th-Century fortress in Tintagel. The slate states, in Latin, that "Artognou, father of a descendant of Coll, has had this built". Artognou was the Latin form of a name that would be pronounced Arthnou, meaning "bear-like" and certainly linked to the name Arthur.
Also from the fort at Tintagel were pieces of expensive pottery from Mediterranean civilizations of that time, showing that whoever ruled Tintagel then was rich, powerful, and notable, and had trade with the rest of the world that the rest of Britain did not have.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth and numerous other stories, King Arthur was born at Tintagel. It also said by Geoffrey that Arthur is a distant descendent of Old King Cole, whose name can also be spelled Coll.
Aidan mac Gabran
Aidan mac Gabran was a king of the Dalriada Scotti from c. 574 to c. 608. He was not British, but could have been an influence on Arthur nonetheless; some theories say that Arthurian legends began in the north, and spread south. It has also been said that the Battle of Badon Hill, supposedly commanded by Arthur, was fought in the north.
Aidan was crowned on the island of Iona by St. Columba. Iona was the center of Scottish Christianity and the place where the first Christian church in Scotland was built, and Columba the priest who brought Christianity to Scotland. Thus, Iona and Columba can be compared to the southern Avalon and Joseph of Arimathea, both of which are important in Arthurian legend. Iona and Avalon are even similarly named. As a matter of interest, Columba was educated by a priest taught by Gildas, the chronicler of the Battle of Badon Hill.
Aidan sought to make Dalriada independent from the Irish whose support Dalraida had previously required, and in 603 went to war against the pagan Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. The resulting Battle of Degsastan (whose location, like Badon Hill, is unknown) could have helped fuel the northern Badon Hill theory, although Aidan lost to the Saxons.
In 608, Aidan died and was buried on Iona, similar to how Arthur was supposedly buried on Avalon. One of his sons, Artur, is also seen as a possible model for the legendary leader (see below).
Artur mac Aidan
Though he was the eldest son of Aidan mac Gabran, Artur never became king of Dalriada; his brother Eochaid ruled after his death. When Aidan apparently gave up his role and retired to monastic life, Artur became war leader, though Aidan was officially still king. Thus it was Artur who led the Scotti of Dalraida in a war against the Picts, separate from the later war with Northumbria. He was ultimately killed in battle in 582. His name is almost certainly connected to the British Arthnou.
Many aspects of the King Arthur legend correspond to Artur’s life. Artur made use of an old Roman fortress known as Camelon (possibly the later Camelot), and he died in battle near the river Allan , also known as Camallan (possibly Camlann). Like the Arthur of legend he had a sister called Morgan, and was a contemporary of Myrddin (who later came to be called Merlin). In myth, the mortally wounded Arthur was taken to an island called Avalon. In the 6th century there was an island surrounded by three rivers, Allan, Forth and Teith. On the island was a settlement called Invalone. This island was near the site of the real Artur’s death and may be the inspiration for Avalon.
However, this Artur may have lived too late to be "the" Arthur, and he may have fought the wrong enemies. From the earliest accounts, Arthur's chief enemies were the Saxons, not the Picts, and Aidan fought the Northumbrians after Artur's death. Artur was part of the generation born after the Battle of Badon Hill, which took place between 491 and 516. He was not the only person named "Artur" or some variant of the name in his time. There was also an Arthur King of Elmet, and an Arthur in Pembroke. By contrast, "Artur[us]" had been a rare name, almost unattested until after Badon was fought — which suggests that he was named after the original Arthur (whose name might have been a nom de guerre or an honorific). Also, Artur mac Aedan died in battle with the Picts, while Arthur died in battle with Medraut (Mordred) of Lothian, who was not Pictish. While he may not be the original Arthur-figure per se, his story, like that of the other "Arthurs" may well have contributed to the growing legends.
Other Arthurian characters and locations
It is clear that Avalon has long been connected in literary and folklore tradition with Glastonbury. However, Avalon as the location of Arthur's burial is probably derived from the Celtic myth of an "Isle of Apples" ("Ynys Afallach", hence Avalon) or "Isle of Glass". For theories regarding the location of Avalon, please look to this article.
Possible locations for Camelot can be found here.
The Battle of Camlann, the final battle between Arthur and Mordred, is likely to be fictional; however, it is recorded in the Welsh Annals or "Annales Cambriae" (although this is probably a later addition), and several sites in Britain have been associated with it.
As he is recorded in the Annales Cambriae and other early sources, Mordred may have been a real person. The Annales Cambriae for the year 537 puts them at the Battle of Camlann, although it does not state that they fought on opposite sides. Instead, it refers to: "The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) perished" (This has led some historians, as well as fiction authors like Mary Stewart to wonder if the historical Arthur and Mordred could have fought on the same side, against the Saxons).
Morgan le Fay, Arthur's half-sister of legend, was possibly based off of the Celtic goddesses Morrigan or Modron.
The Fisher King may be based on the legend of Joseph of Arimathea or the Celtic god Avalloc. As a matter of interest, in Celtic legend Avalloc was the father of Modron.
As explained above, the Grail Quest may have been largely influenced by the Sarmatian folklore of Batraz and his Narts. However, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon traditions also are filled with quests by heroes, and in Celtic folklore there are tales of a magical cup with healing powers. These tales undoubtedly were adapted to refer to the Holy Grail as Britain became Christianized.
Bedivere is, along with Arthur and Merlin, one of the oldest characters in Arthurian legend, and thus, is more likely to have been a real person than newer additions. He appears in the Mabinogion and is connected with the Welsh Finddu dynasty; his father, Pedrod, may have been the historical Welsh monarch Pedr.
Merlin was the name given to two historical figures, Myrddin Wyllt ("Wild Merlin") and Myrddin Emrys ("Majestic Merlin"), combined by Geoffrey of Monmouth into one. The former was a bard who went mad after his king was killed by two rivals (one of whom was the above-mentioned Pedrod) and went to live in a forest. Merlin may also have been influenced by Taliesin. However, both Merlins and Taliesin all lived in the late 6th Century, after the time of most of the above-listed historical Arthurs.
Vortigern, the usurper king who, according to legend, invited the Saxons to land in Britain as mercenaries before being killed by Uther Pendragon, was a historical person, as were Hengest and Horsa, the Saxon leaders who rebelled against him. Vortigern itself (like Riothamus) apparently means "highest king", and he could possibly have been named something else.
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The First Emperor
Emperor Shi Huang of Qin of China, also call Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) (November/December 260 BC-September 10, 210 BC), family name "Ying", given name Zheng, was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 247 BC to 221 BC, and then the first emperor of a unified China from 221 BC to 210 BC, ruling under the name which means First Emperor of Qin.
Having unified China, he and his prime minister Li Si passed a series of major reforms aimed at cementing the unification, and they undertook some Herculean construction projects, most notably the precursor version of the current Great Wall of China. For all the tyranny of his autocratic rule, Qin Shi Huang is still regarded by many today as the founding father in Chinese history whose unification of China has endured for more than two millennia (with interruptions).
Qin Shi Huang was born in the Chinese month zheng (正), the first month of the year in the Chinese calendar (in the 3rd century BC the Chinese year started before the Winter solstice, and not after as it does today), and so he received the name Zheng (政), both characters were being used interchangeably in ancient China. In Chinese antiquity, people never joined family names and given names together as is customary today, so it is anachronistic to refer to Qin Shi Huang as "Ying Zheng". The given name was never used except by close relatives, therefore it is also incorrect to refer to the young Qin Shi Huang as "Prince Zheng", or as "King Zheng of Qin". As a king, he was referred to as "King of Qin" only. Had he received a posthumous name after his death like his father, he would have been known by historians as "King NN. (posthumous name) of Qin", but this never happened.
After conquering the last independent Chinese state in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang was the king of a state of Qin ruling over the whole of China, a previously unprecedented accomplishment. Wishing to show that he was no more a simple king like the kings of old during the Warring States Period, he created a new title, huangdi (皇帝), combining the word huang (皇) from the legendary Three Huang (Three August Ones) who ruled at the dawn of Chinese history, and the word di (帝) from the legendary Five Di (Five Sovereigns) who ruled immediately after the Three Huang. These Three Huang and Five Di were considered perfect rulers, of immense power and very long lives. The word huang also meant "big", "great". The word di also referred to the Supreme God in Heaven, creator of the world. Thus, by joining these two words for the first time, Qin Shi Huang created a title on a par with his feat of uniting the seemingly endless Chinese realm, in fact uniting the world (ancient Chinese, like ancient Romans, believed their empire encompassed the whole world, a concept referred to as all under heaven).
This word huangdi was rendered in most Western languages as "emperor", a word which also has a long history dating back to the ancient Rome, and which Europeans deemed superior to the word "king". Qin Shi Huang adopted the name First Emperor (Shi Huangdi, literally "commencing emperor"). He abolished posthumous names, by which former kings were known after their death, judging them inappropriate and contrary to filial piety, and decided that future generations would refer to him as the First Emperor (Shi Huangdi). His successor would be referred to as the Second Emperor (Er Shi Huangdi, literally "second generation emperor"), the successor of his successor as the Third Emperor (San Shi Huangdi, literally "third generation emperor"), and so on, for ten thousand generations, as the Imperial house was supposed to rule China for ten thousand generations ("ten thousand" is equivalent to "forever" in Chinese, and it also means "good fortune").
Qin Shi Huang had now become the First Emperor of the State of Qin. The official name of the newly united China was still "State of Qin", Qin having absorbed all the other states. The names Zhonghua (中華) or Zhongguo (中國) were never used officially for the country China until 1912 when the Republic of China (中華民國) was founded. Contemporaries called the emperor "First Emperor", dropping the "of the State of Qin", which was obvious without saying. However, soon after the emperor's death, his regime collapsed, and China was beset by a civil war. Eventually, in 202 BC the Han Dynasty managed to reunify the whole of China, which now became officially known as the State of Han (漢國), which can also be translated as the Empire of Han. Qin Shi Huang could no longer be called "First Emperor", as this would imply that he was the "First Emperor of the Empire of Han". The habit started to have his name preceded by Qin (秦), which does not refer to the State of Qin anymore, but to the Qin Dynasty, a dynasty now replaced by the Han Dynasty. The word huangdi (emperor) in his name was also shortened to huang, so that he became known as Qin Shi Huang. It seems likely that huangdi was shortened to obtain a three-character name, which matches the three-character name of Chinese people (it is rare for Chinese people to have a name made of four or more characters).
This name Qin Shi Huang (i.e., "First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty") is the name that appears in the Records of the Grand Historian written by Sima Qian, and is the name most favored today inside China when referring to the First Emperor. Westerners sometimes write "Qin Shi Huangdi", which is improper given Chinese naming conventions; it is more conventional to write "Qin Shi Huang" or "First Emperor".
Youth and King of Qin: the conqueror
At the time of the young Zheng's birth, China was divided into warring feudal states. This period of Chinese history is referred to as the Warring States Period. The competition was extremely fierce and by 260 BC there were only a handful of states left (the others having been conquered and annexed), but Zheng's state, Qin, was the most powerful. It was governed by Legalist philosophy and focused earnestly on military matters.
Zheng was born in Handan (邯鄲), the capital of the enemy State of Zhao. He was the son of Zichu, a prince of the royal house of Qin who served as a hostage in the State of Zhao under an agreement between the states of Qin and Zhao. Zichu later returned to Qin after many adventures and with the help of a rich merchant called Lü Buwei, and he managed to ascend the throne of Qin, Lü Buwei becoming chancellor (prime minister) of Qin. Zichu is known posthumously as King Zhuangxiang of Qin. According to a widespread story, Zheng was not the actual son of Zichu, but the son of the powerful chancellor Lü Buwei. This tale arose because Zheng's mother had originally been a concubine of Lü Buwei before he gave her to his good friend Zichu shortly before Zheng's birth. However, the story is dubious since the Confucians would have found it much easier to denounce a ruler whose birth was illegitimate.
Zheng ascended the throne in 247 BC at the age of 12 and a half, and was king under a regent until 238 BC when at the age of 21 and a half he staged a palace coup and assumed full power. He continued the tradition of tenaciously attacking and defeating the feudal states (dodging a celebrated assassination attempt by Jing Ke while doing so) and finally took control of the whole of China in 221 BC by defeating the last independent Chinese state, the State of Qi.
Then in that same year, at the age of 38, the king of Qin proclaimed himself First Emperor (see chapter above).
First Emperor: the unifierit]
"First Emperor"
(small seal script, 220 BC)To avoid the anarchy of the Warring States Period, Qin Shi Huang and his prime minister Li Si completely abolished feudalism. They instead divided the empire into thirty-six commanderies (郡). Power in the commanderies was in the hands of governors dismissed at will by the central government. Civilian and military powers were also separated to avoid that too much power falls in the hands of a single civil servant. Thus each commandery was run by a civilian governor (守 shǒu) assisted by a military governor (尉 wèi). The civilian governor was superior to the military governor, a constant in Chinese history. The civilian governor was also reassigned to a different commandery every few years to prevent him from building up a base of power. An inspector (監 jiàn) was also in post in each commandery, in charge of informing the central government about the local implementation of central policies, reporting on the governors' exercise of power, and possibly resolving conflicts between the two governors.
This administrative system was only an extension to the whole empire of the system already in place in the State of Qin before the Chinese unification. In the State of Qin, feudalism had been abolished in the 4th century BC, and the realm had been divided into commanderies, with governors dismissed at will by the ruler.
Qin Shi Huang ordered all the members of the former royal houses of the conquered states to move to Xianyang (咸陽), the capital of Qin, in modern day Shaanxi province, so they would be kept under tight surveillance for rebellious activities.
The emperor also developed an extensive network of roads and canals connecting the provinces to accelerate trade between them and to accelerate military marches to revolting provinces.
Qin Shi Huang and Li Si unified China economically by standardizing weights and measures, the currency, the length of the axles of carts (so every cart could run smoothly in the ruts of the new roads), the legal system, and so on.
Perhaps most importantly, the Chinese script was unified. A new script was developed by Li Si, called the small seal script, based on the script in use in the State of Qin, and this new script was made mandatory, thus doing away with all the regional scripts and local Chinese characters that existed in the various Chinese states. Edicts written in the new script were carved on the walls of sacred mountains around China, such as the famous carved edicts of Mount Taishan, to let Heaven know of the unification of Earth under an emperor, and also to propagate the new script among people.
Qin Shi Huang continued military expansion during his reign, annexing regions to the south (what is now Guangdong province was penetrated by Chinese armies for the first time) and fighting nomadic tribes to the north and northwest. These tribes (the Xiongnu) were subdued, but the campaign was essentially inconclusive, and to prevent the Xiongnu from encroaching on the northern frontier any longer, the emperor ordered the construction of an immense defensive wall, linking several walls already existing since the time of the Warring States. This wall, for whose construction hundreds of thousands of men were mobilized, and an unknown number died, is the precursor version of the current Great Wall of China. It was built much more north than the current Great Wall which was built only during the Ming Dynasty, when China had at least twice more inhabitants than in the days of the First Emperor, and when more than a century was devoted to building the wall (as opposed to a mere ten years during the rule of the First Emperor). Very little survives today of the great wall built by the First Emperor.
Death and aftermath
Imperial tours of Qin Shi HuangThe emperor died while on a tour to Eastern China, searching for the legendary Islands of the Immortals (off the coast of Eastern China) and for the secret of eternal life. Reportedly he died of swallowing mercury pills, which were made by his court scientists and doctors, containing too much mercury. Ironically, these pills were meant to make Qin Shi Huang immortal.
His death occurred in the beginning of September 210 BC at the palace in Shaqiu prefecture, about two months away by road from the capital Xianyang. Prime minister Li Si, who accompanied him, was extremely worried that the news of his death could trigger a general uprising in the empire, given the brutal policies of the government, and the resentment of the population forced to work on Herculean projects such as the great wall in the north of China or the mausoleum of the emperor. It would take two months for the government to reach the capital, and it would not be possible to stop the uprising. Li Si decided to hide the death of the emperor, and return to Xianyang.
Most of the imperial entourage accompanying the emperor was left uninformed of the emperor's death, and each day Li Si entered the wagon where the emperor was supposed to be traveling, pretending to discuss affairs of state. The secretive nature of the emperor while alive allowed this stratagem to work, and it did not raise doubts among courtiers. Li Si also ordered that two carts containing fish be carried immediately before and after the wagon of the emperor. The idea behind this was to prevent people from noticing the foul smell emanating from the wagon of the emperor, where his body was starting to decompose severely. Eventually, after about two months, Li Si and the imperial court were back in Xianyang, where the news of the death of the emperor was announced.
Qin Shi Huang did not like to talk about death and he never really wrote a will. After his death, Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao persuaded his eighteenth son Huhai to forge the Emperor's will. They forced his first son Fusu to commit suicide, stripped the command of troops from Meng Tian — a loyal supporter of Fusu — and killed Meng's family too. Huhai became the Second Emperor (Er Shi Huangdi), known by historians as Qin Er Shi.
Part of the Terracotta ArmyQin Shi Huang was buried in his mausoleum, with the famous Terracotta Army, near modern day Xi'an (Shaanxi province), but his burial chamber has yet to be opened. Though a magnetic scan of the site has revealed that a large number of coins are lying in the unopened tomb, occasioning speculation that the royal treasury was interred with the emperor, "Excavation sometimes means destruction," Michael Petzet has been quoted as saying. "Let them sleep underground. It's safer. No excavation should be done for fun or curiosity"
Qin Er Shi was not nearly as capable as his father was. Revolts quickly erupted, and within four years of Qin Shi Huang's death, his son was dead. The imperial palace and state archives were burned, and the Qin Dynasty came to an end. It was during Qin Er Shi's "rule" that powerful families came to war, with the strongest of them rising to power and bringing order back to the land, thus starting the next dynasty of emperors. This was a time of extreme civil unrest, and everything the emperor had worked for had crumbled away, for a short period.
The next Chinese dynasty, the Han Dynasty, rejected legalism (in favor of Confucianism) and moderated the laws, but kept Qin Shi Huang's basic political and economic reforms intact. In this way his work was carried on through the centuries and became a lasting feature of Chinese society.
A modern statue of Qin Shi Huang, located near the site of the Terracotta ArmyIn traditional Chinese historiography, the First Emperor was almost always portrayed as a brutal tyrant, superstitious (a result of his interest in immortality and assassination paranoia) and sometimes even as a mediocre ruler. Ideological prejudices against the Legalist State of Qin were established as early as 266 BC, when Confucian philosopher Xun Zi compared it to barbarian tribes and wrote "Qin has the heart of a tiger or a wolf … [and is] avaricious, perverse, eager for profit, and without sincerity".
Later, Confucian historians condemned the emperor who had burned the classics and buried Confucian scholars alive. They eventually compiled the list of the Ten Crimes of Qin to highlight his tyrannical actions. The famous Han poet and statesman Jia Yi concluded his essay The Faults of Qin with what was to become the standard Confucian judgment of the reasons for Qin's collapse. Jia Yi's essay, admired as a masterpiece of rhetoric and reasoning, was copied into two great Han histories and has had a far-reaching influence on Chinese political thought as a classic illustration of Confucian theory. He explained the ultimate weakness of Qin as a result of its ruler's ruthless pursuit of power, the precise factor which had made it so powerful; for as Confucius had taught, the strength of a government ultimately is based on the support of the people and virtuous conduct of the ruler.
Because of this systematic Confucian bias on the part of Han scholars, some of the stories recorded about Qin Shi Huang are doubtful and some may have been invented to emphasize his bad character. For instance, the accusation that he had 460 scholars executed by having them buried with only their heads above ground, and then decapitated is at the very least unlikely to be completely true.
There are also many varying tales of Heaven's anger against the First Emperor, such as the story of a stone fallen from the sky engraved with words denouncing the emperor and prophesying the collapse of his empire after his death. Almost all of these have been discredited by modern sinologists as hearsay and legend, designed to tarnish the First Emperor's image.
Only in modern times were historians able to penetrate beyond the limitations of traditional Chinese historiography. The political rejection of the Confucian tradition as an impediment to China's entry into the modern world opened the way for changing perspectives to emerge. In the three decades between the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the outbreak of the Second World War, with the deepening dissatisfaction with China's weakness and disunity, there emerged a new appreciation of the man who had unified China. In the time when he was writing, when Chinese territory was encroached upon by foreign nations, leading Kuomintang historian Xiao Yishan emphasized the role of Qin Shi Huang in repulsing the northern barbarians, particularly in the construction of the Great Wall. Another historian, Ma Feibai (馬非百), published in 1941 a full-length revisionist biography of the First Emperor entitled Qin Shi Huangdi Zhuan (《秦始皇帝傳》). He called Qin Shi Huang one of the great heroes of Chinese history. Ma compared him with the contemporary leader Chiang Kai-shek and saw many parallels in the careers and policies of the two men, both of whom he admired. Chiang's Northern Expedition of the late 1920s, which directly preceded the new Nationalist government at Nanjing was compared to the unification brought about by Qin Shi Huang.
Qin Shi Huang was interested in immortality and visited Zhifu Island. These deeds became a very popular story of the emperor sending a Zhifu islander, Xu Fu (徐福), as the religious leader of ships with hundreds of young men and women in search of the pill of immortality. These people never returned, as they knew that if they did return without the "immortality pill", they would surely be executed. The legend claims that they settled down in one of the Japanese islands. The legend also claims that this is the reason why many aspects of the Japanese language are similar to their Chinese counterparts, and the fact that the Japanese people look so similar to the Chinese.
The emperor often took tours to major cities in his empire to inspect the efficiency of the bureaucracy and to symbolize the presence of Qin's prestige. (It was on one of these tours that he died). Nevertheless, these trips provided opportunities for assassins, the most famous of whom was Zhang Liang.
Late in life, after his assassination had been attempted too often for comfort, he grew paranoid of remaining in one place too long and would hire servants to bear him to different buildings in his palace complex to sleep in each night. He also hired several "doubles" to make it less clear which figure was the emperor.
Qi Shi Huang's three great achievements are unifying Chinese character, unifying money, and unifying measurement units.
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