Recreating Arthur
	Comitatus recreates daily life and warfare during the dying decades of Roman occupation, through the chaotic days of Germanic migration to the establishment of settled Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In that time one figure stands out above all others, Arthur, King of the Britons. Did he exist? Who was he? Could he have been the last Romanised general to defend our shores?
Yes, our period is the ‘age of Arthur’ but we don’t try and recreate this legendary man or re-enact his legendary battles. In fact, Comitatus shies away from what cannot be proven through archaeological finds, but in doing so we can portray typical folk from that age. Evidence of clothing, metalwork, weapons, architecture, farming methods and diet all come together to illuminate life ‘after the Romans’.
	For anyone wanting to get to the ‘truth’ of Arthur, then our society offers that chance. Members carefully build-up a typical kit of clothing and artefacts based on archaeological finds to depict early German raiders and settlers (Saxons, Angles and others), local Britons and Picts. This is a time of British domination when old Roman fortifications are re-occupied, followed by an Anglo-Saxon conquest.
At Comitatus, we refer to this era of emerging cultures as sub-Roman, post-Roman or even early Medieval, but we try and stay away from that romantic myth-filled phrase ‘Dark Ages’. We rely on hard evidence rather than pseudo-historical myth. Further Research: Britain & the End of the Roman Empire, Ken Dark Late Celtic Britain & Ireland, Lloyd Laing Arthur's Britain, Leslie Alcock David Ford Nash's Early British Kingdoms
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