After taking advice from Sirs Cador of Cornwall and Uwaine (and Sir Ider his son), and the lord of West Wales and King Anguish of Scotland and the king of Little Britain (Brittany), and Sir Launcelot (the son of Arthur's old French ally King Ban who seems to have appeared from nowhere) Arthur politely sent the Roman scum packing. Further, on account of how Rome had once been conquered by the British kings Belinus and Brennus and ruled by the Emperor Constantine (son of the British woman Heleine), Arthur reckoned that HE had fair claim on ROME !
Enraged, Lucius assembled a huge army from all across the empire at Burgoyne, including thousands of Saracens, fifty giants and sixteen kings, intending to destroy Little Britain.
After prophetic dreams (and pausing only to castrate a nearby giant that had just rogered to death the Duchess of Brittany and then building Mons St Michel to celebrate) he headed for Burgoyne and despatched Sirs Lionel, Bors, Gawaine and Bedivere to Lucius to negotiate. Unfortunately Gawaine lost his temper and beheaded the Emperor's cousin Sir Gainus, and in the ensuing fight ten thousand Romans were slaughtered and many taken prisoner, and there was much rejoicing.
Lucius despatched sixty thousand men to ambush the party taking the Roman prisoners to Paris, but Sir Launcelot spotted them hiding in a wood and massacred the lot.
After Arthur had sacked his way across Europe the surviving Roman senators sued for peace, and Arthur was officially crowned in Rome before returning home.
Bloody Romans
One day (almost a quarter of a century after the last attempt in book 1) twelve messengers arrived from Emperor Lucius in Rome demanding truage, on account of Julius Caesar's lucky fluke some centuries before, so Arthur convened a council.
Arthur's Response
Arthur left Sirs Baudwin of Britain and Constantine (son of Sir Cador of Cornwall and Arthur's own eventual successor) in charge with Guenever, and sailed with his own navy and his entire gang from Sandwich, landing at Flanders.
Lucius vs Arthur
The great battle (Arthur's 6th) finally joined in the Vale of Sessoine and amidst the carnage Arthur spied Lucius and "cleft his head... to his breast", at which the Romans fled and another hundred thousand of them were slain. But Arthur gave them all decent burials, and despatched the three remaining senators back to Rome as a warning, before sacking Lorraine, Brabant, Flanders, Haut Almaine, Lombardy and Tuscany.
Prince Priamus
Whilst Arthur was laying seige he sent Sir Florence foraging with a small war band and Sir Gawaine, who met Prince Priamus of Africa, and after hacking open each others vital organs they became friends. Fortunately Priamus had a magic healing balm of "the four waters that came out of paradise", and when they were both better they killed loads more Romans, Saracens and whatnot and returned to Arthur to have Priamus christened and made a knight of the Round Table.
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