King Arthur, after long wars, rested and held a royal feast with
his allies and noble knights of the Round Table, there came into his
hall, he sitting on his throne royal, twelve ambassadors from Rome, and
said to him: "The high and mighty emperor Lucius sendeth to the king of
Britain greeting, commanding thee to acknowledge him for thy lord and
to send the tribute due from this realm unto the empire according to
the statutes and decrees made by the noble and worthy Julius Caesar,
conqueror of this realm and first emperor of Rome. And if thou refuse
his demand and commandment, know thou for certain that he shall make
strong war against thee, thy realms and lands, and shall chastise thee
and thy subjects, so that it shall be warning perpetual unto all kings
and princes not to deny their tribute unto the noble empire which
dominateth the universal world."

Some of the young knights hearing this message would have run on the
ambassadors to slay them, saying that it was a rebuke unto all the
knights there present to suffer them to say so to the King. But King
Arthur commanded that none should do them any harm, and anon let call
all his lords and knights of the Round Table to council upon the
matter. And all agreed to make sharp war on the Romans, and to aid
after their power.

So the messengers were allowed to depart, and they took ship at
Sandwich and passed forth by Flanders, Almaine, the mountains and all
Italy until they came unto Rome. There they said to Lucius, "Certainly
he is a lord to be feared, for his estate is the royalest that ever we
saw, and in his person he is the most manly man that liveth, and is
likely to conquer all the world, for unto his courage it is too little;
wherefore we advise you to keep well your marches and straits[1] in the
mountains."

Then Lucius made ready a great host and marched into Gaul, and Arthur
met him there with his army. The old chronicles tell of the great
battles that were fought and the brave deeds of knights and lords, how
Arthur himself with Excalibur cleft the head of Lucius, and at length
passed over the mountains into Lombardy and Tuscany, and so came into
Rome. On a day appointed, as the romance telleth, he was crowned
emperor by the Pope's hand with all the royalty that could be made.

After he had established all his lands from Rome unto France, and had
given lands and realms unto his servants and knights, to each after his
desert in such wise that none comp