In the Iron Age, hillforts were places where communities could gather safely to share food. Competitive feasting became important, as the ability to share the most food led to prestige and influence. As Britain became more populated and hillforts became more common, raiding became common as well, and competitive feasting began to focus not on simply providing the most food, but attracting the best warriors. When the Romans invaded, the Durotriges emerged, less as a tribe than as a confederation resisting the Romans. This hillfort was the site of a massacre, as the invaders put down the warriors gathered here to resist their advance.
After the end of Roman rule, feasting became an important political activity once again, as warbands and their leaders took control of the country, and attracting and providing for the best warriors became the key to political power. When he became Ambrosius Aurelianus’s magister militum, Gnaeus Hectorius led a war against Elaphius, king of the Belgae. Elaphius allied himself with Lucius Cunomorus, king of Dumnonia. After defeating them at Din Tagell, Hectorius began to refortify this ancient hillfort as his headquarters. He named it Camulod, after his father’s city, Camulodunum.
The Round Table
When Aulus Hectorius succeeded his father as magister militum, he kept his headquarters at Camulod, but made some changes to the feasting hall, replacing the customary tables with one round table. Aulus saw this as an expression of his Pelagian ideals: all people are born equal, with the ability to make the world a better place or a worse place by our own actions. To more traditional Christians, the round table is a heresy made manifest.