1 ORIGIN OF THE NAME ARTHUR BY A ROMAN OFFICER OF THE II CENTURY, TITLE TRANSMITTED TO THE SARMATIAN KNIGHTS IN BRITANNIA Nicolini Giuseppe July 2020 Abstract A 2nd century Roman officer Lucius Artorius Castus could represent the historical origin of the name / title Arthur/Artu’ handed down over the centuries and adopted as a title later by the Celtic / Roman nobility, through the Sarmatian Knights, on the soil of Britannia after the abandonment of the British island by the Roman Empire. In 1978, C. Scott Littleton and Ann C. Thomas, taking up and expanding the hypotheses of Joel Grisward and Kemp Malone, 1 they theorized the existence of a connection between the Sarmatians and the story and subsequent legend of Arthur. 2 Scholars such as Kemp Malone, C. Scott Littleton, Ann Thomas and Linda Malcor 3 They suggest that King Arthur could be identified with a 2nd century Roman dux, Lucius Artorius Castus, an officer (with the rank of praefectus) of the VI legion in Britain and that he would have led, most likely, a unit of Sarmatian knights (from Ukraine or Southern Hungary), located in the Fort of Ribchester and other places in Britain, who also conducted military campaigns north of Hadrian's Wall. 1 Kemp Malone. (1925). 'Artorius' in Modern Philology 22. 2 C. Scott Littleton & Ann C. Thomas. (1978). 'The Sarmatian Connection: New Light on the Origin of the Arthurian and Holy Grail Legends' in Journal of American Folklore 91. 3 C. Scott Littleton & Linda A. Malcor. (1994). From Scythia to Camelot.