RangerWickett said:One quick comment because it's 12:30am here. I wanted a group of 12 because of the Knights of the Round Table/Apostles parallel.
I see the parallel between 12 soldiers and 12 apostles (though, as I mentioned it before, I think that the magicians would have to have a very good reason for it to make it worthwhile interfering in operationsla matters). But I don't see the parallel with the knights of the Round Table. There were twenty-five of them named on the Winchester Table, and more than forty are named in different adventures, while some accounts describe the Round Table as being thirty yards across and seating 150 knights.
The story of the Round Table is associated with the ruined Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon, which was supposed to have been the chamber Merlin built to house the Round Table. (If you haven't done so already, and you ever get a chance, go to see Caerleon--it's a real treat.) The central area of the amphitheatre is an oval about 45 metres wide and 60 metres long, which is a bit big for a meeting-hall for a mere dozen men. (The bleachers of the amphitheatre would have seated six thousand or so: room for a whole Roman legion.)