# Sempronius Pamphilius — The Apple Cart character guide

> Sempronius Pamphilius in The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Pamphilius, Sempronius, Pam, Mr. Sempronius

**First appearance:** 0001-the-apple-cart

## Snapshot

A royal secretary whose pageant-master father staged the coronations he devoutly believed in, Sempronius opens the King's letters with a ritualist's faith and a skeptic's tongue.

## Who they are

Sempronius sits at one of two facing desks in the palace office, slitting the King's mail while Pamphilius reads the papers across from him. His father manufactured coronations and Lord Mayors' Shows yet believed in them with all his soul, and Sempronius inherits both the theatrical instinct and the clear-eyed detachment that lets him dissect it. His talk with Pamphilius about what a father is and what belief costs sets the play's comic-serious key before any politician enters the room.

## Relationships

### [King Magnus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se/characters/king_magnus)

_professional_

Sempronius Pamphilius is a courtier or minister who frequently interacts with King Magnus on state matters.

### [Mr. Bill Boanerges](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se/characters/mr_bill_boanerges)

_professional_

Boanerges and Pamphilius are political colleagues who frequently interact in cabinet or parliamentary settings.

### [Queen Elizabeth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se/characters/queen_elizabeth)

_professional_

Queen Elizabeth interacts with Sempronius Pamphilius as a courtier or advisor in royal affairs.

### [Queen Elizabeth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se/characters/queen_elizabeth)

_professional_

Queen Elizabeth interacts with Sempronius Pamphilius as a courtier or advisor in royal affairs.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se/characters/sempronius_pamphilius
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_apple_cart_se/characters