On 3 January 1917 Sarrail and Milne arrived at the Rome Conference, independently of one another. Hankey thought Sarrail "a man of quite exceptional charm". Lloyd George, now British Prime Minister and keen to avoid a repetition of the Battle of the Somme, thought him "a remarkable, fascinating character, handsome, impulsive, full of fire", although fearful about the effect on US opinion he rejected Sarrail's suggestion that he be given a fortnight to crush the royalists in Athens. Sarrail was confirmed as "Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Army of the Orient" with the national contingent commanders having right of appeal to their own governments.