Gildas's On the Ruin of Britain is not an attempt at a reasoned account of his times: it is...a brilliant vitriolic diatribe on the wickedness of all things British and the virtue of all things Roman. It is a sermon, obscure, learned and immensely difficult to read, almost as though the writer's pen were choked with the fury of his words.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Gildas's work is described as a bitter, learned, and difficult diatribe against Britain, praising Rome.
- In plain terms
- Gildas wrote a harsh, scholarly critique of Britain favoring Rome.
- What can you take from it?
- Critical works can be both scholarly and emotionally charged.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does bias affect historical accounts?
- What value lies in vitriolic writing?
Another view
The description is itself subjective.
More from Gildas
Tum erumpens grex catulorum de cubili laeanae barbarae, tribus, ut lingua eius exprimitur, cyulis, nostra longis navibus.
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Permalink to quote #8 Igitur rursum miserae mittentes epistolas reliquiae ad Agitium Romanae potestatis virum, hoc modo loquentes: 'Agitio ter consuli gemitus Britannorum'; et post …
Permalink to quote #5
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