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De Excidio Patriae : civic discourse in Gildas’ Britain

2021; Wiley; Volume: 29; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/emed.12475

1468-0254

Robert Flierman, Megan Welton,

Historical and Religious Studies of Rome

This article explores the use of civic discourse in Gildas’ De Excidio Britonum . It argues that such language and imagery functioned within a larger dialectical argument that exhorted readers to choose virtue over vice. Gildas assigned the Britons collective moral agency by styling them citizens ( cives ) of a shared homeland ( patria ) defined by cities ( civitates ). Due to the citizens’ moral failings, however, this urban landscape had been compromised: enemies had destroyed the patria ’s cities, rendering it a place of desolation. Only a return to virtue could save the Britons from ruin and grant them access to heavenly Jerusalem .