Groans of The Britons - Problems of Interpretation

Problems of Interpretation

A second visit in around 446–7 by Germanus, a former Roman general who had become Bishop of Auxerre, recorded in Constantius' Vita, could have reflected Aetius' response to the message.

The reference to Aetius' third consulship (446) is useful in dating the increasing strife in Britain during this period. That Gildas' mention of the appeal is a minor part of a much larger religious polemic however, means that the image described may be more hyperbolic than realistic, especially as his sources were probably derived from oral tradition. The traditional picture of Romano-British society in post-Roman Britain as being besieged and chaotic is also being increasingly challenged by archaeological evidence. The viewpoint of Gildas is coloured by his classicizing rather than monastic education, based at some remove on the Roman education of a rhetor, a source of his elaborated and difficult Latin.

Gildas' narrative describes the Britons as being too impious and plagued by infighting to fend off the Picts and Scots. Though they managed some successes against the invaders when they placed their faith in God's hands, they were usually left to suffer greatly. Eventually the British king Vortigern invited Anglo-Saxon mercenaries to defend the borders, which backfired and led to the Anglo-Saxon invasion.