ve that M. Lappenberg (Geschichte von
England, vol. i. p. 56) supposes the settlement of a military colony
formed of British soldiers, (Milites limitanei, laeti,) during the
usurpation of Maximus, (381, 388,) who gave their name and peculiar
civilization to Bretagne. M. Lappenberg expresses his surprise that
Gibbon here rejects the authority which he follows elsewhere.--M.]

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.--Part V.

In a century of perpetual, or at least implacable, war, much courage,
and some skill, must have been exerted for the defence of Britain. Yet
if the memory of its champions is almost buried in oblivion, we need
not repine; since every age, however destitute of science or virtue,
sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown. The tomb
of Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, was erected on the margin of the
sea-shore, as a landmark formidable to the Saxons, whom he had thrice
vanquished in the fields of Kent. Ambrosius Aurelian was descended from
a noble family of Romans; [138] his modesty was equal to his valor, and
his valor, till the last fatal action, [139] was crowned with splendid
success. But every British name is effaced by the illustrious name of
Arthur, [140] the hereditary prince of the Silures, in South Wales,
and the elective king or general of the nation. According to the most
rational account, he defeated, in twelve successive battles, the Angles
of the North, and the Saxons of the West; but the declining age of the
hero was imbittered by popular ingratitude and domestic misfortunes. The
events of his life are less interesting than the singular revolutions
of his fame. During a period of five hundred years the tradition of his
exploits was preserved, and rudely embellished, by the obscure bards of
Wales and Armorica, who were odious to the Saxons, and unknown to
the rest of mankind. The pride and curiosity of the Norman conquerors
prompted them to inquire into the ancient history of Britain: they
listened with fond credulity to the tale of Arthur, and eagerly
applauded the merit of a prince who had triumphed over the Saxons, their
common enemies. His romance, transcribed in the Latin of Jeffrey of
Monmouth, and afterwards translated into the fashionable idiom of the
times, was enriched with the various, though incoherent, ornaments which
were familiar to the experience, the learning, or the fancy, of the
twelfth century. The progress of a Phrygian colony, from the Tyber to
the T