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The Legend of Julius Caesar's British Conquest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Homer Nearing Jr.*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania Military College, Chester, Pa

Extract

None of the deadly weapons of mediaeval legend, not even the darts of Yspadaden Penkawr, is more sinister than Crocea Mors, the sword of Julius Caesar. This Yellow Death, a terrible instrument which inflicted incurable and inevitably fatal wounds, was invented by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who says that Caesar lost it in his first battle with the British when it stuck in the cleft shield of the British prince Nennius and was carried off by him. The episode is symbolic of Caesar's entire association with the British as related by Geoffrey and his followers, for at their hands the great Roman's military reputation suffered even worse than his armory in his encounters with the descendants of Brut.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1949

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