Et tacens vetustos immanium tyrannorum annos, qui in aliis longe positis regionibus vulgati sunt, it ut Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis dementiae suae ac vanitatis stilo hoc etiam adnecteret: "Britannia", inquiens, "fertilis provincia tyrannorum".
• Translation: I shall also pass over the bygone times of our cruel tyrants, whose notoriety was spread over to far distant countries; so that Porphyry, that dog who in the east was always so fierce against the church, in his mad and vain style added this also, that "Britain is a land fertile in tyrants."" - Meaning and context.">
Section 4.
• Gildas's quotation is in fact from St. Jerome's Epistula 133.9.
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Et tacens vetustos immanium tyrannorum annos, qui in aliis longe positis regionibus vulgati sunt, it ut Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis dementiae suae ac vanitatis stilo hoc etiam adnecteret: "Britannia", inquiens, "fertilis provincia tyrannorum".
• Translation: I shall also pass over the bygone times of our cruel tyrants, whose notoriety was spread over to far distant countries; so that Porphyry, that dog who in the east was always so fierce against the church, in his mad and vain style added this also, that "Britain is a land fertile in tyrants."

— Gildas

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Et tacens vetustos immanium tyrannorum annos, qui in aliis longe positis regionibus vulgati sunt, it ut Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis dementiae suae ac vanitatis stilo hoc etiam adnecteret: "Britannia", inquiens, "fertilis provincia tyrannorum".
• Translation: I shall also pass over the bygone times of our cruel tyrants, whose notoriety was spread over to far distant countries; so that Porphyry, that dog who in the east was always so fierce against the church, in his mad and vain style added this also, that "Britain is a land fertile in tyrants."" in the context of "Section 4.
• Gildas's quotation is in fact from St. Jerome's Epistula 133.9." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Gildas" (Quotes, De Excidio Britanniae (On the Ruin of Britain)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Gildas

About Gildas

St. Gildas (c. 500–570), also known as "Gildas the Wise" or Gildas Sapiens, was a British churchman and writer.  His sermon De Excidio Britanniae (On the Ruin of Britain) includes the only significant historical narrative written in Britain in the 5th or 6th centuries.  The translations used here have been taken from Wikisource