[Arthurian] The sole fifth century Briton named by Gildas (author of 6th century De Excidio Britanniae) and one of the few from any time that what he finds praiseworthy. Called a Roman, probably to denote a pro-imperial view, his parents, people of some preeminence, were killed in the Saxon wasting. After the Saxons ceased marauding and withdrew to their settlements, Ambrosius launched a counteroffensive campaign, possibly around 460, that brought about a period of fluctuating warfare climaxing with the British victory at the siege of Mount Badon (Badon Hill) about 500, bringing a more or less stable peace. Any national status or rank Ambrosius may have held was strictly as a warrior/leader only, judging from Gildas. If Ambrosius Aurelianus was in the service of a high king, Gildas is either ignorant or purposefully neglectful. Adding to the confusion, the Historia Brittonum attributes him with no such military action. Rather, it contains a short reference to Vortigern's fear of him and a longer...
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