Patterns of conquest, kingship and conflict. Sallustian intertext in Geoffrey of Monmouth's De gestis Britonum

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abstract: This article argues that Geoffrey of Monmouth engaged with the Roman historian Sallust in a more meaningful way than has been previously understood. First, it examines how Geoffrey structures the De gestis , and argues that it can be read through the lens of Sallustian historiography: the British kingdom rises and falls in a similar manner to Rome in Sallust's works. This offers a new way of reading the De gestis in the context of the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. By drawing upon Sallust's model, Geoffrey removes individual blame as a cause of civil war and instead makes it the inevitable result of greatness, such as that enjoyed by ancient Rome. It then argues that Geoffrey uses Sallustian watch-words and literary techniques in order to negatively characterise King Arthur. Therefore, it interrogates the interpretation of Arthur as a 'heroic' figure in the De gestis . In particular, it argues that the use of extended speech is a marker of Sallustian influence, and reading paired speeches together in the De gestis underscores the development of Arthur's character. Overall, this article argues that classical reception studies can open new ways of interpreting and understanding medieval texts like the De gestis .