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RAFAŁBORYSŁAWSKI
throughitwithhowheconjecturedwhateverheunderstoodandsawlef
ofRome)shistory.Tecityofsomethirtythousandpeopleintheninth
centurywasafarcryfromanurbanmetropolisthatitoncehadbeen.18
Tat,however,lefplentyoflongabandonedstructuresandplentyofop-
portunitiesforthinkingaboutthemeaningbehindthem.Notonlyabout
whatpurposestheymayhaveservedandwhomayhavepopulatedthem,
but,moreimportantly,whatpurposetheirstatecontemporarytoAlfred
servedinthedivinecourseofevents.Wecannoteverbecertainwhether
ofalltextsbySt.AugustineAlfredwasfamiliarwithDeexcidiourbis
Romaesermo,uSermonontheDestructionoftheCityofRome,”where
Augustinepresentedahistoriosophicalandtheologicalunderstanding
ofthedestructionanddeclineofRome.Wemaybesure,however,that
itfurnishedoneofthemostpotentearlymedievalthemesłalessonto
bedrawnfromaninterrelationbetweenthestateofthingsthatwasand
thestateofthingsthatis.
TethemeprominentlymarksKingAlfred)s,oratleastAlfred-in-
spired,translationofBoethius)sDeconsolationephilosophiae,whichis
moreofafreeadaptationthanitsaccuraterendition.19Itopenswith
averseprefaceallegedlycomingfromAlfredhimselfandthenfollows
ametrictext(MeterI)thatisnotpresentintheoriginal,butonethat
recountstheinvasionofItalyandthesackofRomebytheVisigoths
underAlaricin410A.D.Tus,oneofthefundamentalOldEnglish
philosophicaltextsbeginswithapowerfulreferencetothedemiseof
thecity:
ĐawæsRomanaricegewunnen
abrocenburgacyst;beadurincumwæs
Romgerymed.RædgotandAleric
forononðætfæsten;feahcasere
midþamæþelingumutonCrecas.
Nemeahteþaseowea-lafwigeforstandan
18SingC.Chew,TeRecurringDarkAges(Plymouth:AltamiraPress,2007),
152-53.
19SusanIrvineandMalcolmR.Godden,eds.andtrans.,TeOldEnglish
Boethius,ix-xii.
