Ambrosius Aurelianus was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas.
Background
Ambrosius Aurelianus, the second son of the Emperor Constantine, was known to the Welsh as Emrys Wledig (the Imperator) or Emrys Benaur (the Golden-Headed).
Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us how he was still a young child when his teenage brother, Constans' short-lived reign came to an abrupt end.
With his father executed and his brother murdered, little Ambrosius, along with his brother, Uther, was bundled up and taken across the Channel to the safety of the court of his cousin, Budic I of Brittany.
Here he grew up, while the evil Vortigern reigned in Britain, but always Ambrosius planned to return and claim his rightful inheritance.
Career
Ambrosius Aurelianus is one of the few people that Gildas identifies by name in his sermon De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, and the only one named from the 5th century.
Ambrosius Aurelianus Ambrosius Aurelianus, ‘the last of the Romans’, was a British leader who emerged during the twilight years of Roman Britain to resist the onslaught of invading Saxons.
Ever since the Saxons had established themselves in Kent in ad 455, other areas of southern Britain had fallen under Saxon rule.
The Britons fought back, and their greatest successes occurred in the late 5th century
under Ambrosius Aurelianus.
This resistance culminated in the battle of Mount Badon at which the Saxons were defeated; the Britons won a generation of peace.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Following the destructive assault of the Saxons, the survivors gather together under the leadership of Ambrosius, who is described as:
". .. a gentleman who, perhaps alone of the Romans, had survived the shock of this notable storm.
Certainly his parents, who had worn the purple, were slain in it.
His descendants in our day have become greatly inferior to their grandfather's [avita] excellence.
Under him our people regained their strength, and challenged the victors to battle. The Lord assented, and the battle went their way. "
