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Essay Archive - Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization
Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization
Thomas Cahill opens his story describing Rome's fall, “For as the Roman
Empire fell, as all through Europe matted, unwashed barbarians descended on the
Roman cities, looting artifacts and burning books, the Irish who were just
learning to read and write, took up the just labor of copying all of western
literature - everything they could get their hands on. These scribes then
served as conduits through which Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures were
transmitted to the tribes of Europe, newly settled amid the rubble and ruined
vineyards ....
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