Literary notes about Multitude (AI summary)
The term “multitude” is deployed in literature to evoke images of large, often complex assemblies, whether they be congregations of people, forces of nature, or metaphorical collections of ideas. In sacred texts, it is used to denote the vast assembly of the faithful or the people of Israel ([1], [2], [3]), imbuing the word with a sense of reverence and collective destiny. In historical narratives and political commentary, authors like Gibbon and Josephus employ it to describe overwhelming numbers that shape military encounters or social movements ([4], [5], [6]), while novelists such as Dickens and Shelley use it to articulate both physical crowds and inner emotional landscapes ([7], [8]). This range demonstrates how “multitude” functions not only as a quantitative descriptor but also as a vehicle for exploring themes of unity, chaos, and the potent force of collective identity.
- And said to all the multitude of the children of Israel: The land which we have gone round is very good: 14:8.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And calling again the multitude unto him, he said to them: Hear ye me all and understand.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And the Lord said to Moses: Let that man die, let all the multitude stone him without the camp.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - As he traversed the open country with a feeble guard, he was encompassed on a sudden by the superior multitude of the enemy.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - Moreover, we find that Pliny, and other ancient authors, report a multitude of rescripts of the emperors from the time of Augustus.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - Accordingly, they presently got together a great multitude of all their most hardy soldiers, and marched away for Ascalon.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus - screamed the enthusiastic little gentleman, and hailed by the deafening shouts of the multitude, the procession moved on.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - I could hardly sustain the multitude of feelings that crowded into my mind.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley