As a small boy, Alfred's father King Aethelwulf sent him on a special mission to Rome, to see Pope Leo IV, probably to ask the Pope's help in the struggle against the Vikings. In a ceremony, the Pope dressed the little fellow in the imperial purple of a Roman consul and wound a sword belt around his waist, turning little Alfred into a true Roman Christian warrior. On the second trip, Alfred spent a whole year in the Eternal City, along with his father, walking the ruins of the empire and the sacred sites. It was surely this experience which made him what he was, a philosopher prince, and someone who in more than a literal sense, translated the works of Roman wisdom for Anglo-Saxon consumption.


阿尔弗雷德小时候，他的父亲埃特尔伍尔夫国王，交付他一项特殊任务，去罗马拜见教皇圣良四世。大概是在与维京海盗的鏖战中，请求教皇的支援。一次典礼上，教皇让这小伙子穿上了罗马执政官所穿的紫袍，并扎上佩剑腰带，让小阿尔弗雷德成为了一名真正的基督教罗马战士。第二次罗马之旅，阿尔弗雷德与父亲一起在这不朽之城，逗留了一整年，踏访罗马帝国与宗教圣地的遗迹。无疑是这一经历，成就了其日后的美名，一位崇尚知识的王子。并毫不夸张地说，是他将罗马智慧的结晶翻译来，为盎格鲁-撒克逊人所用。