A real meaning of a Bramarbas or a Holofernes?

Question

> Before long the madness of intoxication broke out; they attacked one another with fists and knives, and it looked as if they would do murder. Suddenly the Saltmaster’s son, who had stood looking on, leaped among them, caught two of the combatants by the hair and knocked their heads together with such force that the blood started from their noses, and I thought surely their skulls had been crushed like egg-shells; but they must have been very hard-headed, for on being released they seemed little the worse for their punishment. After much shouting and screaming, Rochus succeeded in making peace, which seemed to me, poor worm, quite heroic. The music set in again: the fiddles scraped and the pipes shrieked, while the boys with torn clothes and scratched and bleeding faces, renewed the dance as if nothing had occurred. Truly, this is a people that would gladden the heart of **a Bramarbas or a Holofernes!** It's from 'Monk and Hangman's Daughter' by Ambrose Bierce (1892). But I can't figure out in what context the author use this 'a Bramarbas or a Holofernes' in the above paragraph, which seems to be far-fetched or even isolated to me. I am not a native English speak, so my question may be too odd. Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Bramarbas, or the boastful officer, is the common name of a play by Ludvig Holberg, about an officer who brags about his military successes until his bluff is called. Using his name in The Monk and The Hangman's Daughter is probably to imply that all braggarts in positions of power behave similarly. This name serves as an archetype for a kind of character that is very prideful and will probably be embarrassed at some point in the story. The German word to call someone a "showoff" is believed to come from this character's name.

The name Holofernes is from the Old Testament of the Bible, he was a famous general who misused his power to abuse people who couldn't defend themselves. Eventually he became known as a tyrant as well. The stories about the reason for his death vary, but he did end up dying when the heroine Judith cut his head off to protect herself and her people. Bierce probably used his name here to compare tyrants and braggarts to each other in a quick and educated way.

The reason for referencing these two characters is to bring an example of a kind of person to mind for the reader. The narrator in The Monk and The Hangman's Daughter has seen a fight break out between swaggering, violent, masculine people. The author is trying to suggest to the reader what the mood was for the characters who watched the fight. These names used together are supposed to make the reader imagine a braggart, a pushy and overbearing person, aggressive attitudes, and a clash of egos.