''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' is a six-volume work by the English historian
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...
. It traces
Western civilization
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
(as well as the
Islamic and
Mongolian conquests) from the
height
Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is).
For example, "The height of that building is 50 m" or "The height of an airplane in-flight is abou ...
of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
to the
fall
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
of
Byzantium in the fifteenth century. Volume I was published in 1776 and went through six printings. Volumes II and III were published in 1781; volumes IV, V, and VI in 1788–1789.
[The original volumes were published in ]quarto
Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
sections, a common publishing practice of the time.
The six volumes cover the history, from 98 to 1590, of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, the history of
early Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...
and then of the
Roman State Church, and the history of Europe, and discusses the
decline of the Roman Empire among other things.
Thesis
Gibbon offers an explanation for the
fall of the Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
, a task made difficult by a lack of comprehensive written sources, though he was not the only historian to attempt it.
According to Gibbon, the Roman Empire succumbed to
barbarian invasions in large part due to the gradual loss of
civic virtue
Civic virtue is the harvesting of habits important for the success of a society. Closely linked to the concept of citizenship, civic virtue is often conceived as the dedication of citizens to the common welfare of each other even at the cost of t ...
among its citizens.
He began an ongoing controversy about the role of Christianity, but he gave great weight to other causes of internal decline and to
attacks from outside the Empire.
Like other
Enlightenment thinkers and
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
citizens of the age steeped in institutional
anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...
, Gibbon held in contempt the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
as a priest-ridden, superstitious Dark Age. It was not until his own era, the "Age of Reason", with its emphasis on rational thought, it was believed, that human history could resume its progress.
Style
![Edward Gibbon by Henry Walton cleaned](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Edward_Gibbon_by_Henry_Walton_cleaned.jpg)
Gibbon's tone was detached, dispassionate, and yet critical. He can lapse into moralisation and
aphorism
An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...
:
Criticism
Numerous tracts were published criticising his work. In response, Gibbon defended his work with the 1779 publication of ''A Vindication ... of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''.
Edward Gibbon's central thesis in his explanation of how the Roman Empire fell, that it was due to embracing Christianity, is not widely accepted by scholars today. Gibbon argued that with the empire's new Christian character, large sums of wealth that would have otherwise been used in the secular affairs in promoting the state were transferred to promoting the activities of the Church. However, the pre-Christian empire also spent large financial sums on religious affairs and it is unclear whether or not the change of religion increased the amount of resources the empire spent on religion. Gibbon further argued that new attitudes in Christianity caused many Christians of wealth to renounce their lifestyles and enter a monastic lifestyle, and so stop participating in the support of the empire. However, while many Christians of wealth did become monastics, this paled in comparison to the participants in the imperial bureaucracy. Although Gibbon further pointed out that the importance Christianity placed on peace caused a decline in the number of people serving the military, the decline was so small as to be negligible for the army's effectiveness.
Gibbon's apparent antagonism to Christian doctrine spilled over into the Jewish faith, leading to charges of
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
. For example, he wrote:
From the reign of Nero to that of Antoninus Pius, the Jews discovered a fierce impatience of the dominion of Rome, which repeatedly broke out in the most furious massacres and insurrections. Humanity is shocked at the recital of the horrid cruelties which they committed in the cities of Egypt, of Cyprus, and of Cyrene, where they dwelt in treacherous friendship with the unsuspecting natives; and we are tempted to applaud the severe retaliation which was exercised by the arms of legions against a race of fanatics, whose dire and credulous superstition seemed to render them the implacable enemies not only of the Roman government, but also of mankind.
Misinterpretation of Byzantium
John Julius Norwich, despite his admiration for Gibbon's furthering of historical methodology, considered his hostile views on the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
flawed, and blamed him somewhat for the lack of interest shown in the subject throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. This view might well be admitted by Gibbon himself: "But it is not my intention to expatiate with the same minuteness on the whole series of the Byzantine history." However, the Russian historian
George Ostrogorsky
Georgiy Aleksandrovich Ostrogorskiy (russian: Георгий Александрович Острогорский; 19 January 1902 – 24 October 1976), known in Serbian as Georgije Aleksandrovič Ostrogorski ( sr-Cyrl, Георгије Алекс ...
wrote, "Gibbon and
Lebeau were genuine historians – and Gibbon a very great one – and their works, in spite of factual inadequacy, rank high for their presentation of their material."
Gibbon's views on religion
Criticism of Quran and Muhammad
Gibbon was critical of the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
and
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. He outlined in chapter 33 the widespread tale of the
Seven Sleepers
In the Islamic and Christian traditions, the Seven Sleepers, otherwise known as the Sleepers of Ephesus and Companions of the Cave, is a medieval legend about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day S ...
, and remarked "This popular tale, which Mahomet might learn when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, is introduced, as a
divine revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
, into the Quran." His presentation of Muhammad's life again reflected his anti-Islamic views: "in his private conduct, Mahomet indulged the appetites of a man, and abused the claims of a prophet. A special revelation dispensed him from the laws which he had imposed on his nation: the female sex, without reserve, was abandoned to his desires; and this singular prerogative excited the envy, rather than the scandal, the veneration, rather than the envy, of the devout Mussulmans."
Views on Jews and charge of antisemitism
Gibbon has been accused of
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
. He has described the
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
as "a race of fanatics, whose dire and credulous superstition seemed to render them the implacable enemies not only of the Roman government, but also of humankind."
Number of Christian martyrs
Gibbon challenged Church history by estimating far smaller numbers of
Christian martyrs
In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at th ...
than had been traditionally accepted. The Church's version of its early history had rarely been questioned before. Gibbon, however, knew that modern Church writings were
secondary sources, and he shunned them in favour of
primary source
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
s.
Christianity as a contributor to the fall and to stability: chapters XV, XVI
Historian S. P. Foster says that Gibbon:
:blamed the otherworldly preoccupations of Christianity for the decline of the Roman empire, heaped scorn and abuse on the church, and sneered at the entirety of monasticism as a dreary, superstition-ridden enterprise. The ''Decline and Fall'' compares Christianity invidiously with both the pagan religions of Rome and the religion of Islam.
Gibbon's work was originally published in sections, as was common for large works at the time. The first two volumes were well-received and widely praised, but with the publication of volume 3, Gibbon was attacked by some as a "
paganist
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In ...
" because he argued that Christianity (or at least the abuse of it by some of the clergy and its followers) had hastened the fall of the Roman Empire, as seen in this extended quote from chapter 38, part VI of Volume 3:
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
was deemed to have influenced Gibbon's claim that Christianity was a contributor to the fall of the Roman Empire. As one pro-Christian commentator put it in 1840:
Tolerant paganism
Gibbon wrote:
He has been criticized for his portrayal of Paganism as tolerant and Christianity as intolerant. In an article that appeared in 1996 in the journal ''
Past & Present'', H. A. Drake challenges an understanding of
religious persecution in ancient Rome, which he considers to be the "conceptual scheme" that was used by historians to deal with the topic for the last 200 years, and whose most eminent representative is Gibbon. Drake counters:
Gibbon's reflections
Gibbon's initial plan was to write a history "''of the decline and fall of the ''city'' of Rome''", and only later expanded his scope to the whole Roman Empire:
If I prosecute this ''History'', I shall not be unmindful of the decline and fall of the ''city'' of Rome; an interesting object, to which my plan was originally confined.
Although he published other books, Gibbon devoted much of his life to this one work (1772–1789). His autobiography
''Memoirs of My Life and Writings'' is devoted largely to his reflections on how the book virtually ''became'' his life. He compared the publication of each succeeding volume to a newborn child.
Editions
Gibbon continued to revise and change his work even after publication. The complexities of the problem are addressed in Womersley's introduction and appendices to his complete edition.
* In-print complete editions
**
J.B. Bury
John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''Lat ...
, ed., seven volumes, seven editions, London: Methuen, 1898 to 1925, reprinted New York: AMS Press, 1974. .
**
J.B. Bury
John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''Lat ...
, ed., two volumes, 4th edition New York: The Macmillan Company, 191
Volume 1Volume 2
** Hugh Trevor-Roper
Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford.
Trevor-Roper was a polemicist and essayist on a range of ...
, ed., six volumes, New York: Everyman's Library, 1993–1994. The text, including Gibbon's notes, is from Bury but without his notes. (vols. 1–3); (vols. 4–6).
** David Womersley, ed., three volumes, hardback London: Allen Lane, 1994; paperback New York: Penguin Books, 1994, revised ed. 2005. Includes the original index, and the ''Vindication'' (1779), which Gibbon wrote in response to attacks on his caustic portrayal of Christianity. The 2005 print includes minor revisions and a new chronology. (3360 p.); (v. 1, 1232 p.); (v. 2, 1024 p.); (v. 3, 1360 p.)
* In-print abridgements
** David Womersley, abridged ed., one volume, New York: Penguin Books, 2000. Includes all footnotes and seventeen of the seventy-one chapters. (848 p.)
** Hans-Friedrich Mueller, abridged ed., one volume, New York: Random House, 2003. Includes excerpts from all seventy-one chapters. It eliminates footnotes, geographic surveys, details of battle formations, long narratives of military campaigns, ethnographies and genealogies. Based on the Rev. H.H. ean Ean may refer to:
People
* Ean Campbell (1856–1921), Anglican bishop in the early 20th century
* Ean Elliot Clevenger, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter
* Ean Evans (1960–2009), bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd from 2001 until his de ...
Milman's edition of 1845 (see also Gutenberg e-text edition). , (trade paper, 1312 p.); (mass market paper, 1536 p.)
** AMN, abridged ed., one volume abridgement, Woodland: Historical Reprints, 2019. It eliminates most footnotes, adds some annotations, and omits Milman's notes. (large 8x11.5 trade paper 402 pages)
Legacy
Many writers have used variations on the series title (including using "Rise and Fall" in place of "Decline and Fall"), especially when dealing with a large polity that has imperial characteristics.
Piers Brendon notes that Gibbon's work "became the essential guide for Britons anxious to plot their own imperial trajectory. They found the key to understanding the British Empire in the ruins of Rome."
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
and in film:
* ''
The Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1964),
Anthony Mann
* ''
The Decline of Western Civilization
''The Decline of Western Civilization'' is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a ...
'' (1981),
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled '' The Decline of ...
* ''
The Decline of the American Empire
''The Decline of the American Empire'' (french: Le Déclin de l'empire Américain) is a 1986 Canadian sex comedy- drama film directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Pierre Curzi and Dorothée Berryman. The film follows a group of ...
'' (1986),
Denys Arcand
Georges-Henri Denys Arcand (; born June 25, 1941) is a French Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. His film ''The Barbarian Invasions'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2004. His films have also been nominated three f ...
and in television:
* ''
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire'' (2006)
and in video games:
* ''
Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War'' (2006)
* ''
Civilization VI: Rise and Fall'' (2018)
and in music:
* ''
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'') is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-pr ...
'' (1972),
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
The title and author are also cited in
Noël Coward's comedic poem "
I Went to a Marvellous Party "I Went to a Marvellous Party" (sometimes known as "I've Been to a Marvellous Party") is a song with words and music by Noël Coward, written in 1938 and included in his Broadway revue, ''Set to Music'', in which it was performed by Beatrice Lillie ...
", and in the poem "
The Foundation of Science Fiction Success",
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
acknowledged that his
''Foundation'' series – an epic tale of the fall and rebuilding of a galactic empire – was written "''with a tiny bit of cribbin' / from the works of Edward Gibbon''". Feminist science fiction author
Sheri S. Tepper gave one of her novels the title ''Gibbon's Decline and Fall''.
In 1995, an established journal of classical scholarship, ''Classics Ireland'', published
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
musician
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...
's reflections on the applicability of ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' to the modern world in a short article, ''Caesar Lives'', (vol. 2, 1995) in which he asserted:
America is Rome. Of course, why shouldn't it be? We are all Roman children, for better or worse ... I learn much about the way our society really works, because the system-origins – military, religious, political, colonial, agricultural, financial – are all there to be scrutinised in their infancy. I have gained perspective.
See also
*
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...
*
Outline of ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''
*
William Strahan (publisher)
William Strahan (24 March 1715 – 9 July 1785) was a Scottish printer and publisher, and a politician who sat in the House of Commons between from 1774 to 1784. He was a correspondent and later a good friend of Benjamin Franklin.
Early life
Bo ...
, who also first printed ''
The Wealth of Nations
''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', generally referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is the '' magnum opus'' of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in ...
'' (1776)
Notes
References
Further reading
* Brownley, Martine W. "Appearance and Reality in Gibbon's History," ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 38:4 (1977), 651–666.
* Brownley, Martine W. "Gibbon's Artistic and Historical Scope in the Decline and Fall," ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 42:4 (1981), 629–642.
* Cosgrove, Peter. ''Impartial Stranger: History and Intertextuality in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' (Newark: Associated University Presses, 1999) .
* Craddock, Patricia. "Historical Discovery and Literary Invention in Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall'," ''Modern Philology'' 85:4 (May 1988), 569–587.
* Drake, H.A., "Lambs into Lions: explaining early Christian intolerance," ''Past and Present'' 153 (1996), 3–36
Oxford Journals* Furet, Francois. "Civilization and Barbarism in Gibbon's History," ''Daedalus'' 105:3 (1976), 209–216.
* Gay, Peter. ''Style in History'' (New York: Basic Books, 1974) .
* Ghosh, Peter R. "Gibbon's Dark Ages: Some Remarks on the Genesis of the ''Decline and Fall''," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 73 (1983), 1–23.
*
Homer-Dixon, Thomas "The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization", 2007 , Chapter 3 pp. 57–60
* Kelly, Christopher. "A Grand Tour: Reading Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall'," ''Greece & Rome'' 2nd ser., 44:1 (Apr. 1997), 39–58.
* Momigliano, Arnaldo. "Eighteenth-Century Prelude to Mr. Gibbon," in Pierre Ducrey et al., eds., ''Gibbon et Rome à la lumière de l'historiographie moderne'' (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1977).
* Momigliano, Arnaldo. "Gibbon from an Italian Point of View," in G.W. Bowersock et al., eds., ''Edward Gibbon and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, 1977).
* Momigliano, Arnaldo. "Declines and Falls," ''American Scholar'' 49 (Winter 1979), 37–51.
* Momigliano, Arnaldo. "After Gibbon's ''Decline and Fall''," in Kurt Weitzmann, ed.
Age of Spirituality: a symposium'' (Princeton: 1980); .
* Pocock, J.G.A. ''Barbarism and Religion'', 4 vols.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
.
** vol. 1, ''The Enlightenments of Edward Gibbon, 1737–1764'', 1999
b:
** vol. 2, ''Narratives of Civil Government'', 1999
b:
** vol. 3, ''The First Decline and Fall'', 2003
b:
** vol. 4, ''Barbarians, Savages and Empires'', 2005
b:
**
''The Work of J.G.A. Pocock'': ''Edward Gibbon'' section.
* Roberts, Charlotte. ''Edward Gibbon and the Shape of History''. 2014
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
* Trevor-Roper, H.R. "Gibbon and the Publication of ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', 1776–1976," ''Journal of Law and Economics'' 19:3 (Oct. 1976), 489–505.
* Womersley, David. ''The Transformation of 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
''' (Cambridge: 1988).
* Womersley, David, ed. ''Religious Scepticism: Contemporary Responses to Gibbon'' (Bristol, England: Thoemmes Press, 1997).
* Wootton, David. "Narrative, Irony, and Faith in Gibbon's ''Decline and Fall''," ''History and Theory'' 33:4 (Dec. 1994), 77–105.
External links
*
*
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' at Sacred Texts
*
*
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and a Vindication of Some Passages in the 15th and 16th Chapters at
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The Decline And Fall
1776 books
1781 non-fiction books
1788 non-fiction books
1789 non-fiction books
18th-century history books
Book series introduced in 1776
Books about civilizations
Books critical of Christianity
Books critical of Islam
Declinism
English non-fiction literature
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Gothic Wars books
History books about ancient Rome
History books about the Byzantine Empire
Non-Islamic Islam studies literature
Works about the theory of history
Works by Edward Gibbon