The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Volume I Chapter III

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The work traces Western civilization along with the Islamic and Mongolian conquests, from the height of the Roman Empire to the fall of Byzantium in the fifteenth century.

Gibbon's mammoth work is among the most magnificent and ambitious narratives in European literature. Its subject is the fate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and the events that led to its disastrous collapse.

The six volumes cover the history, from 98 to 1590, of the Roman Empire, the history of early Christianity and then of the Roman State Church, and the history of Europe, and discusses the decline of the Roman Empire among other things.

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open criticism of organized religion.

Volume I, Chapter III - The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines

#classics #ancientRome #romanhistory

[Desocrates]

I'll always think it's a shame how not only the Roman Empire fell but also Constantinople in 1453. I wonder how much more we would know if they survived to this day.