Edward Gibbon (1737–1794)

And so begins the Cecil B. DeMille of historiography. A sword and sandal epic with a cast of thousands. The Decline and Fall of one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen, in glorious Technicolor and at a bookshop near you.

In this first volume, which traces the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Marcus Aurelius (AD180) to Constantine's accession as sole Emperor in AD325, Gibbon nails his constitutional colours firmly to the mast. The ideal state is one headed by a show more constitutional hereditary monarchy, devolving its authority to a patrician parliament i.e. Britain in the late 18th century.

To Gibbon, the failure of the Roman system of government rested on Emperors who had despotic powers but were (largely) incapable of wielding them. Being one amongst equals of the Roman nobility they fell prey to the ambitions of others and their own indulgences. Rival claims to the throne and the high turnover of Emperors in the Third Century (donning the Purple was effectively the equivalent of signing your own death sentence) caused massive instability and fatally weakened the Empire.

Gibbon's history is of the Great Person or Persons who cast their reflective light downwards on society. No account is made of societal or economic factors at work, the vast majority of the population are excluded from the discussion. Reading Gibbon you won't find what day-to-day life was like for ordinary Roman citizens, or an explanation of administrative superstructure which still managed to make this large empire function despite the vicissitudes of its rulers.

One of the pleasures of reading history, and especially historiography which is itself now part of history, is the way it illuminates the present of the writer as much as the events it is describing. No work of history is a faithful recreation of the facts. Decline and Fall is a product of the Enlightenment. David Hume is a great influence, particularly in the last chapter on Christianity, which is the most controversial part of the whole work.

Edward Gibbon, one can guess, must have been an excellent after-dinner speaker. D&F flows like one great erudite speech, with many sentences you want to read over and over again just to enjoy Gibbon's fluid prose style. It is no surprise he is one of the most quoted English historians. One of my favourites is: "The incredible speed which Maximin exerted in his flight is much more celebrated than his prowess in the battle." show less

That's right, I turned coward and opted for the abridged version. The introduction is very generous with its welcome, stating that the goal is to offer me a taste of Gibbon in hopes of my desiring to make a glutton of myself. This was a wonderful meal but no light snack even in an abridged form - sorry, I'm stuffed. The abridgement wraps up with the first sack of Rome by the Goths in 410, followed by only a few brief excerpts from the Byzantines' half of the story up to their own end in show more 1453.

It's a grand sequel to Tacitus, Sutonious or both, picking up the thread not long after. In broad strokes: Gibbon briefly surveys the Roman Empire up to the reign of Commodus, at which point the decline begins. It carries on through the third century crisis, never to recover enduring stability outside the high points of Diocletian, Constantine, Julian and Valentinian. The first three of these introduced further flaws despite their strong grips on power: the division of that power, the deliberate weakening of Rome's governance and military to keep that power secure from uprisings, and the most serious division of east and west that sent Rome and Constantinople on different trajectories. Valentinian was an "off with your head" type but a good administrator. The tipping point from decline to fall occurred after Valentinian's death, when his brother and co-emperor Valens was killed at the Battle of Adrianople. Theodosius did a credible job of holding things together, but then his sons were a far cry from carrying on the job.

A number of factors play a role in the decline: self-interest of the upper classes paired with neglect and disillusion of the lower classes as the empire lost all semblance of democracy; fractious infighting when the empire needed to be united to hold external powers at bay; and a decline in its military preeminence when it couldn't sufficiently recruit and filled in all ranks with foreigners. First and foremost however, is the lousy way they picked their next emperor and the ridiculous amount of power he held in one hand, too often using it to execute his best generals for fear of their popularity (Stilicho!). Gibbon includes insightful history about the beginnings of the Christian church and how it arose from the precepts of Judaism but opened itself to welcoming all comers. It was responsible for introducing religious intolerance among pagans who'd always gotten along, and muffling science as wasteful study of the world when the afterlife stood beckoning. I'd never considered these consequences.

In terms of how the abridgement was conducted, I could have done with a lot less Arian controversy in exchange for fuller coverage of certain reigns, especially Septimius Severus who ruled for 17 years and was cut down to barely a mention here. show less

Best narrative history ever written. Gibbon had so many fewer sources and tools than we have today, but his basic conclusions from the late 18th century information he had are still largely correct today.

A weakened military and political state that relied heavily on barbarian mercenary soldiers for defense was doomed. The different internal barbarian factions just served to divide the military and political and religious structures to a point to where they were easy pickin's from both inside show more and outside the empire. The western empire falling first while the eastern (Greek) Byzantine empire, under less external pressure, survives much longer. (Until their Roman Christian Crusader brothers came to sack them.)

Gibbons details the whole ugly mess down to minute detail and doesn't leave anything out, from incest to slaughter. His narrative is lively and opinionated, full of both shock and humor.

Read the whole damned thing, footnotes and all, not some abridged abomination. This is a literary work as much as an historical work.

Anyone who needs an abject lesson on how the modern western world is going to go, should read these books. We're already in the age of bread and circuses. show less

An absolutely massive work, served up in a less forbidding shape in this edition, which has 28 in full of the book's 71 chapters (the omitted chapters, however, are served up in one-page summaries, so you at least get a feel of what you're missing). We are used to thinking of the Roman Empire in positive, even superlative, terms, but here the accent is on its weaknesses and failures. One gets the impression of a regime that depended too much on mercenary armed forces, who seem to have show more continually blackmailed the rulers; and of an inordinately self-serving ruling class, with rare exceptions like Marcus Aurelius or Trajan in the early years, and the chronic problem of an orderly succession, which seems to have been as traumatic and blood-soaked as in the Turco-Mongol world. The story is also that of the gradual ascendancy of Christianity, and its usurpation of the state apparatus. Little importance seems to have been given to the state-building prowess, the massive infrastructure, the Pax Romana which is touted as a gift to humanity. The story of the fall of Constantinople is especially heart-wrenching. The breadth and depth of the author's scholarship is mind-blowing.
For our era, Gibbon's work serves as a warning against depending too much on the armed forces to maintain the state; and the relative weakness of a state religion based on astrology, superstition,and the divine right of kings. show less