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Title: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Volume 1
Author: Edward Gibbon
Posting Date: June 7, 2008 [EBook #890]
Last Updated: November 15, 2012
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
Produced by David Reed, Dale R. Fredrickson and David Widger
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE Edward Gibbon, Esq. With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman Volume 1 1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
CONTENTS
Introduction
Preface By The Editor
Preface Of The Author
Preface To The First Volume
Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.—Part I. Part II. Part III.
The Age Of The Antonines.
Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.—Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV.
The Age Of The Antonines.
Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines.—Part I. Part II.
Antonines.
Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.—Part I. Part II.
Pertinax—His Attempts To Reform The State—His Assassination
By The Prætorian Guards.
Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.—Part I. Part II.
Prætorian Guards—Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius
Niger In Syria, And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare
Against The Murderers Of Pertinax—Civil Wars And Victory Of
Severus Over His Three Rivals—Relaxation Of Discipline—New
Maxims Of Government.
Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of Macrinus.—Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV.
Of Macrinus.—Follies Of Elagabalus.—Virtues Of Alexander
Severus.—Licentiousness Of The Army.—General State Of The
Roman Finances.
Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.—Part I. Part II. Part III.
And Italy, Under The Authority Of The Senate.—Civil Wars And
Seditions.—Violent Deaths Of Maximin And His Son, Of Maximus
And Balbinus, And Of The Three Gordians.—Usurpation And
Secular Games Of Philip.
Chapter VIII: State Of Persia And Restoration Of The Monarchy.—Part I. Part II.
By Artaxerxes.
Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.—Part I. Part II. Part III.
The Time Of The Emperor Decius.
Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.—Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV.
Gallienus.—The General Irruption Of The Barbarians.—The
Thirty Tyrants.
Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.—Part I. Part II. Part III.
Triumph, And Death Of Aurelian.
Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.—Part I. Part II. Part III.
Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus, And His Sons.
Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates.—Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV.
Galerius, And Constantius.—General Reestablishment Of Order
And Tranquillity.—The Persian War, Victory, And Triumph.—
The New Form Of Administration.—Abdication And Retirement Of
Diocletian And Maximian.
Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.—Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV.
Constantius.—Elevation Of Constantine And Maxentius.
Six Emperors At The Same Time.—Death Of Maximian And Galerius.
—Victories Of Constantine Over Maxentius And Licinus.—
Reunion Of The Empire Under The Authority Of Constantine.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV. Part V. Part VI. Part VII. Part VIII. Part IX.
Manners, Numbers, And Condition Of The Primitive Christians.
The great work of Gibbon is indispensable to the student of history. The literature of Europe offers no substitute for "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." It has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful occupant, of the vast period which it comprehends. However some subjects, which it embraces, may have undergone more complete investigation, on the general view of the whole period, this history is the sole undisputed authority to which all defer, and from which few appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers. The inherent interest of the subject, the inexhaustible labor employed upon it; the immense condensation of matter; the luminous arrangement; the general accuracy; the style, which, however monotonous from its uniform stateliness, and sometimes wearisome from its elaborate art., is throughout vigorous, animated, often picturesque always commands attention, always conveys its meaning with emphatic energy, describes with singular breadth and fidelity, and generalizes with unrivalled felicity of expression; all these high qualifications have secured, and seem likely to secure, its permanent place in historic literature.
This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which he has cast the decay and ruin of the ancient civilization, the formation and birth of the new order of things, will of itself, independent of the laborious execution of his immense plan, render "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" an unapproachable subject to the future historian:* in the eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot:—
"The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion which has ever invaded and oppressed the world; the fall of that immense empire, erected on the ruins of so many kingdoms, republics, and states both barbarous and civilized; and forming in its turn, by its dismemberment, a multitude of states, republics, and kingdoms; the annihilation of the religion of Greece and Rome; the birth and the progress of the two new religions which have shared the most beautiful regions of the earth; the decrepitude of the ancient world, the spectacle of its expiring glory and degenerate manners; the infancy of the modern world, the picture of its first progress, of the new direction given to the mind and character of man—such a subject must necessarily fix the attention and excite the interest of men, who cannot behold with indifference those memorable epochs, during which, in the fine language of Corneille—
'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'achève.'"
This extent and harmony of design is unquestionably that which distinguishes the work of Gibbon from all other great historical compositions. He has first bridged the abyss between ancient and modern times, and connected together the two great worlds of history. The great advantage which the classical historians possess over those of modern times is in unity of plan, of course greatly facilitated by the narrower sphere to which their researches were confined. Except Herodotus, the great historians of Greece—we exclude the more modern compilers, like Diodorus Siculus—limited themselves to a single period, or at least to the contracted sphere of Grecian affairs. As far as the Barbarians trespassed within the Grecian boundary, or were necessarily mingled up with Grecian politics, they were admitted into the pale of Grecian history; but to Thucydides and to Xenophon, excepting in the Persian inroad of the latter, Greece was the world. Natural unity confined their narrative almost to chronological order, the episodes were of rare occurrence and extremely brief. To the Roman historians the course was equally clear and defined. Rome was their centre of unity; and the uniformity with which the circle of the Roman dominion spread around, the regularity with which their civil polity expanded, forced, as it were, upon the Roman historian that plan which Polybius announces as the subject of his history, the means and the manner by which the whole world became subject to the Roman sway. How different the complicated politics of the European kingdoms! Every national history, to be complete, must, in a certain sense, be the history of Europe; there is no knowing to how remote a quarter it may be necessary to trace our most domestic events; from a country, how apparently disconnected, may originate the impulse which gives its direction to the whole course of affairs.
In imitation of his classical models, Gibbon places Rome as the cardinal point from which his inquiries diverge, and to which they bear constant reference; yet how immeasurable the space over which those inquiries range; how complicated, how confused, how apparently inextricable the causes which tend to the decline of the Roman empire! how countless the nations which swarm forth, in mingling and indistinct hordes, constantly changing the geographical limits—incessantly confounding the natural boundaries! At first sight, the whole period, the whole state of the world, seems to offer no more secure footing to an historical adventurer than the chaos of Milton—to be in a state of irreclaimable disorder, best described in the language of the poet:—
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,
And time, and place, are lost: where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand."
We feel that the unity and harmony of narrative, which shall comprehend this period of social disorganization, must be ascribed entirely to the skill and luminous disposition of the historian. It is in this sublime Gothic architecture of his work, in which the boundless range, the infinite variety, the, at first sight, incongruous gorgeousness of the separate parts, nevertheless are all subordinate to one main and predominant idea, that Gibbon is unrivalled. We cannot but admire the manner in which he masses his materials, and arranges his facts in successive groups, not according to chronological order, but to their moral or political connection; the distinctness with which he marks his periods of gradually increasing decay; and the skill with which, though advancing on separate parallels of history, he shows the common tendency of the slower or more rapid religious or civil innovations. However these principles of composition may demand more than ordinary attention on the part of the reader, they can alone impress upon the memory the real course, and the relative importance of the events. Whoever would justly appreciate the superiority of Gibbon's lucid arrangement, should attempt to make his way through the regular but wearisome annals of Tillemont, or even the less ponderous volumes of Le Beau. Both these writers adhere, almost entirely, to chronological order; the consequence is, that we are twenty times called upon to break off, and resume the thread of six or eight wars in different parts of the empire; to suspend the operations of a military expedition for a court intrigue; to hurry away from a siege to a council; and the same page places us in the middle of a campaign against the barbarians, and in the depths of
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