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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Downloads: 100+
First published: 1776
Pages: 3,974

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About this book

Edward Gibbon's six-volume history traces the Roman Empire from its second-century height through more than a thousand years of decline, following the story to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and beyond. Across its sweep he examines the rise of Christianity as a state religion, the barbarian invasions, the survival of Byzantium, and the coming of Islam and the Mongols. Gibbon famously argued that Christianity's otherworldly focus sapped Rome's civic vigor, a claim that scandalized his contemporaries. What keeps the work alive, though, is the prose: ironic, balanced, and endlessly quotable, built on a lifetime of reading in the ancient sources. Published between 1776 and 1788, it remains one of the great achievements of English historical writing. Free to read in PDF and EPUB.

About the author

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was a British essayist, historian and minor politician. His most important and influential work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, to critical and commercial success.