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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Gibbon’s masterpiece, which narrates the history of the Roman Empire from the second century a.d. to its collapse in the west in the fifth century and in the east in the fifteenth century, is widely considered the greatest work of history ever written. This abridgment retains the full scope of the original, but in a compass equivalent to a long novel. Casual readers now ha...more
Paperback, abridged, 1312 pages
Published
October 14th 2009
by Modern Library
(first published 1776)
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OMG IloveyourILyuvouryuIloveyoIyouIloveyou Edward Gibbon!!!!!!! You are the allotemie greatest history wrieter ever!!!! That ismy real feeling-htat Edawrd Givvon is one of the origninl Xmen, and his mutant super power is condensing massive amounts of history into readable and understandable form for everybody to grasp and enjoy. He could have adventures with Wolverine slicing up super villains and writing epic history together (with female Wolverine Kelly Hui in that skintight leather suit, hu...more
The history of human civilization and society is basically a continuum of idiots, sociopaths, murderers and bores, punctuated by the occasional rational individual whose life is cut short by those very sociopaths that succeed him. Gibbon's classic documents a tiny cross-section of some of the most lamentably pathetic mistakes and awful personalities this doomed species has ever suffered. Oh, how times have changed.
I borrowed the first two volumes - amongst my Dad's all-time favourites - from his study when I was around fourteen; and my enduring fascination with the Roman Empire, and ancient history in general, most likely stems from a combination of the heady brews of Gibbon's and Tolkien's masterworks, which ignited within me a terrific thirst for mythology, legend, and history that has yet to be slaked. As far as The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is concerned, I believe that Gibbon is the greates...more
Chapter I[return]Chapter II[return]Chapter III[return]Chapter IV[return]Chapter V[return]Chapter VI[return]Chapter VII[return]Chapter VIII[return]Chapter IX[return]Chapter X[return]Chapter XI
Exquisitely written, extensively researched, this work provides a detailed look at the people, places, and politics during the final centiries of the Roman empire.
There is no question of Gibbons mastery of English prose. However, the style is dated and, while it is surely elegant, is is difficult to follow, especially for someone used to modern English and educated in public schools.
Sentences are complex and certain words are, by modern standards, uncommon; others are wh...more
There is no question of Gibbons mastery of English prose. However, the style is dated and, while it is surely elegant, is is difficult to follow, especially for someone used to modern English and educated in public schools.
Sentences are complex and certain words are, by modern standards, uncommon; others are wh...more
Hard to know where to begin with this.
His much praised style? Sure, it's better than most historians, but it still bears the scars of the eighteenth century in general, and eighteenth century self-importance in particular. Yes, there's the odd ironic gotcha, but I got the distinct impression that he was shooting fish in a barrel. With a shotgun. An automatic shotgun, like in a video game. Compare, for instance, Swift- he was hunting big game.
The ideology? Only one kind of p...more
His much praised style? Sure, it's better than most historians, but it still bears the scars of the eighteenth century in general, and eighteenth century self-importance in particular. Yes, there's the odd ironic gotcha, but I got the distinct impression that he was shooting fish in a barrel. With a shotgun. An automatic shotgun, like in a video game. Compare, for instance, Swift- he was hunting big game.
The ideology? Only one kind of p...more
I have almost finished Volume 1. The first fourteen chapters were excellent. Unfortunately chapter 15 drones on about Christianity, in a way that I don't find very compelling (and normally I am not that averse to the history of religion). Furthermore the edition I have is edited by some religious nut-job who, whenever the topic turns to religion, becomes very excited and starts inserting 10 times as many footnotes as he normally does.
On the whole, however, I am very much enjoying thi...more
On the whole, however, I am very much enjoying thi...more
Volumes 1 - 6 = 3589 pages, and I can't think of more than 200 that I would have preferred to have skipped.
Love Gibbon's sense of humor, his methodology, his hard bigotry towards the Huns, his soft bigotry towards the Christians, and his ability to find interesting nouns to link with rapine: "idleness, poverty, and rapine"; "rapine and oppression"; "violence and rapine"; "rapine and cruelty"; "rapine and torture"; "rapine and c...more
Love Gibbon's sense of humor, his methodology, his hard bigotry towards the Huns, his soft bigotry towards the Christians, and his ability to find interesting nouns to link with rapine: "idleness, poverty, and rapine"; "rapine and oppression"; "violence and rapine"; "rapine and cruelty"; "rapine and torture"; "rapine and c...more
I started reading this tome in 1990. It was a gift from my mother, the only gift that I have truly valued, because it revealed to me the harshness and indifference of the world, that virtue and stoicism are a leader's better qualities, and that money is the corrupter of any body politic.
This book has more relevance to American politics than at any time in this Republic's 235 year history. The central thesis is provocative: Is moral education enough to stem the tide of political corrupt...more
This book has more relevance to American politics than at any time in this Republic's 235 year history. The central thesis is provocative: Is moral education enough to stem the tide of political corrupt...more
I do an international trip from California to either Asia or Europe every other month, and I wanted something that I could read on my Kindle for long periods of time. What is particularly interesting to me is that this is the review of an empire in decline by a member of an second growth empire which was in turn starting to wane. It's also a fascinating middle ground between romantic speculation and emotionless historiography. The transformation of Christianity from community of outsiders th...more
Volume I.
Fabulous and complete with a grand style.
“The empress Faustina would have avoided her mortality had she condescended to dissemble her ardor.” Eunuchs are called “pernicious vermin.” Jews are labeled as “an unsociable people.” And lastly, “Caesar had a 22,000 volume library and 30 concubines in his harem, and one, and the other, were for use, not ostentation.” James Kirkpatrick claims E. Gibbon is the best writer of prose in the English language. I would a...more
Fabulous and complete with a grand style.
“The empress Faustina would have avoided her mortality had she condescended to dissemble her ardor.” Eunuchs are called “pernicious vermin.” Jews are labeled as “an unsociable people.” And lastly, “Caesar had a 22,000 volume library and 30 concubines in his harem, and one, and the other, were for use, not ostentation.” James Kirkpatrick claims E. Gibbon is the best writer of prose in the English language. I would a...more
This book should more realistically be called, the decline of the roman empire and the rise of Christianity. Much of the book is focused on the early history of the church, which makes for interesting reading if you are at all interested in that period of time.
What is also interesting is the ideas Gibbon's expresses in the book. As it was written in the late 1700's before footnotes and needing to back the sources you use, it is very interestingly written with his views on politics, religio...more
What is also interesting is the ideas Gibbon's expresses in the book. As it was written in the late 1700's before footnotes and needing to back the sources you use, it is very interestingly written with his views on politics, religio...more
Edward Gibbon is the greatest writer of history, and perhaps the best writer ever to employ the English language. Like nearly everyone, I cannot say that I read the entire text, but I say that with deep regret, and the hope that one day I can read the complete text of this awesome book all the way through.
Gibbon is dead a good 200 years, but his scholarship and analysis live on now, and hopefully, forever. Of course the book is massive, but when one deals in great detail with n...more
Gibbon is dead a good 200 years, but his scholarship and analysis live on now, and hopefully, forever. Of course the book is massive, but when one deals in great detail with n...more
Paul
rated it
Recommends it for:
fans of perfect English prose
Shelves:
history-will-teach-us-nothing,
to_reread
Well, it's not actually the last word on the Empire. Gibbon hated the Byzantines, thought they were appallingly religious and ineluctably corrupt. So he didn't have a good word to day on the Eastern Empire which lasted 1000 years after the fall of the Western Empire. Modern historians have rehabilitated the Byzantines to a great extent.
I only read vols 1-3 but intend to finish the whole thing one day. Hey, half of Gibbon is still twice as long as anyone else!
I only read vols 1-3 but intend to finish the whole thing one day. Hey, half of Gibbon is still twice as long as anyone else!
If I could only have one book for the rest of my life, it would be this one. (And its extreme length is only part of the reason). A true epic that combines stunning scholarship, storytelling, and philosophical insight. If this were all fiction, it would still be one of the great masterpieces of English literature. That fact that this is history is stunning beyond words. In a typical chapter, Edward Gibbon will make you feel like you're standing on the walls of Rome as the Goths lay siege; then ...more
Unreviewable (in the sense of priceless). I only read it in abridgement, as I figure the full six volumes can wait for my doddering old age. If you read it, in full or in abridgement, get the latest Penguin edition! It preserves Gibbon's original sentence structure, unlike the Everyman edition which chops his flowing prose into more digestible chunks.
I read the abridged version as I wasn't up to reading 10 volumes. Gibbon has an odd way of writing direct criticism (he's a philosophical historian rather than a just-the-facts historian) but interspersing it with elliptical references. Fun to try to find out what he means in some of his more obtuse references. But you have to know your ancient geography, however, to visualize the action. Quick Summary: Analysis of the Emperors of Rome, religious quarrels between Rome and Constantinople (Th...more
I read the abridged version, 800 pages plus notes, so I can't comment on the full extent of Gibbons work here, but I must say that I was very impressed with his breadth and scope even in the abridged form, so I am sure that the full version would be amazing. I have to admit I was (stupidly) surprised by the amount of early Christian history that went into the making of this work (and the fall of the Roman Empire and descent into the dark ages). I was also surprised at the number of interesting p...more
Volume one was extremely readable, dense but very satisfying and never too dull. Gibbon's prose takes some getting used to, and sometimes you just have to wonder why he chooses to overly engineer his sentences the way he does, but once you get used to it, it all reads fine. I'm currently on volume 2, which covers Constantine, and Gibbon seems to be pausing from the action here at the beginning to catch us up on some key topics that are clearly about to of interest, such as the rise of Christia...more
They knew how to write in those days. I loved this partly for the epic sweep of the history it covered - in which we meet such fascinating figures as Julian the Apostate (who Gibbon wanted to favour but found he couldn't help dismissing) and St Athanius (who Gibbon wanted to dismiss, but found he couldn't help favouring) - but also for the beauty, the elegance, the sharpness and the shape of Gibbon's prose. The only bit I found just too much was the lengthy chapter on Byzantine jurisprudence. So...more
Does this book allow to draw any parallels with the current situation in USA ?
What about similarity in the situation when the republic is over-flooded with the "barbaric" newcomers, who's culture does not have the notion or appreciation of democracy and justice (like me ;-) ) ?
What about the similarity in plebs ("white trash") narrow mediocre views and interests (should we say we say that the "Tea Party" reseprent interests of modern day USA plebs?) ...more
What about similarity in the situation when the republic is over-flooded with the "barbaric" newcomers, who's culture does not have the notion or appreciation of democracy and justice (like me ;-) ) ?
What about the similarity in plebs ("white trash") narrow mediocre views and interests (should we say we say that the "Tea Party" reseprent interests of modern day USA plebs?) ...more
How an empire works. Creepy how close it resembles the U.S.
Ce livre rate les cinq étoiles du fait de l'usage détestablement répandu consistant à commercialiser des extraits d'un ouvrage sous le titre de l'intégral. Gibbon, anglais du 18ème siècle, se mesure à l'histoire de la chute de l'empire romain d'occident, mais là où son prédécesseur Montesquieu cherchait par des considérations générales à fustiger la vanité de la gloire militaire et à faire l'éloge du commerce et du libéralisme, Gibbon rédige un véritable livre d'histoire dans la lignée des ceux ...more
The first volume or two are the best. Once Gibbon advances past the sack of Rome and the immediate consequences the couple hundred years afterward, the work should no longer be called a "masterpiece." After that point, he still brings an interesting perspective to Western history and culture, and the development of the Christian faith, that any reader should find fascinating to read.
The first couple of volumes are when Gibbon really pushes an argument about the decline and ...more
The first couple of volumes are when Gibbon really pushes an argument about the decline and ...more
Gibbon is sensible of the finest Enlightenment truisms - that fear is the guardian of authority in government, and that rational persuasion is the guardian of freedom in society; that war is robbery, and wealth a distortion of the public weal; that democracy is the life of society, and monarchy its death; and that a copious prose style with cadences often involving parallel homonyms with insightfully paired subject matters is the stuff of good English prose (indeed, his English prose is, I belie...more
Well, I finally finished The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, after the better part of a year. Generally I read this for about 15 minutes a day before moving on to more fun stuff, so that's why it took me so long.
The sheer scope of this book is astonishing - Gibbon covers something like 1300 years of Roman history, from the days of Julius Caesar to the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. We learn about the rise of Christianity and Islam, we learn about th...more
The sheer scope of this book is astonishing - Gibbon covers something like 1300 years of Roman history, from the days of Julius Caesar to the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. We learn about the rise of Christianity and Islam, we learn about th...more
Stowed off with four out of the seven volumes of this behemoth from the community room of a pool I worked at; best decision of my summer, perhaps the most fruitful theft of my life thus far. Gibbon is a eminent force to my reckoned with; a historical pièce de résistance; a most cunning, and comedic, linguist (and I have no doubts that my main mayn Gibbon here put his mastery of the tongue to good use on the ladies, as well—a cunnilingus on and off the page, if you will); a dramatic, tragic, and ...more
Four months of sporadically reading the (abridged) version of Gibbon's masterpiece introduced me to fourteen centuries of European and Asian history, from the end of the Roman Republic under the arms of Augustus to the overthrow of Constantinople by Turkish cannon. If I had only a glancing acquaintance with this vast (on the human scale) period before, I have at least a passing familiarity now, although Gibbon is so erudite that he presumes his reader, however relatively ignorant, will still alr...more
Bruce
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in the history of early Western civ
Decline and Fall, Chapters 1-16 of which were first published in 1776 (contemporaneous to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, but far less rambling and no less comprehensive) is a wonderful, and wonderfully accessible history of the Roman Empire, ca. 180-1590 CE (although really hearkening in early chapters all the way back to Marius' salvation of the Republic through Sulla, Caesar, Augustus' ascendancy, and including the achievements and delinquencies of the predecessors of the Antonines). In fact...more
Erik Graff
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Erik by:
Louise Fischer
Shelves:
history
I first read an abridged edition of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in high school, then the complete Modern Library edition upon completing seminary. The decision to do so turned out to be a good one. Gibbon's dry wit and irony, particularly as regards the Christians, was not so prominent in the abridged version. Indeed, he would be offensive to many, hysterically funny to others.
He is also an excellent writer, many of his passages bearing reading aloud. ...more
He is also an excellent writer, many of his passages bearing reading aloud. ...more
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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 History is known principally for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open denigration of organized religion, though the extent of this is disputed by some critic...more
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“The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.”
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“Active valour may often be the present of nature; but such patient diligence can be the fruit only of habit and discipline.”
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I have no idea. I love this review. I can't figure out which sp...more
Jul 08, 2011 07:53pm
Jul 08, 2011 10:07pm