The History of the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 7

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire #7

by Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is Edward Gibbon's magnum opus, written and published over a 13-year period beginning in 1776. It not only chronicles the events of the downfall starting with the end of the rule of Marcus Aurelius, but proposes a theory as to why Rome collapsed: the populace, Gibbon theorizes, lost its moral fortitude, its militaristic will, and its sense of civic duty. History is considered a classic in world literature, and Gibbon is sometimes called the first "modern historian" for his insistence upon using primary sources for his research. Many scholars today still use his highly regarded work as reference. In this last of seven volumes, readers will find Chapter 64 ("Moguls, Ottoman Turks") through Chapter 71 ("Civil Prospect of the Ruins of Rome in the Fifteenth Century"), which cover the establishment of the Mogul empire and their conquests of China, Persia, Anatolia, and Siberia; the origin of the Ottomans; the establishment of the Ottomans in Europe; the history and life of Timour (Tamerlane); the siege of Constantinople by Amurath II; the reign of John Palaeologus II; the invention of gunpowder; the continued struggles between the Greeks and Latins for influence in the Eastern Roman Empire; the reign of Constantine (the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire); the reign of Mahomet (Mehmed) II of the Ottoman Empire; the siege of Constantinople; a summary of the state of Rome since the 12th century; the life of Petrarch; the Great Schism of the West; and the final decay of Rome in the 15th century. Also included in this volume is a complete index to the seven-volume series, English parliamentarian and historian EDWARD GIBBON (1737-1794) attended Magdelan College, Oxford for 14 months before his father sent him to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he continued his education. He published Essai sur l'Étude de la Littérature (1761) and other autobiographical works, including Mémoire Justificatif pour servir de Réponse à l'Exposé, etc. de la Cour de France (1779).

Genres: History

524 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1788

About the author

Edward Gibbon (8 May 1737 – 16 January 1794) 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 organised religion.

Gibbon returned to England in June 1765. His father died in 1770, and after tending to the estate, which was by no means in good condition, there remained quite enough for Gibbon to settle fashionably in London at 7 Bentinck Street, independent of financial concerns. By February 1773, he was writing in earnest, but not without the occasional self-imposed distraction. He took to London society quite easily, and joined the better social clubs, including Dr. Johnson's Literary Club, and looked in from time to time on his friend Holroyd in Sussex. He succeeded Oliver Goldsmith at the Royal Academy as 'professor in ancient history' (honorary but prestigious). In late 1774, he was initiated a freemason of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. And, perhaps least productively in that same year, he was returned to the House of Commons for Liskeard, Cornwall through the intervention of his relative and patron, Edward Eliot. He became the archetypal back-bencher, benignly "mute" and "indifferent," his support of the Whig ministry invariably automatic. Gibbon's indolence in that position, perhaps fully intentional, subtracted little from the progress of his writing.

After several rewrites, with Gibbon "often tempted to throw away the labours of seven years," the first volume of what would become his life's major achievement, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published on 17 February 1776. Through 1777, the reading public eagerly consumed three editions for which Gibbon was rewarded handsomely: two-thirds of the profits amounting to approximately £1,000. Biographer Leslie Stephen wrote that thereafter, "His fame was as rapid as it has been lasting." And as regards this first volume, "Some warm praise from David Hume overpaid the labour of ten years."

Volumes II and III appeared on 1 March 1781, eventually rising "to a level with the previous volume in general esteem." Volume IV was finished in June 1784; the final two were completed during a second Lausanne sojourn (September 1783 to August 1787) where Gibbon reunited with his friend Deyverdun in leisurely comfort. By early 1787, he was "straining for the goal" and with great relief the project was finished in June. Gibbon later wrote:

It was on the day, or rather the night, of 27 June 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page in a summer-house in my garden. ... I will not dissemble the first emotions of joy on the recovery of my freedom, and perhaps the establishment of my fame. But my pride was soon humbled, and a sober melancholy was spread over my mind by the idea that I had taken my everlasting leave of an old and agreeable companion, and that, whatsoever might be the future date of my history, the life of the historian must be short and precarious.

Volumes IV, V, and VI finally reached the press in May 1788, their publication having been delayed since March so it could coincide with a dinner party celebrating Gibbon's 51st birthday (the 8th). Mounting a bandwagon of praise for the later volumes were such contemporary luminaries as Adam Smith, William Robertson, Adam Ferguson, Lord Camden, and Horace Walpole. Smith remarked that Gibbon's triumph had positioned him "at the very head of [Europe's] literary tribe."

Reviews

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This penultimate volume of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Folio Society edition) is the longest at 429 pages of text, and a remarkable work of history.

“THE RESTORATION OF THE WESTERN empire by Charlemagne was speedily followed by the separation of the Greek and Latin churches … the schism of Constantinople, by alienating her most useful allies, and provoking her most dangerous enemies, has precipitated the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the East.”

This volume decisively marks the end of the ancient and the beginning of the medieval. The old Roman provinces of Britannia, Germania, and Gaul, which had produced such legendary figures as Caratacus, Arminius, and Vercingetorix in ancient times, have become the great monarchies of Europe and the “Latin” leaders of the holy crusades.

Volume VII begins with the invasion of Gaul by the Spanish Arabs (Moors) and their subsequent repulsion from that nation by Charles Martel (the hammer), duke/mayor of the Franks and grandfather of Charlemagne.

The reduction of the Arab Empire as a result of civil war between its caliphates contributed to the rise of the Seljuk Turks in Persia, against whom the first crusade was principally directed:

“Since the first conquests of the caliphs, the establishment of the Turks in Anatolia or Asia Minor was the most deplorable loss which the church and empire had sustained.”

The seven holy crusades are the north star of this volume. The Turkish conquest of the holy land of Jerusalem and the grave injustices against the Christian pilgrims that followed were, in short, the causes of the first crusade.

“[A] nerve was touched of exquisite feeling; and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe.”

The following six crusades, which spanned two centuries, were all intensely captivating and involved many famous figures of history such as Godfrey of Bouillon, Barbarossa, Baldwin IV, and Richard “the Lionheart” Plantagenet, but I found the fourth to be the most interesting:

In 1204 CE, the Christians of the West (“Latins”), namely, the French and Venetians, besieged and conquered the “unwarlike people” of Constantinople on behalf of Pope Innocent III in order to accomplish the twofold aim of installing a Catholic emperor in Byzantine and saving the Catholics of that empire, who, under the Greeks,

”… were slaughtered in their houses and in the streets; their quarter was reduced to ashes; the clergy were burnt in their churches, and the sick in their hospitals; and some estimate may be formed of the slain from the clemency which sold above four thousand Christians in perpetual slavery to the Turks.”

It was therefore interesting to learn that one of the seven crusades — the famous conflict between followers of Christ and Mohammed — was solely between Christians.

The Normans, this volume’s other namesake, is not worth much mention except that they were a fierce people from Scandinavia whose descendants include the first Russians, Neapolitans, and, of course, the English.

This was impossible to put down and replaces Volume III for the best illustrations. I especially appreciated the author’s somber reflection on the consequences of the crusades at the end:

”The lives and labours of millions which were buried in the East would have been more profitably employed in the improvement of their native country: the accumulated stock of industry and wealth would have overflowed in navigation and trade; and the Latins would have been enriched and enlightened by a pure and friendly correspondence with the climates of the East.”