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History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
By: (1737-1794)

Spanning a period of nearly 1500 years, this monumental work of history tracks the orbit of one of the greatest Empires of all time. The sheer scale and sweep of the narrative is breathtaking in its ambitious scope and brings to vivid life the collapse of a magnificent military, political and administrative structure.

Proceeding at a brisk pace, the original fourteen volumes describe debauched emperors, corrupt practices, usurpers and murderers, bloody battles, plunder and loot, barbarian hordes, tumultuous events like the Crusades and invaders like Genghis Khan and many more. Later, it was condensed by various editors to make it available to more readers. Much of it seems like a modern battle epic or a gory scary movie with endless passages depicting power struggles, blood-drenched paths to the throne, ruthless killing of innocent women and children and the final disappearance of a mighty empire.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was written by an English historian who was inspired to write it when he undertook the Grand Tour and visited Rome as a young man in 1762. The book eventually took more than 20 years to complete and was received with both bouquets and brickbats. The Church banned it quite a few times as it was considered to have blasphemous passages about the Church. Gibbon was attacked by many devout Christians as a “paganist.”

Setting the starting point with the Emperor Augustus in 27 BC, Gibbon pursues the Romans relentlessly on to their final defeat in Constantinople in the 15th Century AD with the rise of the Turkish Ottomans. Stretching across North Africa, Europe and the Middle East as well as some parts of modern-day Asia, the Roman Empire was a tremendous human enterprise. Successively added to by emperor after emperor, it finally disintegrated and ceased being the “empire without end.”

Gibbon initially planned to write a history of the city of Rome but found himself so immersed in the subject that it gradually grew into a work about the empire itself. He provides interesting theories for the collapse of the Empire. The rise of Christianity, Islam and the attacks of various wild and brutal hordes contributed to the fall of this mighty Colossus.

Far from being dry and scholarly, Gibbon's style is detached yet lyrical. Full of ironic statements and opinions, the book appeals to historians and modern-day readers. There are interesting parallels to be drawn from present day world affairs and many lessons to be learned from this magnum opus.


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Reviews (Rated: 4 Stars - 7 reviews)

Reviewer: - January 10, 2021
Subject: facts without thinking
It is like write about chemical reaction describing atoms bouncing, connecting and disconnecting not explaining mechanics of the process.
Reviewer: - September 21, 2019
Subject: History of Deline and Fall of Roman Empire Vol 1, Chapter 1, Part3
The reader's Brittish accent and pronunciation, for the most part, were impossible to understand.
Reviewer: - September 13, 2019
Subject: history
great- if it's your thing....
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Reviewer: - January 12, 2018
Subject: History of the decline and the fall of the Roman empire
Rather monotonous and emotionless reading. Difficult to know when a sentence was ending and the next starting. The book gives good understanding of the way the ruling class works as the methods are still the same. I agree with Aandy that it is good intro to political science.
Reviewer: - April 13, 2015
The subject is extremely interesting. However, it should be noted that the book was not written with a listener in mind. For example, a list of several points 1, 2, 3, 4 is difficult to follow. Also, in some parts, it is implicitly assumed that the listener has a map at hand. A more technical problem is that the readers keep changing, mostly for the worst. I could keep with it only up to the fifth part or so.
Reviewer: - September 16, 2014
Subject: intro to political science
Perfect!


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