Publisher's Synopsis
Intrigued by the fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon set out to determine the cause of such a milestone in world history. His analysis has widely been considered controversial but intriguing. With two parts research and one part exposition, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a perfect example of the exploration of historically significant events.
Initially, Gibbon explores the history of the Roman Empire, how it grew and what made it flourish. He also studies the history of Europe around the same time period. In addition, he investigates the history of the Catholic Church and its potential impact on Rome and its decline. Ultimately, Gibbon posits that barbarian invasions are a main reason why the Roman Empire fell. He argues that when the men of the Roman Empire gave up arms and paid barbarian mercenaries to protect the empire in their stead they effectively determined the fate of the empire. By allowing outsiders power over the empire, they allowed those outsiders to take down the empire.
Interesting, Gibbon focuses some of his reflection on the structure of the Christian faith and ways in which structure and belief impacted the Roman experience of day-to-day life. Gibbon argues that, when a better life was promised to them in heaven, Romans were they were less inclined to maintain the traditional martial spirit. They stopped fighting for the empire with both their hands and their hearts. In the end, Gibbon posits that the abandonment of male virtues along with the superstitions of the dark ages led to the decline and ultimate fall of the Roman Empire. His in-depth exploration of the history of this period of time is used to support his arguments and his lengthy notes are available for the reader to explore and determine for themselves what they choose to believe.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
