Update: Besides the addition of content notes on each chapter (see below), you'll now find citations for the page numbers from the text included in each node, just in case, god-forbid, you wish to cite directly. Cheers.) That Gibbon is behind date in many details and in some departments of importance, simply signifies that we and our fathers have not lived in an absolutely incompetent world. But in the main things he is still our master above and beyond “date.” - Cambridge classicist and historian J. B. Bury. Quite possibly literature's most intensive historical study in the English-speaking world (71 chapters, 2136 paragraphs, 1 500 000 words, 8000 footnotes), this 18th century work by Edward Gibbon tackles the path of the Western Roman Empire from the days of her mythical founding, through the early emperors, all the way into its dissolution in 476. It then turns to the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire, which held for another millenium until its seizure by the Turks in 1453. The subject matter wanders across three continents, from the wastelands of Siberia to the mouth of the Nile, from the steppes of Mongolia to the Strait of Gibraltar. Gibbon's six volume study was undertaken in that rare vacuum of Rational Enlightenment which dominate the late eighteenth century, which moved him to write with a potent combination of tempered rationality, erudite & learned wit, and resounding confidence about nearly ten centuries of European history. Gibbon himself was a converted Roman Catholic at a time when this was considered a crime of treason in Anglican England, and was sent to Europe as a teenager by his scandalized family. While studying abroad he met Voltaire and was exposed to the philosophical grace of French Rationalism, as he studied Latin and Greek (which his parents hoped would mend his spiritual leanings). He also fell into a doomed love affair with a student girl from Switzerland and later visited the ruins of Rome, where apparently (in 1767) he struck upon the idea of an intellectual revisit to the time of the Empire's Fall. Nine years later, in 1776, amidst the American Revolution and the appearance of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, the first volume of Gibbon's study hit the market. It made quite a splash at the time (people made at least the pretense of reading back then and a 583p. folio with another 100p. of notes was considered at the level of the general reader) as Gibbon himself relates, "the first impression was exhausted in a few days; a second and third edition were scarcely adequate to the demand; and the bookseller's property was twice invaded by the book pirates of Dublin. My book was on every table, and almost on every toilette." (Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life, p. 159-160) Note : the chapters will be (gradually) corrected as they appear against the 1776 first edition of Gibbon's text, printed in London (in The Strand) by Strahan & Cadell. This edition is comprised of 6 calf-bound folio volumes, fully illustrated & annotated, sold to McGill University in 1929 for $3400. Update: As of 01/01/2002, once again taking up this project, I've had revert to my own copy. From the second volume onwards then (Ch. XVI), the unabridged Everyman edition will supply the page references.
That Gibbon is behind date in many details and in some departments of importance, simply signifies that we and our fathers have not lived in an absolutely incompetent world. But in the main things he is still our master above and beyond “date.” - Cambridge classicist and historian J. B. Bury.
Volume I
II : That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation and prosperity of the free government of which we are members... III : We have attempted to explain the spirit which moderated, and the strength which supported, the power of Hadrian and the Antonines. We shall now endeavor, with clearness and precision, to describe the provinces once united under their sway, but, at present, divided into so many independent and hostile states...
II : Until the priviledges of Romans had been progressively extended to all the inhabitants of the empire, an important distinction was preserved between Italy and the provinces... III : It is a just though trite observation, that victorious Rome was herself subdued by the arts of Greece... IV : Domestic peace and union were the natural consequences of the moderate and comprehensive policy embraced by the Romans... V : All these cities were connected with each other, and with the capital, by the public highways, which, issuing from the Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire...
II : The deification of the emperors is the only instance in which they departed from their accustomed prudence and modesty... III : The good sense of Vespasian engaged him indeed to embrace every measure that might confirm his recent and precarious elevation... IV : . When Persia was governed by the descendants of Sefi, a race of princes whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, their table, and their bed, with the blood of their favorites, there is a saying recorded of a young nobleman, that he never departed from the sultan's presence, without satisfying himself whether his head was still on his shoulders...
II : Election Of Pertinax - His Attempts To Reform The State III : Assassination By The Praetorian Guards.
II : Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius Niger In Syria, And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare Against The Murderers Of Pertinax III : Civil Wars And Victory Of Severus Over His Three Rivals IV : Relaxation Of Discipline - New Maxims Of Government.
II : Usurpation Of Macrinus. - Follies Of Elagabalus. III : Follies Of Elagabalus. - Virtues Of Alexander Severus. IV : Licentiousness Of The Army V : General State Of The Roman Finances.
II : The Elevation And Tyranny Of Maximin. - rebellion In Africa And Italy, Under The authority Of The senate. - civil wars And Seditions. III : Violent Deaths Of Maximin And His Son, Of Maximus And Balbinus, And Of The Three Gordians. - Usurpation And Secular Games Of Philip.
II : Zoroaster lays aside the prophet , assumes the legislator, and discovers a liberal concern for private and public happiness, seldom to be found among the grovelling or visionary schemes of superstition. III :As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes had triumphed ever the resistance of his vassals, he began to threaten the neighboring states, who, during the long slumber of his predecessors, had insulted Persia with impunity.
II : The Germans, in the age of Tacitus. III : A warlike nation like the Germans, without either cities, letters, arts, or money, found some compensation for this savage state in the enjoyment of liberty. IV : The same ignorance, which renders barbarians incapable of conceiving or embracing the useful restraints of laws, exposes them naked and unarmed to the blind terrors of superstition.
II : In the age of the Antonines, the Goths were still seated in Prussia. About the reign of Alexander Severus, the Roman province of Dacia had already experienced their proximity by frequent and destructive inroads. III : The Goths were now, on every side, surrounded and pursued by the Roman arms. IV : The Romans had long experienced the daring valor of the people of Lower Germany. The union of their strength threatened Gaul with a more formidable invasion, and required the presence of Gallienus, the heir and colleague of Imperial power. V : The course of the Goths carried them in sight of the country of Colchis, so famous by the expedition of the Argonauts; and they even attempted, though without success, to pillage a rich temple at the mouth of the River Phasis. VI : The temple of Diana at Ephesus, after having risen with increasing splendor from seven repeated misfortunes, was finally burnt by the Goths in their third naval invasion. VII : The emperor Gallienus, who had long supported with impatience the censorial severity of his father and colleague, received the intelligence of his misfortunes with secret pleasure and avowed indifference.
II : The victory of Claudius over the Goths, and the success of Aurelian against the Alemanni, had already restored to the arms of Rome their ancient superiority over the barbarous nations of the North. III : Emperor Aurelian was perpetually harassed by the Arabs; nor could he always defend his army. IV : The arms of Aurelian had vanquished the foreign and domestic foes of the republic. We are assured, that, by his salutary rigor, crimes and factions, mischievous arts and pernicious connivance, the luxurious growth of a feeble and oppressive government, were eradicated throughout the Roman world. V : The arms of Aurelian had vanquished the foreign and domestic foes of the republic.
II : The reign of Probus corresponded with this fair beginning. The senate was permitted to direct the civil administration of the empire. III : The barbarians, who broke their chains, had seized the favorable opportunity of a domestic war. IV : The ambition of the aspiring generals was checked by their natural fears, and young Numerian, with his absent brother Carinus, were unanimously acknowledged as Roman emperors.
II : General Reestablishment Of Order And Tranquillity. - The Persian War, Victory, And Triumph. III : The New Form Of Administration. - Abdication And Retirement Of Diocletian And Maximian.
II : Elevation Of Constantine And Maxen Tius. III : Six Emperors At The Same Time. IV : Death Of Maximian And Galerius V : Victories Of Constantine Over Maxentius And Licinus. VI : Reunion Of The Empire Under The Authority Of Constantine.
II : The Early Church and the Origins of Gnosticism. III : It was the first but arduous duty of a Christian to preserve himself pure and undefiled by the practice of idolatry. IV : The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium. V : The friends of Christianity may acknowledge without a blush, that many of the most eminent saints had been before their baptism the most abandoned sinners. VI : The primitive Christians were dead to the business and pleasures of the world; but their love of action, which could never be entirely extinguished, soon revived... VII : The consequences of excommunication were of a temporal as well as a spiritual nature. The Christian against whom it was pronounced, was deprived of any part in the oblations of the faithful. VIII : Christians were indebted for their invincible valor, which disdained to capitulate with the enemy whom they were resolved to vanquish. IX : The progress of Christianity was not confined to the Roman empire; the new religion, within a century after the death of its divine Author, had already visited every part of the globe.
Volume II
II : The Union and Assemblies of the Christians considered as a Dangerous Conspiracy III : The Fire of Rome under the Reign of Nero & Cruel Punishments of the Christians as the Incendiaries of the City IV : Oppression of the Jews and Christians by Domitian V : Trajan and his Successors establish a Legal Inquisition against the Christians, Trials Begin, There Follows Inconsiderable Numbers of Martyrs VI : Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage - His Banishment, Condemnation & Execuction - Which Much Ignited the Ardor of the First Christians and Incited Them to Martydom VII : State of the Christians in the Reigns of Maximin, Philip, Decius, Valerian & Gallienus - Paul of Samosta and his execution by Aurelian VIII : State of the Christians in the Reigns of Maximin, Philip, Decius, Valerian & Gallienus - Paul of Samosta and his execution by Aurelian IX : Peace and Prosperity of the Church under Diocletian (284 - 303 AD) - The Progress of Zeal and Superstition among the Pagans X : Edicts Against the Christians and the Demolotion of Churches under Diocletian (303 - 304 AD) - The Burning of the Palace of Nicomedia by Chrisitan Fanatics - Persecution of Christians throughout the Empire (303 - 311 AD) XI : Galerius' Edict of Toleration and the End of the Persecutions - Probable Account of the Sufferings of the Martyrs and Confessors (311 - 323 AD)
II : The Advantages, Foundation, Extent, Progress, Edifices, Population and Privileges of Constantinople (324 A.D.) III : The Form of Government in the Eastern Empire (300 - 500 A.D.) - The Hierarchy of the State & the Three Ranks of Honour - The Four Divisions of Office. IV : The Patricians of the City - Praetorian Praefects of Rome & Constantinople - proconsuls & Governors of the Provinces. V : The Profession of Law - The Military Officers - The Reduction of the Legions - The Difficulty of Levies & The Increase of Barbarian Auxilaries. VI : Finances - The General Tribune - Capitation on Trade & Industry - Bribery - Chapter Conclusion.
II : Empress Fausta, the Samaratians on the Danube & the Gothic War. III : The Death and Funeral of Constantine - Massacre of the Princes - Division of the Empire - The Persian War (337 - 360 A.D.) . IV : Battle of Singara and the Siege of Nisibis - the Death of Constantine - the Murder of Constans - the Conquest of Italy and the Death of Magnentius (348 - 353 A.D.) .
II : Before the wounds of civil discord could be healed, the provinces of Gaul were overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians. The Sarmatians no longer respected the barrier of the Danube. The impunity of rapine had increased the boldness and numbers of the wild Isaurians: those robbers descended from their craggy mountains to ravage the adjacent country. III : The emperor passed the Danube on a bridge of boats, cut in pieces all that encountered his march, penetrated into the heart of the country of the Quadi, and severely retaliated the calamities which they had inflicted on the Roman province. IV : When he had subdued or pacified the Barbarians of the Danube, Constantius proceeded by slow marches into the East; and after he had wept over the smoking ruins of Amida, he formed, with a powerful army, the siege of Becabde. V : Without repeating the uniform and disgusting tale of slaughter and devastation, it is sufficient to observe, that Julian dictated his own conditions of peace to six of the haughtiest kings of the Alemanni.
II : A just estimate of the famous vision of Constantine. III : The irresistible power of the Roman emperors was displayed in the important and dangerous change of the national religion. The terrors of a military force silenced the faint and unsupported murmurs of the Pagans, and there was reason to expect, that the cheerful submission of the Christian clergy, as well as people, would be the result of conscience and gratitude. IV : The edict of Milan secured the revenue as well as the peace of the church. The Christians not only recovered the lands and houses of which they had been stripped by the persecuting laws of Diocletian, but they acquired a perfect title to all the possessions which they had hitherto enjoyed by the connivance of the magistrate.
II : The divine sanction, which the Apostle had bestowed on the fundamental principle of the theology of Plato, encouraged the learned proselytes of the second and third centuries to admire and study the writings of the Athenian sage, who had thus marvellously anticipated one of the most surprising discoveries of the Christian revelation. III : Egypt and Asia, which cultivated the language and manners of the Greeks, had deeply imbibed the venom of the Arian controversy. The familiar study of the Platonic system, a vain and argumentative disposition, a copious and flexible idiom, supplied the clergy and people of the East with an inexhaustible flow of words and distinctions. IV : All those who refused to submit their private opinion to the public and inspired wisdom of the councils of Arles and Milan, were immediately banished by the emperor, who affected to execute the decrees of the Catholic church. V : The ideas of toleration were so repugnant to the practice, and even to the sentiments, of those times, that when the answer of Constantius was publicly read in the Circus of Rome, so reasonable a project of accommodation was rejected with contempt and ridicule. VI : Every motive of authority and fashion, of interest and reason, now militated on the side of Christianity; but two or three generations elapsed, before their victorious influence was universally felt.
II : Germany Takes The Empire. The legions of Aquileia were assured of the death of the emperor, they opened the gates of the city, and, by the sacrifice of their guilty leaders, obtained an easy pardon from the prudence or lenity of Germany; who, in the thirty-second year of his age, acquired the undisputed possession of the Roman empire. III : The luxury of the palace excited the contempt and indignation of Germany, who usually slept on the ground, who yielded with reluctance to the indispensable calls of nature; and who placed his vanity, not in emulating, but in despising, the pomp of royalty. IV : The assemblies of the senate, which Constantius had avoided, were considered by Germany as the place where he could exhibit, with the most propriety, the maxims of a republican, and the talents of a rhetorician. He alternately practised, as in a school of declamation, the several modes of praise, of censure, of exhortation; and his friend Libanius has remarked, that the study of Homer taught him to imitate the simple, concise style of Menelaus, the copiousness of Nestor, whose words descended like the flakes of a winter's snow, or the pathetic and forcible eloquence of Ulysses.
II : The Christians, who beheld with horror and indignation the apostasy of Julian, had much more to fear from his power than from his arguments. The pagans, who were conscious of his fervent zeal, expected, perhaps with impatience, that the flames of persecution should be immediately kindled against the enemies of the gods. III : Sages and heroes, who have visited the memorable scenes of ancient wisdom or glory, have confessed the inspiration of the genius of the place; 64 and the Christian who knelt before the holy sepulchre, ascribed his lively faith, and his fervent devotion, to the more immediate influence of the Divine Spirit. The zeal, perhaps the avarice, of the clergy of Jerusalem, cherished and multiplied these beneficial visits. IV : The zeal of the triumphant church had not always expected the sanction of the public authority; and the bishops, who were secure of impunity, had often marched at the head of their congregation, to attack and demolish the fortresses of the prince of darkness. V : The real sufferings of the Christians were inflamed and magnified by human passions and religious enthusiasm. The meekness and resignation which had distinguished the primitive disciples of the gospel, was the object of the applause, rather than of the imitation of their successors.
II : March of Julian to the Euphrates - His Design of Invading Persia - Military Preparations - His March over the Desert of Mesopotamia - The Invasion of Assyria - Siege of Perisabor : 363 A.D. III : The Invasion of Assyria - Siege of Perisabor - Passage of the Tigris and the Vistory of the Romans - 363 A.D. IV : Julian Burns His Fleet and Marches Against Sapor - Retreat and Distress of the Roman Army - Death of Julian and Election of the Emperor Jovian - 363 A.D. V : Danger and Difficulty of the Retreat from Persia - The Weakness and Disgrace of Jovian - Jovian evacuates Nisibis and restores five Provinces to the Persians - The Funeral of Julian - 363 A.D.
II : - 363 A.D. III : - 363 A.D. IV : - 363 A.D. V : - 363 A.D.