Gibbon's The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
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History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
Edward Gibbon, Esq.
With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
Vol. 1
1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
Introduction
Preface By The Editor.
The great work of Gibbon is indispensable to the student of history. The
literature of Europe offers no substitute for "The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire." It has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful
occupant, of the vast period which it comprehends. However some
subjects, which it embraces, may have undergone more complete
investigation, on the general view of the whole period, this history is
the sole undisputed authority to which all defer, and from which few
appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers. The
inherent interest of the subject, the inexhaustible labor employed upon
it; the immense condensation of matter; the luminous arrangement; the
general accuracy; the style, which, however monotonous from its uniform
stateliness, and sometimes wearisome from its elaborate art., is
throughout vigorous, animated, often picturesque always commands
attention, always conveys its meaning with emphatic energy, describes
with singular breadth and fidelity, and generalizes with unrivalled
felicity of expression; all these high qualifications have secured, and
seem likely to secure, its permanent place in historic literature.
This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which he has cast
the decay and ruin of the ancient civilization, the formation and birth
of the new order of things, will of itself, independent of the laborious
execution of his immense plan, render "The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire" an unapproachable subject to the future historian:* in the
eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot: --
"The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion which has ever
invaded and oppressed the world; the fall of that immense empire,
erected on the ruins of so many kingdoms, republics, and states both
barbarous and civilized; and forming in its turn, by its dismemberment,
a multitude of states, republics, and kingdoms; the annihilation of the
religion of Greece and Rome; the birth and the progress of the two new
religions which have shared the most beautiful regions of the earth; the
decrepitude of the ancient world, the spectacle of its expiring glory
and degenerate manners; the infancy of the modern world, the picture of
its first progress, of the new direction given to the mind and character
of man -- such a subject must necessarily fix the attention and excite
the interest of men, who cannot behold with indifference those memorable
epochs, during which, in the fine language of Corneille --
'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'achève.'"
This extent and harmony of design is unquestionably that which
distinguishes the work of Gibbon from all other great historical
compositions. He has first bridged the abyss between ancient and modern
times, and connected together the two great worlds of history. The great
advantage which the classical historians possess over those of modern
times is in unity of plan, of course greatly facilitated by the narrower
sphere to which their researches were confined. Except Herodotus, the
great historians of Greece -- we exclude the more modern compilers, like
Diodorus Siculus -- limited themselves to a single period, or at least
to the contracted sphere of Grecian affairs. As far as the Barbarians
trespassed within the Grecian boundary, or were necessarily mingled up
with Grecian politics, they were admitted into the pale of Grecian
history; but to Thucydides and to Xenophon, excepting in the Persian
inroad of the latter, Greece was the world. Natural unity confined their
narrative almost to chronological order, the episodes were of rare
occurrence and extremely brief. To the Roman historians the course was
equally clear and defined. Rome was their centre of unity; and the
uniformity with which the circle of the Roman dominion spread around,
the regularity with which their civil polity expanded, forced, as it
were, upon the Roman historian that plan which Polybius announces as the
subject of his history, the means and the manner by which the whole
world became subject to the Roman sway. How different the complicated
politics of the European kingdoms! Every national history, to be
complete, must, in a certain sense, be the history of Europe; there is
no knowing to how remote a quarter it may be necessary to trace our most
domestic events; from a country, how apparently disconnected, may
originate the impulse which gives its direction to the whole course of
affairs.
In imitation of his classical models, Gibbon places Rome as the cardinal
point from which his inquiries diverge, and to which they bear constant
reference; yet how immeasurable the space over which those inquiries
range; how complicated, how confused, how apparently inextricable the
causes which tend to the decline of the Roman empire! how countless the
nations which swarm forth, in mingling and indistinct hordes, constantly
changing the geographical limits -- incessantly confounding the natural
boundaries! At first sight, the whole period, the whole state of the
world, seems to offer no more secure footing to an historical adventurer
than the chaos of Milton -- to be in a state of irreclaimable disorder,
best described in the language of the poet: --
"A dark
Illimitable ocean, without bound,
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,
And time, and place, are lost: where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand."
We feel that the unity and harmony of narrative, which shall comprehend
this period of social disorganization, must be ascribed entirely to the
skill and luminous disposition of the historian. It is in this sublime
Gothic architecture of his work, in which the boundless range, the
infinite variety, the, at first sight, incongruous gorgeousness of the
separate parts, nevertheless are all subordinate to one main and
predominant idea, that Gibbon is unrivalled. We cannot but admire the
manner in which he masses his materials, and arranges his facts in
successive groups, not according to chronological order, but to their
moral or political connection; the distinctness with which he marks his
periods of gradually increasing decay; and the skill with which, though
advancing on separate parallels of history, he shows the common tendency
of the slower or more rapid religious or civil innovations. However
these principles of composition may demand more than ordinary attention
on the part of the reader, they can alone impress upon the memory the
real course, and the relative importance of the events. Whoever would
justly appreciate the superiority of Gibbon's lucid arrangement, should
attempt to make his way through the regular but wearisome annals of
Tillemont, or even the less ponderous volumes of Le Beau. Both these
writers adhere, almost entirely, to chronological order; the consequence
is, that we are twenty times called upon to break off, and resume the
thread of six or eight wars in different parts of the empire; to suspend
the operations of a military expedition for a court intrigue; to hurry
away from a siege to a council; and the same page places us in the
middle of a campaign against the barbarians, and in the depths of the
Monophysite controversy. In Gibbon it is not always easy to bear in mind
the exact dates but the course of events is ever clear and distinct;
like a skilful general, though his troops advance from the most remote
and opposite quarters, they are constantly bearing down and
concentrating themselves on one point -- that which is still occupied by
the name, and by the waning power of Rome. Whether he traces the
progress of hostile religions, or leads from the shores of the Baltic,
or the verge of the Chinese empire, the successive hosts of barbarians
-- though one wave has hardly burst and discharged itself, before
another swells up and approaches -- all is made to flow in the same
direction, and the impression which each makes upon the tottering fabric
of the Roman greatness, connects their distant movements, and measures
the relative importance assigned to them in the panoramic history. The
more peaceful and didactic episodes on the development of the Roman law,
or even on the details of ecclesiastical history, interpose themselves
as resting-places or divisions between the periods of barbaric invasion.
In short, though distracted first by the two capitals, and afterwards by
the formal partition of the empire, the extraordinary felicity of
arrangement maintains an order and a regular progression. As our horizon
expands to reveal to us the gathering tempests which are forming far
beyond the boundaries of the civilized world -- as we follow their
successive approach to the trembling frontier -- the compressed and
receding line is still distinctly visible; though gradually dismembered
and the broken fragments assuming the form of regular states and
kingdoms, the real relation of those kingdoms to the empire is
maintained and defined; and even when the Roman dominion has shrunk into
little more than the province of Thrace -- when the name of Rome,
confined, in Italy, to the walls of the city -- yet it is still the
memory, the shade of the Roman greatness, which extends over the wide
sphere into which the historian expands his later narrative; the whole
blends into the unity, and is manifestly essential to the double
catastrophe of his tragic drama.
But the amplitude, the magnificence, or the harmony of design, are,
though imposing, yet unworthy claims on our admiration, unless the
details are filled up with correctness and accuracy. No writer has been
more severely tried on this point than Gibbon. He has undergone the
triple scrutiny of theological zeal quickened by just resentment, of
literary emulation, and of that mean and invidious vanity which delights
in detecting errors in writers of established fame. On the result of the
trial, we may be permitted to summon competent witnesses before we
deliver our own judgment.
-
Guizot, in his preface, after stating that in France and Germany, as
well as in England, in the most enlightened countries of Europe, Gibbon
is constantly cited as an authority, thus proceeds: --
"I have had occasion, during my labors, to consult the writings of
philosophers, who have treated on the finances of the Roman empire; of
scholars, who have investigated the chronology; of theologians, who have
searched the depths of ecclesiastical history; of writers on law, who
have studied with care the Roman jurisprudence; of Orientalists, who
have occupied themselves with the Arabians and the Koran; of modern
historians, who have entered upon extensive researches touching the
crusades and their influence; each of these writers has remarked and
pointed out, in the 'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire,' some negligences, some false or imperfect views some omissions,
which it is impossible not to suppose voluntary; they have rectified
some facts combated with advantage some assertions; but in general they
have taken the researches and the ideas of Gibbon, as points of
departure, or as proofs of the researches or of the new opinions which
they have advanced."
-
Guizot goes on to state his own impressions on reading Gibbon's
history, and no authority will have greater weight with those to whom
the extent and accuracy of his historical researches are known: --
"After a first rapid perusal, which allowed me to feel nothing but the
interest of a narrative, always animated, and, notwithstanding its
extent and the variety of objects which it makes to pass before the
view, always perspicuous, I entered upon a minute examination of the
details of which it was composed; and the opinion which I then formed
was, I confess, singularly severe. I discovered, in certain chapters,
errors which appeared to me sufficiently important and numerous to make
me believe that they had been written with extreme negligence; in
others, I was struck with a certain tinge of partiality and prejudice,
which imparted to the exposition of the facts that want of truth and
justice, which the English express by their happy term
misrepresentation. Some imperfect (tronquées) quotations; some passages,
omitted unintentionally or designedly cast a suspicion on the honesty
(bonne foi) of the author; and his violation of the first law of history
-- increased to my eye by the prolonged attention with which I occupied
myself with every phrase, every note, every reflection -- caused me to
form upon the whole work, a judgment far too rigorous. After having
finished my labors, I allowed some time to elapse before I reviewed the
whole. A second attentive and regular perusal of the entire work, of the
notes of the author, and of those which I had thought it right to
subjoin, showed me how much I had exaggerated the importance of the
reproaches which Gibbon really deserved; I was struck with the same
errors, the same partiality on certain subjects; but I had been far from
doing adequate justice to the immensity of his researches, the variety
of his knowledge, and above all, to that truly philosophical
discrimination (justesse d'esprit) which judges the past as it would
judge the present; which does not permit itself to be blinded by the
clouds which time gathers around the dead, and which prevent us from
seeing that, under the toga, as under the modern dress, in the senate as
in our councils, men were what they still are, and that events took
place eighteen centuries ago, as they take place in our days. I then
felt that his book, in spite of its faults, will always be a noble work
-- and that we may correct his errors and combat his prejudices, without
ceasing to admit that few men have combined, if we are not to say in so
high a degree, at least in a manner so complete, and so well regulated,
the necessary qualifications for a writer of history."
The present editor has followed the track of Gibbon through many parts
of his work; he has read his authorities with constant reference to his
pages, and must pronounce his deliberate judgment, in terms of the
highest admiration as to his general accuracy. Many of his seeming
errors are almost inevitable from the close condensation of his matter.
From the immense range of his history, it was sometimes necessary to
compress into a single sentence, a whole vague and diffuse page of a
Byzantine chronicler. Perhaps something of importance may have thus
escaped, and his expressions may not quite contain the whole substance
of the passage from which they are taken. His limits, at times, compel
him to sketch; where that is the case, it is not fair to expect the full
details of the finished picture. At times he can only deal with
important results; and in his account of a war, it sometimes requires
great attention to discover that the events which seem to be
comprehended in a single campaign, occupy several years. But this
admirable skill in selecting and giving prominence to the points which
are of real weight and importance -- this distribution of light and
shade -- though perhaps it may occasionally betray him into vague and
imperfect statements, is one of the highest excellencies of Gibbon's
historic manner. It is the more striking, when we pass from the works of
his chief authorities, where, after laboring through long, minute, and
wearisome descriptions of the accessary and subordinate circumstances, a
single unmarked and undistinguished sentence, which we may overlook from
the inattention of fatigue, contains the great moral and political
result.
Gibbon's method of arrangement, though on the whole most favorable to
the clear comprehension of the events, leads likewise to apparent
inaccuracy. That which we expect to find in one part is reserved for
another. The estimate which we are to form, depends on the accurate
balance of statements in remote parts of the work; and we have sometimes
to correct and modify opinions, formed from one chapter by those of
another. Yet, on the other hand, it is astonishing how rarely we detect
contradiction; the mind of the author has already harmonized the whole
result to truth and probability; the general impression is almost
invariably the same. The quotations of Gibbon have likewise been called
in question; -- I have, in general, been more inclined to admire their
exactitude, than to complain of their indistinctness, or incompleteness.
Where they are imperfect, it is commonly from the study of brevity, and
rather from the desire of compressing the substance of his notes into
pointed and emphatic sentences, than from dishonesty, or uncandid
suppression of truth.
These observations apply more particularly to the accuracy and fidelity
of the historian as to his facts; his inferences, of course, are more
liable to exception. It is almost impossible to trace the line between
unfairness and unfaithfulness; between intentional misrepresentation and
undesigned false coloring. The relative magnitude and importance of
events must, in some respect, depend upon the mind before which they are
presented; the estimate of character, on the habits and feelings of the
reader. Christians, like M. Guizot and ourselves, will see some things,
and some persons, in a different light from the historian of the Decline
and Fall. We may deplore the bias of his mind; we may ourselves be on
our guard against the danger of being misled, and be anxious to warn
less wary readers against the same perils; but we must not confound this
secret and unconscious departure from truth, with the deliberate
violation of that veracity which is the only title of an historian to
our confidence. Gibbon, it may be fearlessly asserted, is rarely
chargeable even with the suppression of any material fact, which bears
upon individual character; he may, with apparently invidious hostility,
enhance the errors and crimes, and disparage the virtues of certain
persons; yet, in general, he leaves us the materials for forming a
fairer judgment; and if he is not exempt from his own prejudices,
perhaps we might write passions, yet it must be candidly acknowledged,
that his philosophical bigotry is not more unjust than the theological
partialities of those ecclesiastical writers who were before in
undisputed possession of this province of history.
We are thus naturally led to that great misrepresentation which pervades
his history -- his false estimate of the nature and influence of
Christianity.
But on this subject some preliminary caution is necessary, lest that
should be expected from a new edition, which it is impossible that it
should completely accomplish. We must first be prepared with the only
sound preservative against the false impression likely to be produced by
the perusal of Gibbon; and we must see clearly the real cause of that
false impression. The former of these cautions will be briefly suggested
in its proper place, but it may be as well to state it, here, somewhat
more at length. The art of Gibbon, or at least the unfair impression
produced by his two memorable chapters, consists in his confounding
together, in one indistinguishable mass, the origin and apostolic
propagation of the new religion, with its later progress. No argument
for the divine authority of Christianity has been urged with greater
force, or traced with higher eloquence, than that deduced from its
primary development, explicable on no other hypothesis than a heavenly
origin, and from its rapid extension through great part of the Roman
empire. But this argument -- one, when confined within reasonable
limits, of unanswerable force -- becomes more feeble and disputable in
proportion as it recedes from the birthplace, as it were, of the
religion. The further Christianity advanced, the more causes purely
human were enlisted in its favor; nor can it be doubted that those
developed with such artful exclusiveness by Gibbon did concur most
essentially to its establishment. It is in the Christian dispensation,
as in the material world. In both it is as the great First Cause, that
the Deity is most undeniably manifest. When once launched in regular
motion upon the bosom of space, and endowed with all their properties
and relations of weight and mutual attraction, the heavenly bodies
appear to pursue their courses according to secondary laws, which
account for all their sublime regularity. So Christianity proclaims its
Divine Author chiefly in its first origin and development. When it had
once received its impulse from above -- when it had once been infused
into the minds of its first teachers -- when it had gained full
possession of the reason and affections of the favored few -- it might
be -- and to the Protestant, the rational Christian, it is impossible to
define when it really was-- left to make its way by its native force,
under the ordinary secret agencies of all-ruling Providence. The main
question, the divine origin of the religion, was dexterously eluded, or
speciously conceded by Gibbon; his plan enabled him to commence his
account, in most parts, below the apostolic times; and it was only by
the strength of the dark coloring with which he brought out the failings
and the follies of the succeeding ages, that a shadow of doubt and
suspicion was thrown back upon the primitive period of Christianity.
"The theologian," says Gibbon, "may indulge the pleasing task of
describing religion as she descended from heaven, arrayed in her native
purity; a more melancholy duty is imposed upon the historian: -- he must
discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she
contracted in a long residence upon earth among a weak and degenerate
race of beings." Divest this passage of the latent sarcasm betrayed by
the subsequent tone of the whole disquisition, and it might commence a
Christian history written in the most Christian spirit of candor. But as
the historian, by seeming to respect, yet by dexterously confounding the
limits of the sacred land, contrived to insinuate that it was an Utopia
which had no existence but in the imagination of the theologian -- as he
suggested rather than affirmed that the days of Christian purity were a
kind of poetic golden age; -- so the theologian, by venturing too far
into the domain of the historian, has been perpetually obliged to
contest points on which he had little chance of victory -- to deny facts
established on unshaken evidence -- and thence, to retire, if not with
the shame of defeat, yet with but doubtful and imperfect success.
Paley, with his intuitive sagacity, saw through the difficulty of
answering Gibbon by the ordinary arts of controversy; his emphatic
sentence, "Who can refute a sneer?" contains as much truth as point. But
full and pregnant as this phrase is, it is not quite the whole truth; it
is the tone in which the progress of Christianity is traced, in
comparison with the rest of the splendid and prodigally ornamented work,
which is the radical defect in the "Decline and Fall." Christianity
alone receives no embellishment from the magic of Gibbon's language; his
imagination is dead to its moral dignity; it is kept down by a general
zone of jealous disparagement, or neutralized by a painfully elaborate
exposition of its darker and degenerate periods. There are occasions,
indeed, when its pure and exalted humanity, when its manifestly
beneficial influence, can compel even him, as it were, to fairness, and
kindle his unguarded eloquence to its usual fervor; but, in general, he
soon relapses into a frigid apathy; affects an ostentatiously severe
impartiality; notes all the faults of Christians in every age with
bitter and almost malignant sarcasm; reluctantly, and with exception and
reservation, admits their claim to admiration. This inextricable bias
appears even to influence his manner of composition. While all the other
assailants of the Roman empire, whether warlike or religious, the Goth,
the Hun, the Arab, the Tartar, Alaric and Attila, Mahomet, and Zengis,
and Tamerlane, are each introduced upon the scene almost with dramatic
animation -- their progress related in a full, complete, and unbroken
narrative -- the triumph of Christianity alone takes the form of a cold
and critical disquisition. The successes of barbarous energy and brute
force call forth all the consummate skill of composition; while the
moral triumphs of Christian benevolence -- the tranquil heroism of
endurance, the blameless purity, the contempt of guilty fame and of
honors destructive to the human race, which, had they assumed the proud
name of philosophy, would have been blazoned in his brightest words,
because they own religion as their principle -- sink into narrow
asceticism. The glories of Christianity, in short, touch on no chord in
the heart of the writer; his imagination remains unkindled; his words,
though they maintain their stately and measured march, have become cool,
argumentative, and inanimate. Who would obscure one hue of that gorgeous
coloring in which Gibbon has invested the dying forms of Paganism, or
darken one paragraph in his splendid view of the rise and progress of
Mahometanism? But who would not have wished that the same equal justice
had been done to Christianity; that its real character and deeply
penetrating influence had been traced with the same philosophical
sagacity, and represented with more sober, as would become its quiet
course, and perhaps less picturesque, but still with lively and
attractive, descriptiveness? He might have thrown aside, with the same
scorn, the mass of ecclesiastical fiction which envelops the early
history of the church, stripped off the legendary romance, and brought
out the facts in their primitive nakedness and simplicity -- if he had
but allowed those facts the benefit of the glowing eloquence which he
denied to them alone. He might have annihilated the whole fabric of
post-apostolic miracles, if he had left uninjured by sarcastic
insinuation those of the New Testament; he might have cashiered, with
Dodwell, the whole host of martyrs, which owe their existence to the
prodigal invention of later days, had he but bestowed fair room, and
dwelt with his ordinary energy on the sufferings of the genuine
witnesses to the truth of Christianity, the Polycarps, or the martyrs of
Vienne.
And indeed, if, after all, the view of the early progress of
Christianity be melancholy and humiliating we must beware lest we charge
the whole of this on the infidelity of the historian. It is idle, it is
disingenuous, to deny or to dissemble the early depravations of
Christianity, its gradual but rapid departure from its primitive
simplicity and purity, still more, from its spirit of universal love. It
may be no unsalutary lesson to the Christian world, that this silent,
this unavoidable, perhaps, yet fatal change shall have been drawn by an
impartial, or even an hostile hand. The Christianity of every age may
take warning, lest by its own narrow views, its want of wisdom, and its
want of charity, it give the same advantage to the future unfriendly
historian, and disparage the cause of true religion.
The design of the present edition is partly corrective, partly
supplementary: corrective, by notes, which point out (it is hoped, in a
perfectly candid and dispassionate spirit with no desire but to
establish the truth) such inaccuracies or misstatements as may have been
detected, particularly with regard to Christianity; and which thus, with
the previous caution, may counteract to a considerable extent the unfair
and unfavorable impression created against rational religion:
supplementary, by adding such additional information as the editor's
reading may have been able to furnish, from original documents or books,
not accessible at the time when Gibbon wrote.
The work originated in the editor's habit of noting on the margin of his
copy of Gibbon references to such authors as had discovered errors, or
thrown new light on the subjects treated by Gibbon. These had grown to
some extent, and seemed to him likely to be of use to others. The
annotations of M. Guizot also appeared to him worthy of being better
known to the English public than they were likely to be, as appended to
the French translation.
The chief works from which the editor has derived his materials are, I.
The French translation, with notes by M. Guizot; 2d edition, Paris,
1828. The editor has translated almost all the notes of M. Guizot. Where
he has not altogether agreed with him, his respect for the learning and
judgment of that writer has, in general, induced him to retain the
statement from which he has ventured to differ, with the grounds on
which he formed his own opinion. In the notes on Christianity, he has
retained all those of M. Guizot, with his own, from the conviction, that
on such a subject, to many, the authority of a French statesman, a
Protestant, and a rational and sincere Christian, would appear more
independent and unbiassed, and therefore be more commanding, than that
of an English clergyman.
The editor has not scrupled to transfer the notes of M. Guizot to the
present work. The well-known zeal for knowledge, displayed in all the
writings of that distinguished historian, has led to the natural
inference, that he would not be displeased at the attempt to make them
of use to the English readers of Gibbon. The notes of M. Guizot are
signed with the letter G.
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The German translation, with the notes of Wenck. Unfortunately this
learned translator died, after having completed only the first volume;
the rest of the work was executed by a very inferior hand.
The notes of Wenck are extremely valuable; many of them have been
adopted by M. Guizot; they are distinguished by the letter W.*
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The new edition of Le Beau's "Histoire du Bas Empire, with notes by
-
St. Martin, and M. Brosset." That distinguished Armenian scholar, M.
St. Martin (now, unhappily, deceased) had added much information from
Oriental writers, particularly from those of Armenia, as well as from
more general sources. Many of his observations have been found as
applicable to the work of Gibbon as to that of Le Beau.
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The editor has consulted the various answers made to Gibbon on the
first appearance of his work; he must confess, with little profit. They
were, in general, hastily compiled by inferior and now forgotten
writers, with the exception of Bishop Watson, whose able apology is
rather a general argument, than an examination of misstatements. The
name of Milner stands higher with a certain class of readers, but will
not carry much weight with the severe investigator of history.
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Some few classical works and fragments have come to light, since the
appearance of Gibbon's History, and have been noticed in their
respective places; and much use has been made, in the latter volumes
particularly, of the increase to our stores of Oriental literature. The
editor cannot, indeed, pretend to have followed his author, in these
gleanings, over the whole vast field of his inquiries; he may have
overlooked or may not have been able to command some works, which might
have thrown still further light on these subjects; but he trusts that
what he has adduced will be of use to the student of historic truth.
The editor would further observe, that with regard to some other
objectionable passages, which do not involve misstatement or inaccuracy,
he has intentionally abstained from directing particular attention
towards them by any special protest.
The editor's notes are marked M.
A considerable part of the quotations (some of which in the later
editions had fallen into great confusion) have been verified, and have
been corrected by the latest and best editions of the authors.
June, 1845.
In this new edition, the text and the notes have been carefully revised,
the latter by the editor.
Some additional notes have been subjoined, distinguished by the
signature M. 1845.
Preface Of The Author.
It is not my intention to detain the reader by expatiating on the
variety or the importance of the subject, which I have undertaken to
treat; since the merit of the choice would serve to render the weakness
of the execution still more apparent, and still less excusable. But as I
have presumed to lay before the public a first volume only of the
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, it will, perhaps,
be expected that I should explain, in a few words, the nature and limits
of my general plan.
The memorable series of revolutions, which in the course of about
thirteen centuries gradually undermined, and at length destroyed, the
solid fabric of human greatness, may, with some propriety, be divided
into the three following periods:
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The first of these periods may be traced from the age of Trajan and
the Antonines, when the Roman monarchy, having attained its full
strength and maturity, began to verge towards its decline; and will
extend to the subversion of the Western Empire, by the barbarians of
Germany and Scythia, the rude ancestors of the most polished nations of
modern Europe. This extraordinary revolution, which subjected Rome to
the power of a Gothic conqueror, was completed about the beginning of
the sixth century.
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The second period of the Decline and Fall of Rome may be supposed to
commence with the reign of Justinian, who, by his laws, as well as by
his victories, restored a transient splendor to the Eastern Empire. It
will comprehend the invasion of Italy by the Lombards; the conquest of
the Asiatic and African provinces by the Arabs, who embraced the
religion of Mahomet; the revolt of the Roman people against the feeble
princes of Constantinople; and the elevation of Charlemagne, who, in the
year eight hundred, established the second, or German Empire of the West
-
The last and longest of these periods includes about six centuries
and a half; from the revival of the Western Empire, till the taking of
Constantinople by the Turks, and the extinction of a degenerate race of
princes, who continued to assume the titles of Cæsar and Augustus, after
their dominions were contracted to the limits of a single city; in which
the language, as well as manners, of the ancient Romans, had been long
since forgotten. The writer who should undertake to relate the events of
this period, would find himself obliged to enter into the general
history of the Crusades, as far as they contributed to the ruin of the
Greek Empire; and he would scarcely be able to restrain his curiosity
from making some inquiry into the state of the city of Rome, during the
darkness and confusion of the middle ages.
As I have ventured, perhaps too hastily, to commit to the press a work
which in every sense of the word, deserves the epithet of imperfect. I
consider myself as contracting an engagement to finish, most probably in
a second volume, the first of these memorable periods; and to deliver to
the Public the complete History of the Decline and Fall of Rome, from
the age of the Antonines to the subversion of the Western Empire. With
regard to the subsequent periods, though I may entertain some hopes, I
dare not presume to give any assurances. The execution of the extensive
plan which I have described, would connect the ancient and modern
history of the world; but it would require many years of health, of
leisure, and of perseverance.
Bentinck Street, February 1, 1776.
-
S. The entire History, which is now published, of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire in the West, abundantly discharges my
engagements with the Public. Perhaps their favorable opinion may
encourage me to prosecute a work, which, however laborious it may seem,
is the most agreeable occupation of my leisure hours.
Bentinck Street, March 1, 1781.
An Author easily persuades himself that the public opinion is still
favorable to his labors; and I have now embraced the serious resolution
of proceeding to the last period of my original design, and of the Roman
Empire, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, in the year one
thousand four hundred and fifty-three. The most patient Reader, who
computes that three ponderous volumes have been already employed on the
events of four centuries, may, perhaps, be alarmed at the long prospect
of nine hundred years. But it is not my intention to expatiate with the
same minuteness on the whole series of the Byzantine history. At our
entrance into this period, the reign of Justinian, and the conquests of
the Mahometans, will deserve and detain our attention, and the last age
of Constantinople (the Crusades and the Turks) is connected with the
revolutions of Modern Europe. From the seventh to the eleventh century,
the obscure interval will be supplied by a concise narrative of such
facts as may still appear either interesting or important.
Bentinck Street, March 1, 1782.
Preface To The First Volume.
Diligence and accuracy are the only merits which an historical writer
may ascribe to himself; if any merit, indeed, can be assumed from the
performance of an indispensable duty. I may therefore be allowed to say,
that I have carefully examined all the original materials that could
illustrate the subject which I had undertaken to treat. Should I ever
complete the extensive design which has been sketched out in the
Preface, I might perhaps conclude it with a critical account of the
authors consulted during the progress of the whole work; and however
such an attempt might incur the censure of ostentation, I am persuaded
that it would be susceptible of entertainment, as well as information.
At present I shall content myself with a single observation. The
biographers, who, under the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine,
composed, or rather compiled, the lives of the Emperors, from Hadrian to
the sons of Carus, are usually mentioned under the names of Ælius
Spartianus, Julius Capitolinus, Ælius Lampridius, Vulcatius Gallicanus,
Trebellius Pollio and Flavius Vopiscus. But there is so much perplexity
in the titles of the MSS., and so many disputes have arisen among the
critics (see Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin. l. iii. c. 6) concerning their
number, their names, and their respective property, that for the most
part I have quoted them without distinction, under the general and
well-known title of the Augustan History.
Preface To The Fourth Volume Of The Original Quarto Edition.
I now discharge my promise, and complete my design, of writing the
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, both in the West
and the East. The whole period extends from the age of Trajan and the
Antonines, to the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet the Second; and
includes a review of the Crusades, and the state of Rome during the
middle ages. Since the publication of the first volume, twelve years
have elapsed; twelve years, according to my wish, "of health, of
leisure, and of perseverance." I may now congratulate my deliverance
from a long and laborious service, and my satisfaction will be pure and
perfect, if the public favor should be extended to the conclusion of my
work.
It was my first intention to have collected, under one view, the
numerous authors, of every age and language, from whom I have derived
the materials of this history; and I am still convinced that the
apparent ostentation would be more than compensated by real use. If I
have renounced this idea, if I have declined an undertaking which had
obtained the approbation of a master-artist, * my excuse may be found in
the extreme difficulty of assigning a proper measure to such a
catalogue. A naked list of names and editions would not be satisfactory
either to myself or my readers: the characters of the principal Authors
of the Roman and Byzantine History have been occasionally connected with
the events which they describe; a more copious and critical inquiry
might indeed deserve, but it would demand, an elaborate volume, which
might swell by degrees into a general library of historical writers. For
the present, I shall content myself with renewing my serious
protestation, that I have always endeavored to draw from the
fountain-head; that my curiosity, as well as a sense of duty, has always
urged me to study the originals; and that, if they have sometimes eluded
my search, I have carefully marked the secondary evidence, on whose
faith a passage or a fact were reduced to depend.
I shall soon revisit the banks of the Lake of Lausanne, a country which
I have known and loved from my early youth. Under a mild government,
amidst a beauteous landscape, in a life of leisure and independence, and
among a people of easy and elegant manners, I have enjoyed, and may
again hope to enjoy, the varied pleasures of retirement and society. But
I shall ever glory in the name and character of an Englishman: I am
proud of my birth in a free and enlightened country; and the approbation
of that country is the best and most honorable reward of my labors. Were
I ambitious of any other Patron than the Public, I would inscribe this
work to a Statesman, who, in a long, a stormy, and at length an
unfortunate administration, had many political opponents, almost without
a personal enemy; who has retained, in his fall from power, many
faithful and disinterested friends; and who, under the pressure of
severe infirmity, enjoys the lively vigor of his mind, and the felicity
of his incomparable temper. Lord North will permit me to express the
feelings of friendship in the language of truth: but even truth and
friendship should be silent, if he still dispensed the favors of the
crown.
In a remote solitude, vanity may still whisper in my ear, that my
readers, perhaps, may inquire whether, in the conclusion of the present
work, I am now taking an everlasting farewell. They shall hear all that
I know myself, and all that I could reveal to the most intimate friend.
The motives of action or silence are now equally balanced; nor can I
pronounce, in my most secret thoughts, on which side the scale will
preponderate. I cannot dissemble that six quartos must have tried, and
may have exhausted, the indulgence of the Public; that, in the
repetition of similar attempts, a successful Author has much more to
lose than he can hope to gain; that I am now descending into the vale of
years; and that the most respectable of my countrymen, the men whom I
aspire to imitate, have resigned the pen of history about the same
period of their lives. Yet I consider that the annals of ancient and
modern times may afford many rich and interesting subjects; that I am
still possessed of health and leisure; that by the practice of writing,
some skill and facility must be acquired; and that, in the ardent
pursuit of truth and knowledge, I am not conscious of decay. To an
active mind, indolence is more painful than labor; and the first months
of my liberty will be occupied and amused in the excursions of curiosity
and taste. By such temptations, I have been sometimes seduced from the
rigid duty even of a pleasing and voluntary task: but my time will now
be my own; and in the use or abuse of independence, I shall no longer
fear my own reproaches or those of my friends. I am fairly entitled to a
year of jubilee: next summer and the following winter will rapidly pass
away; and experience only can determine whether I shall still prefer the
freedom and variety of study to the design and composition of a regular
work, which animates, while it confines, the daily application of the
Author. Caprice and accident may influence my choice; but the dexterity
of self-love will contrive to applaud either active industry or
philosophic repose.
Downing Street, May 1, 1788.
-
S. I shall embrace this opportunity of introducing two verbal
remarks, which have not conveniently offered themselves to my notice. 1.
As often as I use the definitions of beyond the Alps, the Rhine, the
Danube, &c., I generally suppose myself at Rome, and afterwards at
Constantinople; without observing whether this relative geography may
agree with the local, but variable, situation of the reader, or the
historian. 2. In proper names of foreign, and especially of Oriental
origin, it should be always our aim to express, in our English version,
a faithful copy of the original. But this rule, which is founded on a
just regard to uniformity and truth, must often be relaxed; and the
exceptions will be limited or enlarged by the custom of the language and
the taste of the interpreter. Our alphabets may be often defective; a
harsh sound, an uncouth spelling, might offend the ear or the eye of our
countrymen; and some words, notoriously corrupt, are fixed, and, as it
were, naturalized in the vulgar tongue. The prophet Mohammed can no
longer be stripped of the famous, though improper, appellation of
Mahomet: the well-known cities of Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo, would
almost be lost in the strange descriptions of Haleb, Demashk, and Al
Cahira: the titles and offices of the Ottoman empire are fashioned by
the practice of three hundred years; and we are pleased to blend the
three Chinese monosyllables, Con-fû-tzee, in the respectable name of
Confucius, or even to adopt the Portuguese corruption of Mandarin. But I
would vary the use of Zoroaster and Zerdusht, as I drew my information
from Greece or Persia: since our connection with India, the genuine
Timour is restored to the throne of Tamerlane: our most correct writers
have retrenched the Al, the superfluous article, from the Koran; and we
escape an ambiguous termination, by adopting Moslem instead of Musulman,
in the plural number. In these, and in a thousand examples, the shades
of distinction are often minute; and I can feel, where I cannot explain,
the motives of my choice.
Table of Contents
Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.
Chapter I: The Extend Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.
Chapter I: The Extend Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.
Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.
Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. -- Part
Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. -- Part
Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. -- Part
Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines.
Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines. -- Part II.
Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.
Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus. -- Part II.
Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.
Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus. -- Part II.
Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of
Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of
Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of
Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of The Monarchy.
Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of The Monarchy. -- Part
Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.
Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians. -- Part II.
Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians. -- Part III.
Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.
Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.
Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.
Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.
Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.
Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. -- Part II.
Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. -- Part III.
Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.
Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons. -- Part II.
Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons. -- Part III.
Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates.
Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. -- Part II.
Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. -- Part
Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. -- Part IV.
Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.
Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.
Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.
Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part II.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part III.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part IV.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part V.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part VI.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part VII
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part VIII.
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. -- Part IX.
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