History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Author	Edward Gibbon
Genre	historical essay
Original version
Original Title	The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Original publisher	Strahan & Cadell
Original language	English
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original Release Date	1776 - 1788
French version
Translator	Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
Editor	Maradan
Publication date	1812
Media Type	8 vols.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a book written by historian British Edward Gibbon and originally published in English from 1776 to 1788 under the title of

Summary 1 Summary 2 Reviews 3 Trivia 4 Notes and references 5 See also 5.1 Thematic induced 5.2 Bibliography

Summary

In this encyclopedic work spanning 6 volumes, Gibbon traces the history of ancient Rome between 180 and 1453 and seeks to determine the causes of its decadence.

Criticism

Gibbon's book is the second to analyze the concept of "Fall of the Roman Empire" , after Montesquieu in Considerations on the causes of the greatness of the Romans and their decline , the term has since been adopted by many historical books sometimes exaggerated and suggested the idea of a sudden collapse of the Roman world.

According to Henri Marrou Irenaeus Roman Decadence in Late Antiquity or? the end of the Roman Empire was a time of spiritual renewal in the fields, political and artistic, especially with the birth of the first Byzantine art and the Pre-Romanesque art. For Pierre Grimal , "Roman civilization is not dead, but she gives birth to something other than itself, called to ensure its survival" also questions the ideas of Gibbon on the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity.

Most religious commentators and historians who have criticized the book accused him of distrust of the official history of the Church , but also in respect of saints and scholars of the Church. In particular, the fifteenth chapter, which documents the reasons for the rapid expansion of Christianity in the Roman Empire, was strongly vilified and several countries banned the distribution of the book until recently (the Irish , for example, lifted the ban early 1970).

Despite these objections, the text is a reference document for historians Roman and Byzantinists. Considered a reasoned and judicious criticism of the fallibility of the human condition, he continues to inspire historians and students of English literature.

Trivia

• Winston Churchill wrote: "I opened History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Gibbon and I was dominated by both history and style. I devoured Gibbon. I triumphantly walked from end to end. " He attached later to imitate the style of Gibbon in his writings.

• Isaac Asimov , writer of science fiction , was inspired to write this book for the trilogy's initial foundation.

• The well-known historian Hugh Trevor-Roper Gibbon considered as a model and was inspired largely in terms of style and irony.

References

See also