The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire V6

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 6 by Edward Gibbon. No cover available. Download; Bibrec.
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Gibbons details the whole ugly mess down to minute detail and doesn't leave anything out, from incest to slaughter. His narrative is lively and opinionated, full of both shock and humor. Read the whole damned thing, footnotes and all, not some abridged abomination. This is a literary work as much as a historical work. Anyone who needs an abject lesson on how the modern western world is going to go, should read these books.

We're already in the age of bread and circuses. Sep 08, Aloke marked it as to-read Shelves: I'm sure a whole book could be written just about the history of this book! From the introduction of my abridged edition, edited by Mueller: Each age and each reader will find his or her own Gibbon. We must first ask then why Gibbon's words should be abridged at all.

He also comments that he "has included as much religious history as possible, and certainly more than enough to offend. View all 3 comments. Hard to know where to begin with this. His much praised style? Sure, it's better than most historians, but it still bears the scars of the eighteenth century in general, and eighteenth century self-importance in particular.

Yes, there's the odd ironic gotcha, but I got the distinct impression that he was shooting fish in a barrel. An automatic shotgun, like in a video game. Compare, for instance, Swift- he was hunting big game. Only one kind of person could read thi Hard to know where to begin with this. Only one kind of person could read this and think 'oh, it's refreshing how fair and balanced he is.

If, on the other hand, you think that someone who comes to history with an absolute determination to read it through their own highly idiosyncratic beliefs here- and I say this without knowing what Gibbon actually believed, so I might be wrong- classical republicanism, classical liberalism, and Voltaire-induced anti-clericalism is likely to write from a skewed perspective I should, though, have started with the breadth of the thing, which is fabulous.

Even in abridgment, it's more wide-ranging than almost any history I've ever read.

And I was particularly thankful for the editor's work: On this basis, I'd far rather read the final volumes in full and skip the first one. I know most people would rather read about Rome than about medieval Europe, or the Eastern Empire, and so on. But I still can't work out why. So this has all the strengths and all the weaknesses of non-scholarly history, but is stronger and less weak than most of it. In the absence of statistical or archaeological research, the best thing you could do was read everything and try to weed out the facts from the legend, and Gibbon did that better than anyone.

This is history as a moral discipline, in which you pick your heroes and your villains and then write about individuals- groups are ipso facto villainous, except for heretics, merchants and intellectuals accordingly; it's closer to Dante than historiography. That said, you will learn something; and if you're anything like me, you'll learn the most from the closing chapters. While nobody takes this seriously in the historical profession anymore, the prose still is still a treat.

Read for the latter, and supplement it with something written in the past twenty years. Feb 15, Alan rated it it was amazing Shelves: Gibbon's great, repeated subject: Not all historians are ironists, and few can summarize albeit in compound paragraphs complex Christian beliefs in stark contrast to un-Chrstian behavior need a Gibbon for current US politics--don't see one: Every paragraph may be read as a comment on our contemporary politics, because Gibbon writes of character and social structure. Might we not find current U. With a cool head and cowardly disposition, Augustus preserved the names and forms of the ancient administration: For the next couple hundred years the military chose the emperor; however, after the generals stabbed Aurelian, they felt guilty and declined the purple.

So did the Senate, putative selector, decline because of the military tradition. During these centuries after Augustus, Christianity grew. Continuing"On the Progress of Christianity," "It is a very ancient reproach, suggested by the ignorance or the malice of infidelity, that the Christians allured into their party the most atrocious criminals, who, as soon as they were touched by a sense of remorse, were easily persuaded to wash away, in the water of baptism, the guilt of their past conduct…" Sounds like the Evangelicals in U. S, Jimmy Swaggart, "I have sinned! He relegates to a footnote a Catholic detail, on miracles that Bernard of Clairvaux assigned to everybody but himself, "In the long series of ecclesiastical history, does there exist a single instance of a saint asserting that he himself possessed the gift of miracles?

As for Judaism, "The first fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were all circumcised Jews… and their congregation united the law of Moses and the doctrine of Christ called Nazarenes. Christianity is a principal cause. Tertullian recommended Christians flee to avoid murdering, in military service, and also in civil administration. Christianity valued chastity, that some Virgins in Africa were killed because they disdained flight. Writing on Theodosius, who in Constantinople suppressed my favorite Arianism, his daughter Galla Placida in Ravenna—where some Arian chapels still exist, showing Christ with a penis.

Gibbon continually contrasts idealism and force, religion and murder. Gibbon makes the great point: I'll review this thoroughly the next time around, but for now, I would just like to direct anyone reading this to three excellent, long, epic works of truly Gibbonian proportions covering Roman History that they may wish to read both before, and after, Gibbon, as I did.

Theodor Mommsen 's A History of Rome is a magisterial 5-volume work published , which begins with the founding of Rome in BC and goes down to the reign of Julius Caesar. This work helped Mommsen win the I'll review this thoroughly the next time around, but for now, I would just like to direct anyone reading this to three excellent, long, epic works of truly Gibbonian proportions covering Roman History that they may wish to read both before, and after, Gibbon, as I did.

Download The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire V6 book pdf | audio id:938dym4

This work helped Mommsen win the Nobel Prize for Literature; this being the only work of History to receive such an honour. The edition linked is abridged, and although I strongly agree with Montaigne's view that "every abridgement of a good book is a foolish abridgement. There are unabridged, multi-volume editions available. If you would prefer to go more in-depth, add Appian and Tacitus after Suetonius. See below for more. Originally titled "Italy and her Invaders" , and published in 8 volumes. Beginning with the history of the Goths and Alaric's siege of Rome, it continues on with the Huns and Vandals, the Ostrogoths, Lombards, finally ending with the Franks and the crowning and death of Charlemagne down to AD.

It's very thoroughly researched for it's time of course, just like Gibbon , and made even more impressive by the fact that he worked on it during his spare time as a Banker, working at a house that would eventually become Lloyds , which still exists to this day. The edition linked is beautifully produced, illustrated throughout, and can be had for cheaper than regular hardback editions of the work, if, like me, you're lucky. John Julius Norwich's Byzantium: An excellent, accessible work opening with Constantine in AD, and going down to the fall of Constantinople in AD. Great if you enjoyed reading about the Eastern Empire in Gibbon, and would like to learn more.

It's not exhaustive, but it contains all the major works providing a continuous, almost unbroken narrative, from the foundation of Rome in BC, down to the third-century AD, in primary sources. Editions linked are translations I have read and can recommend; dates bracketed below are periods the works cover, not publication dates Livy's Ab Urbe Condita or From the Foundation of the City BC! The War with Hannibal: The Dawn of the Roman Empire: Lives of the Later Caesars View all 5 comments. Jul 22, Rob Roy rated it liked it Shelves: For those who hated to learn dates in history, read this, it will change your mind.

It covers years, and five volumes yet, only has two dates. A masterpiece without doubt, but his subjectivity, and preference for western European history is evident.

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 6 by Edward Gibbon

He covers years history of the Eastern Empire in one chapter. This book is like an elephant. You eat it one bite at a time. I read two sections between each book I read. Took me a year and a half, but I ate the elephant! Mar 08, Adam rated it did not like it Shelves: It is a huge disappointment to be being fully absorbed in the text and then groan as a cross is marked where a significant portion has been cut.

This is depressing and makes for a disjointed unsatisfying read. But, that is not the worst crime of this edition. Some of his footnotes just give his sources which are important in themselves , but others comment on the text and continue it, and others provide an ironic commentary. This edition is beyond awful, dig up the full editions and avoid at all costs. Who allowed this butchery to exist? I want to tell you why I decided to read this original six-volume edition now.

The primary reason was that I had just finished revisiting Isaac Asimov's original Foundation trilogy early this year I thought, at first, to finally get to the other volumes, which I read back when they first appeared, but that was decades ago , and it occurred to me that I had never really settled down with Gibbon for any extended length of time. Asimov's debt to Gibbon is much clearer to me now--he never made a sec I want to tell you why I decided to read this original six-volume edition now.

Asimov's debt to Gibbon is much clearer to me now--he never made a secret of it. Also, I am now fifty years old soon to be fifty-one , and there are still a lot of major works I haven't gotten to yet. Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall seemed to me to be one of the most important. And now, we live in the internet age, a time when I can pick up my relatively small Nook device, link it to the incredibly useful site gutenberg dot org, download the entire six volume edition for free, and carry it around to read. What's more, I discovered an unabridged audio recording on archive dot org, read by someone who clearly loved the language and structure of it, and so I downloaded that as well to help me through long stretches of the work.

You can say what you want about electronic readers, but I will tell you that it is much easier to carry a tablet than a large book, or in this case, several volumes of a very large work. I did get bogged down in the last thousand pages or so. Also, don't ask me detailed questions about Goth tribes or late emperors by name. BUT the experience of reading most of this magisterial if somewhat flawed work is stupendous, and one I intend to do again very soon.

If nothing else, Gibbon is the master of sentence structure. He writes so well about such momentous things that you feel the weight of history, the consequences of bad actions, or the lack of actions--the apathy of empire, the all too literal resting on its laurels. I was carried through most of this by a compulsion to hear these sentences in my head. I often revisited sections twice while I read, savoring Gibbon's intense desire to dig deeply into strange Christian rituals. He had a very Age of Enlightenment disdain for religion.

I also did not realize until I had done some more internet digging while reading that I am almost exactly the same age as Gibbon was when he finished The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In fact, the publication of the last three volumes was delayed so that they would coincide with his fifty-first birthday see above. I will say that I did do several searches while reading. At the same time, I started the work diligently reading footnotes as they came up which was something of a pain given that the electronic edition sometimes interspersed them within the text , but eventually I gave up on that because there are really quite a lot of them, and while most were somewhat helpful, some weren't, and I felt myself losing momentum.

And I will again mention the audio version I found online, which also skipped the footnotes. As someone who thinks a lot about writing and reading, I cannot recommend the experience of reading Gibbon highly enough.

Edward Gibbon books

Yes, he was somewhat hampered by his many obsessions, which become quite obvious over the course of this work, but it is still so clearly monumental that to avoid it is to do yourself a disservice, especially if you are a native English speaker and reader. And I certainly intend to revisit it before I pass from this mortal coil. I'll never find here my edition, which is a cute set of seven little hardbacks, 6 inches high, from I thought it would be charming to read this work in such old-fashioned books.

I have to report that my bookmark is at p. That's well more than halfway. But that was the consistent read; I've dipped in, and the portions nearest to my heart -- say, on Attila and on Zingis as he calls him, and on other assorted barbarians -- Theodoric was a great story greatly told -- these I I'll never find here my edition, which is a cute set of seven little hardbacks, 6 inches high, from But that was the consistent read; I've dipped in, and the portions nearest to my heart -- say, on Attila and on Zingis as he calls him, and on other assorted barbarians -- Theodoric was a great story greatly told -- these I have dwelt on and come back to.

I need to forge ahead and read about the Turks and Byzantium. Why do I spend my time on lesser books? Just thought to add this since Napier's Attila hf that I'm into at the moment reminds me it's 'still the greatest single work of history', and strike me down if I ever doubted that.

In English, at any rate. His English, as you know by acquaintance or by legend, is that of a great writer. I was chuffed that Gibbon has a chapter in a book on epic in English that I have: The English Epic and its Background. Tillyard thought his project qualifies as an epic. You thought there was only Paradise Lost, didn't you? I enjoyed the Tillyard book, and there Gibbon stands as the last chapter, the last attempt at an English epic: One is this on Zingis: The Catholic inquisitors of Europe, who defended nonsense by cruelty, might have been confounded by the example of a barbarian, who anticipated the lessons of philosophy and established by his laws a system of pure theism and perfect toleration.

Open-minded chap, Edward Gibbon. Except, possibly, on Catholics. Indeed he's notoriously unfond of Christianity, and its part in history. And his writings on the barbarians, nowadays, can offend. Still, you don't see sentences like that on Zingis too often, even now. He's willing to admire the Zingises and the Attilas and others, and in the Tacitus tradition perhaps, see virtues in the lifestyles of Goths and Ostrogoths.

[History] The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 1, Part 2, Audiobook

View all 9 comments. Oct 24, Lee Walker rated it it was amazing Shelves: I have almost finished Volume 1. The first fourteen chapters were excellent. Unfortunately chapter 15 drones on about Christianity, in a way that I don't find very compelling and normally I am not that averse to the history of religion.

Furthermore the edition I have is edited by some religious nut-job who, whenever the topic turns to religion, becomes very excited and starts inserting 10 times as many footnotes as he normally does. On the whole, however, I am very much enjoying this work. Gibb I have almost finished Volume 1. Gibbon has a very lively style which I find comforting.

I have heard others complain that his language is too flowery, or even that it is hard to read. I disagree with both those contentions. Gibbon also peppers his narrative with many intriguing tidbits. For instance did you know the emperor Maximin was supposed to be 8 feet tall, could break a horse's thigh bone with a single punch, drank up to gallons of wine in a day, and could eat pounds of meat also in a single day!

But fun to read. And Gibbon always gives his sources for these myriad factoids, so diligent readers may check the primary record for themselves. Here are just some of the ways I benefit: I feel a great comfort and relief knowing that there were others who lived and died and thought and fought so long ago; I feel less tyrannized by the present day. I learn much about the way our society really works, because the system-origins - military, religious, political, colonial, agricultural, financial - are all there to be scrutinized in their infancy.

I have gained perspective. The language in which th from Iggy Pop's essay on this book: The language in which the book is written is rich and complete, as the language of today is not. I find out how little I know. I am inspired by the will and erudition which enabled Gibbon to complete a work of twenty-odd years. The guy stuck with things. I urge anyone who wants life on earth to really come alive for them to enjoy the beautiful ancestral ancient world. Oct 31, Richard Epstein rated it it was amazing.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Although the Empire teeters almost from the beginning, it takes a long time to fall. It turns out the fall, if not the decline, was all the fault of Christianity. And evil, thoroughly debauched emperors, like Gordion, Commodus, and Palpatine. With Gibbon's assistance, they fall in the best prose possible.

I was going to insert a few of my favorite passages here, but there were about 6 volumes of them, so I desisted. Bury reprint edition in 7 hardcover volumes. Thanks to the hash that Amazon and Goodreads have made of proper and sensible listing of this work on the website, I am having to move my previous listing to this page. Somehow, the other page that listed the complete set now lists the item on that page The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon. Somehow, the other page that listed the complete set now lists the item on that page as Volume V only.

This page contains the proper complete set of this particular reissue. So, apart from that, no, I haven't read this 4,page thing yet. I made an aborted start several years ago and, noting Gibbon's heavy, florid, idiosyncratic style and evident adoration of his own long-windedness, I decided that I would tackle this on another occasion, or in another lifetime, whichever comes first. Also, as fulsome as he is and, of course, in light of his own blind spots , Gibbon does not give me enough context for the entire history of Rome, starting as he does rather late in the empire's history.

So, in lieu of that, I began to engage the wonderful history of Rome podcast of episodes that Mike Duncan labored over for five years and which can be found on itunes and several other places online. I didn't finish that one either, but got pretty far along, and am dedicated to completing that series. I started reading this tome in It was a gift from my mother, the only gift that I have truly valued, because it revealed to me the harshness and indifference of the world, that virtue and stoicism are a leader's better qualities, and that money is the corrupter of any body politic.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

This book has more relevance to American politics than at any time in this Republic's year history. The central thesis is provocative: Is moral education enough to stem the tide of political corruption? In a w I started reading this tome in In a way, it is insulting to even have to rate such a work of a disciplined, thorough writer who examines his topic with great perspicacity.

The prose is lucid and each word is chosen to give the correct gravitas to each thought. Unfortunately, American civilization has so declined that there are very few who could read such a work and understand it, now. The footnotes are sometimes in German, French, Italian, Latin and ancient Greek - all languages debased for the finer currency of Chinese and English. For the barely literate and mob who find themselves forced to read this, the battle descriptions are entertaining. Nov 16, Lee rated it it was amazing.

If I could only have one book for the rest of my life, it would be this one. And its extreme length is only part of the reason. A true epic that combines stunning scholarship, storytelling, and philosophical insight. If this were all fiction, it would still be one of the great masterpieces of English literature.

That fact that this is history is stunning beyond words. In a typical chapter, Edward Gibbon will make you feel like you're standing on the walls of Rome as the Goths lay siege; then h If I could only have one book for the rest of my life, it would be this one. In a typical chapter, Edward Gibbon will make you feel like you're standing on the walls of Rome as the Goths lay siege; then he'll make you understand the motivation and human character of Aleric, the Gothic warlord; then he'll lead you on a profound and freethinking exploration of the universal truths behnd war and humman suffering.

Absolutely spell-binding, and life-changing in its philosophical insight. It took me over 18 months to finish all 6 volumes, so it's an epic read, but I'm already looking forward to experiencing it again. Winston Churchill described reading "The Decline and Fall" best. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [and] was immediately dominated both by the story and the style. I rode triumphantly through it from end to end and enjoyed it all. Nevertheless, it is over — Rome has fallen, and it fell spectacularly. The very best of histories! It is telling that Mr Gibbon spent two decades of his life on these six volumes: Though written in the latter half of the 18th century, 'The History of the Decline and Fall Mr Gibbon's timeless penmanship has created and destroyed reputations, for it should be kept in one's mind how much of today's view on some people was shaped by this original and though The very best of histories!

Mr Gibbon's timeless penmanship has created and destroyed reputations, for it should be kept in one's mind how much of today's view on some people was shaped by this original and thought-provoking tome. As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, we may hear without surprise or scandal that the introduction, or at least the abuse of Christianity, had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman empire.

The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister: Faith, zeal, curiosity, and more earthly passions of malice and ambition, kindled the flame of theological discord; the church, and even the state, were distracted by religious factions, whose conflicts were sometimes bloody and always implacable; the attention of the emperors was diverted from camps to synods; the Roman world was oppressed by a new species of tyranny; and the persecuted sects became the secret enemies of their country.

Yet party-spirit, however pernicious or absurd, is a principle of union as well as of dissension. The bishops, from eighteen hundred pulpits, inculcated the duty of passive obedience to a lawful and orthodox sovereign; their frequent assemblies and perpetual correspondence maintained the communion of distant churches; and the benevolent temper of the Gospel was strengthened, though confirmed, by the spiritual alliance of the Catholics. The sacred indolence of the monks was devoutly embraced by a servile and effeminate age; but if superstition had not afforded a decent retreat, the same vices would have tempted the unworthy Romans to desert, from baser motives, the standard of the republic.

Religious precepts are easily obeyed which indulge and sanctify the natural inclinations of their votaries; but the pure and genuine influence of Christianity may be traced in its beneficial, though imperfect, effects on the barbarian proselytes of the North. If the decline of the Roman empire was hastened by the conversion of Constantine, his victorious religion broke the violence of the fall, and mollified the ferocious temper of the conquerors chap.

Voltaire was deemed to have influenced Gibbon's claim that Christianity was a contributor to the fall of the Roman Empire.


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As one pro-Christian commenter put it in As Christianity advances, disasters befall the [Roman] empire—arts, science, literature, decay—barbarism and all its revolting concomitants are made to seem the consequences of its decisive triumph—and the unwary reader is conducted, with matchless dexterity, to the desired conclusion—the abominable Manicheism of Candide , and, in fact, of all the productions of Voltaire's historic school—viz.

The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosophers as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful. He has been criticized for his portrayal of Paganism as tolerant and Christianity as intolerant. Drake challenges an understanding of religious persecution in ancient Rome , which he considers to be the "conceptual scheme" that was used by historians to deal with the topic for the last years, and whose most eminent representative is Gibbon.

With such deft strokes, Gibbon enters into a conspiracy with his readers: So doing, Gibbon skirts a serious problem: Gibbon covered this embarrassing hole in his argument with an elegant demur. Rather than deny the obvious, he adroitly masked the question by transforming his Roman magistrates into models of Enlightenment rulers—reluctant persecutors, too sophisticated to be themselves religious zealots.

Others such as John Julius Norwich , despite their admiration for his furthering of historical methodology, consider Gibbon's hostile views on the Byzantine Empire flawed and blame him somewhat for the lack of interest shown in the subject throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Gibbon's initial plan was to write a history "of the decline and fall of the city of Rome", and only later expanded his scope to the whole Roman Empire.

Although he published other books, Gibbon devoted much of his life to this one work — His autobiography Memoirs of My Life and Writings is devoted largely to his reflections on how the book virtually became his life. He compared the publication of each succeeding volume to a newborn child. Gibbon continued to revise and change his work even after publication. The complexities of the problem are addressed in Womersley's introduction and appendices to his complete edition.

Many writers have used variations on the series title including using "Rise and Fall" in place of "Decline and Fall" , especially when dealing with large nations or empires. Piers Brendon notes that Gibbon's work, "became the essential guide for Britons anxious to plot their own imperial trajectory. They found the key to understanding the British Empire in the ruins of Rome. In , an established journal of classical scholarship, Classics Ireland , published punk musician's Iggy Pop 's reflections on the applicability of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to the modern world in a short article, Caesar Lives , vol.

Of course, why shouldn't it be? We are all Roman children, for better or worse I learn much about the way our society really works, because the system-origins — military, religious, political, colonial, agricultural, financial — are all there to be scrutinised in their infancy. I have gained perspective. The criticisms upon his book In accuracy, thoroughness, lucidity, and comprehensive grasp of a vast subject, the History is unsurpassable. It is the one English history which may be regarded as definitive. Whatever its shortcomings, the book is artistically imposing as well as historically unimpeachable as a vast panorama of a great period.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the book. For the historiography spawned by Gibbon's theories, see Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon and the Shape of History. A Companion to the Roman Empire. Pocock, "Between Machiavelli and Hume: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Penguin Books, , p. A vindication of some passages in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: Cadell, in the Strand.

Baker Book House, , — The Hume-Gibbon Attack on Christianity. Burns, Oates and Washbourne.