The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Assigned by 3 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1776-1789
- Form
- History
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 3600 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpirePenguin Classics, 2005David Womersley's one-volume abridgement keeps whole chapters rather than snippets; his three-volume Penguin set is the complete text.
These links go straight to Amazon and Bookshop.org and earn this site nothing today. Prices are the same either way. How this works.
Gibbon's history in six volumes covers thirteen centuries, from the empire at its height under the Antonines in the second century to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The first half follows the emperors, the barbarian invasions and the rise of Christianity to the end of the western empire in 476; the second covers Justinian, Islam, the Crusades and Byzantium. Its famous fifteenth and sixteenth chapters, on the growth of the early Church, treat Christianity as a historical cause of Rome's decline and drew furious replies.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
