Why Rome Fell

8 Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Please note: Except where otherwise indicated, all the references in this chapter are to chapters of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

“Another damned thick book!” was the less than complimentary acknowledgment by King George III’s brother, William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, of a presentation copy of Gibbon’s second volume. “Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh, Mr. Gibbon?” (Quoted by Leslie Stephen in the Dictionary of National Biography, 1921, Vol. 21, p. 1133.)

Fortunately for Edward Gibbon (1737–94), his reputation does not depend on this royal put-down. His six-volume magnum opus, the full title of which is The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1788, has remained in print uninterruptedly from that day to this, with several editions and abridgements available at any one time.

Decline and Fall?

Did the western Roman Empire fall at all? It is certainly undeniable that what had been a single political and administrative entity split up into a number of “barbarian” kingdoms. But was this change really significant, or was it outweighed by continuity? Then, there are essentially two possible explanations for the changes in the West itself, one that may be labeled primarily internal, and the other primarily external. In short, was the western empire toppled when in a debilitated state, after suffering some form of “decline” or “decay” which sapped its ...