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Dinesh club

Posted: 10 Jan 2023

Taken: 10 Jan 2023

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Excerpt •
A History of Western Society •
Volume I •
Mckay, Hill Buckler •
Authors •
History Of The Decline And •
Fall Of The Roman Empire •
Guttenberg e-book •
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Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gibbon

www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/25717-h.htm

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 Dinesh
Dinesh club
On the evening of October 15, 1764, Edward Gibbon, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gibbon a young Englishman, sat in Rome among the ruins of the Capitol listening to the chanting of some monks. As the voices of the Christian present echoed against the stones of the the pagan past, Gibbon wondered how the Roman Empire had given way to the medieval world. His curiosity aroused, he dedicated himself to the study of what he consudered the greatest problem in history.
Twleve years later, in 1776, Gibbon published “The History of the Decline and Fall of Roman Empire,” www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/25717-h.htm one of the monuments of English literature, a brilliant work fashioned with wit, learning, humor, and elegance.

Gibbon’s thesis is, as his title indicates, that the Roman Empire, after the first two centuries of existence, declined in strength, vitality, and prosperity, then fell into ruin. His concept of Rome’s “decline and fall,” a process he called “the awful revolution,” had dominated historical thought for two hundred years. Even those who disagree with Gibbon over details have usually accepted his concept of decline and fall. What explanations did Gibbon give for the fate of the Roman Empire, and how have others responded to this views? Is Gibbon’s concept valid, and is it the only way of looking at this problem?

Gibbon was a true son of the ‘Enlightenment’, the eighteenth century mode of thought that honored reason and despised faith. . . . . In Gibbon’s view the glory of the ancient world, with its learning, arts, manners, and philosophy, gleamed in comparison with the Dark Ages of the medieval period, when the church held Europe in the thrall of ignorance and sorcery. . . . Uncivilized and uncouth in Gibbon’s eyes, they were even incapable of using reason. Although he acknowledged their hardiness and many vigor, he scorned them as savages who are horsemeat. ~ Page 189

A History of Western Society
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