The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is Edward
Gibbon's magnum opus, written and published over a 13-year period
beginning in 1776. It not only chronicles the events of the downfall
starting with the end of the rule of Marcus Aurelius, but proposes a
theory as to why Rome collapsed: the populace, Gibbon theorizes, lost
its moral fortitude, its militaristic will, and its sense of civic duty.
History is considered a classic in world literature, and Gibbon is
sometimes called the first "modern historian" for his insistence upon
using primary sources for his research. Many scholars today still use
his highly regarded work as reference. In this last of seven volumes,
readers will find Chapter 64 ("Moguls, Ottoman Turks") through Chapter
71 ("Civil Prospect of the Ruins of Rome in the Fifteenth Century"),
which cover the establishment of the Mogul empire and their conquests of
China, Persia, Anatolia, and Siberia; the origin of the Ottomans; the
establishment of the Ottomans in Europe; the history and life of Timour
(Tamerlane); the siege of Constantinople by Amurath II; the reign of
John Palaeologus II; the invention of gunpowder; the continued struggles
between the Greeks and Latins for influence in the Eastern Roman Empire;
the reign of Constantine (the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire);
the reign of Mahomet (Mehmed) II of the Ottoman Empire; the siege of
Constantinople; a summary of the state of Rome since the 12th century;
the life of Petrarch; the Great Schism of the West; and the final decay
of Rome in the 15th century. Also included in this volume is a complete
index to the seven-volume series, English parliamentarian and historian
EDWARD GIBBON (1737-1794) attended Magdelan College, Oxford for 14
months before his father sent him to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he
continued his education. He published Essai sur l'Étude de la
Littérature (1761) and other autobiographical works, including Mémoire
Justificatif pour servir de Réponse à l'Exposé, etc. de la Cour de
France (1779).
