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Title: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, David Womersley ISBN: 0-14-043764-9 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 02 January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.73 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Astounding
Comment: There are few other words which better describe Gibbon's sprawling masterpiece, starting in the Augustan Age of the Early Empire and Climaxing nearly 1400 years later with a vivid description of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, Gibbon's work will most likely never be eclipsed. Recent historians chide Gibbon for his poetic style and "non-objective" view point, but I rather say that those are the same reasons that make his definitive work stand above all others. Gibbon's provides not only a richly detailed history, full of intrigues and good story telling, by also relates the attitudes in the governing and the governed at each period of time, telling as much a tale of history as one of declining values and a slide from the pinnacle of rome power to a morass of decadence and selfishness that tears the empire apart in the years to come. Gibbon does not shy from calling wrong wrong and right right, much in the tradition of greek moralist historians that came before him, and it his strong viewpoint and this undercurrent of the loss of the roman and moral self that allows him to so sucessfully tie this epic together. This is a long book, so don't go into it lightly, but it is certainly rewarding. I thoroughly enjoyed this so much, that I plan to reread it again in the future, which for me is an astounding occurence. I also realise I am not reading the original, as much of Gibbon's work on the later Empire is marred by inaccuracies, but still at nearly a thousand pages, it is still a dense tome. In all my readings, I have never come across so impressive a text as this one, and don't believe I shall again.
Rating: 4
Summary: Still relevant. The font of late Roman and medieval history
Comment: Historians love revision. It's why so few histories of the 19th century endure; new evidence and interpretations render them useless. Even Carl Sandburg's superb biography of Abraham Lincoln sags under the weight of new research.
Why, then, is The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire timeless? The author wasn't a post-modernist man trapped in an Enlightenment body; Gibbon had no conception of social history or archeology, his 18th century idea that climate affects morality is long out of date, and his analyses of the Middle East are hampered by his reliance on second-hand sources. But in 200 years no one has seriously challenged the framework Gibbon used to explain the fall of the empire. In fact, contemporary histories of Rome still owe a great deal to him.
Why? One reason is his careful use of documents. Decline and Fall relies mostly on writers like Ammianus and Sidonius, who tried to be impartial. Another is Gibbon's almost superhuman objectivity; while individual characters are berated for this and that, the author is usually sympathetic to human foibles, and always tells his tales with as much complexity as the sources will allow. Which is one reason the work's alleged hostility to Christianity is overstated; Gibbon said the religion played a role (not "the" role) in the fall of Rome, and even praises the new faith for breaking "the violence of the fall, and mollify(ing) the ferocious temper of the conquerors." There's one stumble, and that's the section on the various heresies and religious controversies of the 300s. Duty required Gibbon to analyze the niggling and sometimes incomprehensible arguments over Christ's nature (and he confessed he didn't understand the passions behind them), but the historian gets bogged down in theological jargon and never makes it clear what role those heresies played in the fall until the end of Volume III. By then you've forgotten the details.
That's a small scratch in the masterpiece. In two centuries no one has challenged his famous conclusion: "The story of its ruin is simple and obvious; and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long." Today we have more details, but the trajectory Gibbon plotted has never been recalculated.
Decline and Fall is also a great read, and one of the best narratives in the English language. War, idealism, corruption, droll asides and the clash of civilizations fly along a brisk stream of prose. If you've got the time, try the unabridged version -- it's 3,000 pages, but the work moves faster than books a tenth its size.
The work reflects the best concertos of its time, where a supporting background built themes, and a soloist expanded those ideas in clear, simple notes. So it is with Decline and Fall; Gibbon weaved numerous histories into a harmonious whole, and his asides and analyses deepened our understanding of the whole epoch. Mozart would have applauded.
Rating: 5
Summary: A monumental work in the field of history
Comment: This work has often been called, and rightly I believe, the most significant historical text ever written in the English language. Even in abridged form this work is spectacular, but as a whole this treatise on the fall of Rome is nothing short of monumental. In fact, the whole work covers a period of history not only concerning the fall of the Roman Empire, but also some ten centuries after the barbarian invasion of Rome, encompassing not only the events which led to the ruin of the empire but also every significant occurrence concerning the land, people, or allies of the fallen kingdom. Gibbon easily could have ended his history with the fall of the western empire, but instead he chose to continue a work to which he dedicated a great portion of his life, and for which the world will be forever in his debt.
Because the work spans such a large portion of civilized European history, it is fairly easy to abridge. The most important information concerning the decline of the center of civilization can be condensed into one rather large volume, and the rest (concerning Huns, Saracens, and the like) can be summed up in a matter of pages.
The abridgement is concise in many ways, yet severely wanting in others. As is always the case with an abridgement of a great work, much that is valuable has been spliced and omitted. Despite the problems with this abridgement, however, this work is a great joy to read. More importantly, it is packed with pertinent information about the fall of the Roman empire. If one of the ultimate goals of history is to learn from the past, there is much we can learn from Gibbon's work.
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Title: The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Penguin Historical Atlases) by Chris Scarre ISBN: 0140513299 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Rise of the Roman Empire by Ian Scott-Kilvert, Obye Polybius ISBN: 0140443622 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 1980 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire : Volumes 1, 2, 3 by Edward Gibbon ISBN: 0679423087 Publisher: Everyman's Library Pub. Date: 26 October, 1993 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: History of England by Thomas Babington MacAulay, Baron MacAulay, Hugh T. Roper ISBN: 0140431330 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: April, 1979 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome by Chris Scarre ISBN: 0500050775 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: October, 1995 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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