What is Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall?

Published between 1776 and 1789, Edward Gibbon's six-volume masterwork traces Western history from the height of the Roman Empire down to the fall of Byzantium in 1590. It introduced well-researched accounts of imperial collapse and established an ongoing historical debate about internal decay and external invasions. The sprawling text covers everything from early Christianity's rise to the ruins of Ancient Rome.

What we know

• The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a six-volume work written by English historian Edward Gibbon. [1, 2]
• The six volumes chronologically cover historical events from 98 to 1590, including the peak of the Roman Empire, early Christianity, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the rise of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. [2]
• Volume I was published in February 1776, followed by volumes II and III in 1781, and the final three volumes in 1788. [2]
• Gibbon introduced a well-researched and well-referenced account of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, initiating ongoing historiographical discussions regarding internal decline and external attacks. [3]

Still open

• Historians continue to debate whether internal factors like a decline in civic virtue or external factors like barbarian invasions were the primary cause of Rome's fall.

Where to go next

• what caused itWhy did the Western Roman Empire collapse?
• how it workedHow did Edward Gibbon shape the historiography of Rome?
• whenWhen were the individual volumes of Gibbon's work published?
• whoWho was the English historian Edward Gibbon?
• a case in pointHow did a 1964 film adapt Gibbon's historical volumes?
• an unexpected connectionHow did browsing a London bookstore inspire a multi-million dollar epic film?Director Anthony Mann discovered a copy of Edward Gibbon's 18th-century historical series inside Hatchards bookshop, which directly inspired him to pitch and create a massive 1964 Hollywood epic.

Sources

• [1]The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Wikidata Q313030) · CC0 1.0
• [2]The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]The Fall of the Roman Empire (film) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Fall of the Western Roman Empire · CC BY-SA 4.0