The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Author Edward Gibbon.
Author	Edward Gibbon
Country	England
Language	English
Subject	history of the Roman Empire
Publisher	Strahan & Cadell, London
Publication date	1776–89
Media type	Print
LC Class	DG311

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is the short title of an important book by the 18th century English historian Edward Gibbon.^[1] The book traces the Roman Empire—and Western civilization as a whole—from the late first century AD to the fall of the Eastern or Byzantine Empire.

Published in six volumes, from volume I in 1776 to volumes IV, V, VI in 1788–89. The work covers the history of the Roman Empire, Europe, and the Catholic Church from 98 to 1590 AD, and discusses the decline of the Roman Empire in the East and its fall in the West. Because of its relative objectivity and heavy use of primary sources, its methodology became a model for later historians. This led to Gibbon being called the first "modern historian of ancient Rome".^[2]

1. ↑ The full title is The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
2. ↑ David S. Potter (2006). A Companion to the Roman Empire. Wiley. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-631-22644-4.