Edward Gibbon

Paper Summary:

A discussion of the life and contribution of Edward Gibbon. The paper gives a brief background of the historian and then summarizes the major points raised in the book, including Christianity, the rise of the empire, the Ceasars and the reasons for the fall of the great empire.

From the Paper:

"The British historian, Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) is well-known for his monumental masterpiece, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". His major accomplishment in this book was that he articulates the basic causations of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in his famous book. Many people would argue that Gibbon's main point of the causation was the triumph of the barbarism and the church; but according to his writing, although he mentions those two factors a lot, the internal problems, which are the failure of the emperor and the domination of the Praetorian Guards, were the causation to the fall of the Empire. Gibbon has been given credits on his brilliant critiques on the history, and his modern way of writing history, but he has paid too much attention on the wars than the social factors, and he overemphasizes the influence of the historical figures whereas neglected the function of the mass. In addition to it, he condemns too much on the Christianity with out an impartial judgment, which draws him on the waves of the critiques. However, his criticism, his huge references, and his modern way of composing historiography outweigh his weakness in this work, and make him one of the greatest historians in human history."

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