The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Gibbon's 1776-89 monumental Enlightenment narrative of Roman decline and the rise of Christianity

Tradition: British Enlightenment historiography

Gibbon's 1776-89 monumental Enlightenment narrative of Roman decline — from the Antonines to the fall of Constantinople

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is Edward Gibbon's 1776-89 monumental six-volume history. Gibbon narrates the decline of the Roman Empire from the height of the Antonines (2nd c. CE) through the western collapse (5th c.), the Byzantine East, the rise of Islam, the Crusades, and the final fall of Constantinople (1453). Famous chapters XV-XVI ascribe much of the decline to the rise of Christianity. Foundational for modern Enlightenment historiography; the style — at once elevated, ironic, learned — established a model of historical narrative; central to debates about the role of religion in historical change.