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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon.
Text mostly from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25717
maintained by @byrnedhead.artorias.expert
Text mostly from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25717
maintained by @byrnedhead.artorias.expert
Diocletian acquired the glory of giving to the world the first example of a resignation, which has not been very frequently imitated by succeeding monarchs.
January 14, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Diocletian acquired the glory of giving to the world the first example of a resignation, which has not been very frequently imitated by succeeding monarchs.
A count, a notary, and a sophist, had been selected for this important commission; and Constantius...entertained some hopes that the dignity of the first, the dexterity of the second, and the rhetoric of the third, would persuade the Persian monarch to abate of the rigor of his demands.
January 11, 2026 at 1:50 PM
A count, a notary, and a sophist, had been selected for this important commission; and Constantius...entertained some hopes that the dignity of the first, the dexterity of the second, and the rhetoric of the third, would persuade the Persian monarch to abate of the rigor of his demands.
The cruelty of her priests was far excelled by the founders of the Inquisition; an office more adapted to confirm, than to refute, the belief of an evil principle.
January 7, 2026 at 2:38 PM
The cruelty of her priests was far excelled by the founders of the Inquisition; an office more adapted to confirm, than to refute, the belief of an evil principle.
Sweden, which now supplies Europe with iron, was equally ignorant of its own riches; and the appearance of the arms of the Germans furnished a sufficient proof how little iron they were able to bestow on what they must have deemed the noblest use of that metal.
January 4, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Sweden, which now supplies Europe with iron, was equally ignorant of its own riches; and the appearance of the arms of the Germans furnished a sufficient proof how little iron they were able to bestow on what they must have deemed the noblest use of that metal.
From the moment of his arrival at Rome, he abandoned himself to the luxury of the capital, and to the abuse of his fortune. He was soft, yet cruel; devoted to pleasure, but destitute of taste; and though exquisitely susceptible of vanity, indifferent to the public esteem.
December 31, 2025 at 3:00 PM
From the moment of his arrival at Rome, he abandoned himself to the luxury of the capital, and to the abuse of his fortune. He was soft, yet cruel; devoted to pleasure, but destitute of taste; and though exquisitely susceptible of vanity, indifferent to the public esteem.
The acute penetration of his mind was agreeably occupied in detecting and defeating the chicanery of the advocates, who labored to disguise the truths of facts, and to pervert the sense of the laws.
December 27, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The acute penetration of his mind was agreeably occupied in detecting and defeating the chicanery of the advocates, who labored to disguise the truths of facts, and to pervert the sense of the laws.
Such were the guardians of the holy city; a leper, a child, a woman, a coward, and a traitor.
December 24, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Such were the guardians of the holy city; a leper, a child, a woman, a coward, and a traitor.
But a law, however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the times.
December 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
But a law, however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the times.
The Christians, who had now possessed above forty years the civil and ecclesiastical government of the empire, had contracted the insolent vices of prosperity, and the habit of believing that the saints alone were entitled to reign over the earth.
December 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The Christians, who had now possessed above forty years the civil and ecclesiastical government of the empire, had contracted the insolent vices of prosperity, and the habit of believing that the saints alone were entitled to reign over the earth.
The dull and obstinate understanding of Gallus embraced, with implicit zeal, the doctrines of Christianity; which never influenced his conduct, or moderated his passions.
December 13, 2025 at 1:51 PM
The dull and obstinate understanding of Gallus embraced, with implicit zeal, the doctrines of Christianity; which never influenced his conduct, or moderated his passions.
In a state of society, in which policy is rude and valor is universal, the ascendant of one man must be founded on his power and resolution to punish his enemies and recompense his friends.
December 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
In a state of society, in which policy is rude and valor is universal, the ascendant of one man must be founded on his power and resolution to punish his enemies and recompense his friends.
...and we learn from the evidence of his enemies, that the king of England, grasping his lance, rode furiously along their front, from the right to the left wing, without meeting an adversary who dared to encounter his career. Am I writing the history of Orlando or Amadis?
December 6, 2025 at 2:20 PM
...and we learn from the evidence of his enemies, that the king of England, grasping his lance, rode furiously along their front, from the right to the left wing, without meeting an adversary who dared to encounter his career. Am I writing the history of Orlando or Amadis?
But this reign could subsist only in empty pageantry; and it was soon discovered that the will of the most absolute monarch is seldom obeyed, when his subjects have no longer anything to hope from his favor, or to dread from his resentment.
December 3, 2025 at 2:35 PM
But this reign could subsist only in empty pageantry; and it was soon discovered that the will of the most absolute monarch is seldom obeyed, when his subjects have no longer anything to hope from his favor, or to dread from his resentment.
A particular inspector was appointed for the statues; the guardian, as it were, of that inanimate people, which, according to the extravagant computation of an old writer, was scarcely inferior in number to the living inhabitants of Rome.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
A particular inspector was appointed for the statues; the guardian, as it were, of that inanimate people, which, according to the extravagant computation of an old writer, was scarcely inferior in number to the living inhabitants of Rome.
The triumphal arch of Constantine still remains a melancholy proof of the decline of the arts, and a singular testimony of the meanest vanity.
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The triumphal arch of Constantine still remains a melancholy proof of the decline of the arts, and a singular testimony of the meanest vanity.
A secret but universal decay was felt in every part of the public administration, and the emperor himself, though he still retained the obedience, gradually lost the esteem, of his subjects.
November 23, 2025 at 1:14 PM
A secret but universal decay was felt in every part of the public administration, and the emperor himself, though he still retained the obedience, gradually lost the esteem, of his subjects.
The writer who should impute these tumults solely to a religious principle, would betray a very imperfect knowledge of human nature.
November 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
The writer who should impute these tumults solely to a religious principle, would betray a very imperfect knowledge of human nature.
...the incoherent dreams of the emperor [Constantius II] were received as celestial visions, and he accepted with complacency the lofty title of bishop of bishops, from those ecclesiastics who forgot the interest of their order for the gratification of their passions.
November 15, 2025 at 2:03 PM
...the incoherent dreams of the emperor [Constantius II] were received as celestial visions, and he accepted with complacency the lofty title of bishop of bishops, from those ecclesiastics who forgot the interest of their order for the gratification of their passions.
Secure of impunity, careless of censure, they lived without restraint in the patient and humble society of their slaves and parasites. The emperor...viewing every rank of his subjects with the same contemptuous indifference, asserted without control his sovereign privilege of lust and luxury.
November 12, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Secure of impunity, careless of censure, they lived without restraint in the patient and humble society of their slaves and parasites. The emperor...viewing every rank of his subjects with the same contemptuous indifference, asserted without control his sovereign privilege of lust and luxury.
The military command of the East was bestowed, by the same influence, on Sabinian, a wealthy and subtle veteran, who had attained the infirmities, without acquiring the experience, of age.
November 9, 2025 at 1:59 PM
The military command of the East was bestowed, by the same influence, on Sabinian, a wealthy and subtle veteran, who had attained the infirmities, without acquiring the experience, of age.
When the tyrant Caligula was suspected of an intention to invest a very extraordinary candidate with the consular robes, the sacrilegious profanation would have scarcely excited less astonishment, if, instead of a horse, the noblest chieftain of Germany or Britain had been the object of his choice.
November 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
When the tyrant Caligula was suspected of an intention to invest a very extraordinary candidate with the consular robes, the sacrilegious profanation would have scarcely excited less astonishment, if, instead of a horse, the noblest chieftain of Germany or Britain had been the object of his choice.
The vast countries which the Roman conquerors had united under the same form of administration, were imperceptibly crumbled into minute fragments; till at length the whole empire was distributed into one hundred and sixteen provinces, each of which supported an expensive and splendid establishment.
November 1, 2025 at 1:24 PM
The vast countries which the Roman conquerors had united under the same form of administration, were imperceptibly crumbled into minute fragments; till at length the whole empire was distributed into one hundred and sixteen provinces, each of which supported an expensive and splendid establishment.
The little kingdom of Bosphorus, whose capital was situated on the Straits, through which the Mæotis communicates itself to the Euxine, was composed of degenerate Greeks and half-civilized barbarians.
October 29, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The little kingdom of Bosphorus, whose capital was situated on the Straits, through which the Mæotis communicates itself to the Euxine, was composed of degenerate Greeks and half-civilized barbarians.
The abdication of Diocletian and Maximian was succeeded by eighteen years of discord and confusion.
October 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The abdication of Diocletian and Maximian was succeeded by eighteen years of discord and confusion.
This unfavorable picture, though not devoid of a faint resemblance, betrays, by its dark coloring and distorted features, the pencil of an enemy.
October 24, 2025 at 1:37 PM
This unfavorable picture, though not devoid of a faint resemblance, betrays, by its dark coloring and distorted features, the pencil of an enemy.