History of Roman Empire - E-book - ePub

The students of history can be greatly benefited by the work ofEdward Gibbon. There could be no substitute for the "Declineand Fall of the Roman Empire" in the European Literature. Ithas achieved uninterrupted proclamation of a vast period oftime comprehended by it. Some of the subjects embraced bythe journal have undergone complete investigation and researchof the entire period of ancient time. This piece of history isconsidered as the sole authority which would appeal the feworiginal writers or even to the modern editors and compilers.
The intrinsic interest of the historical subject and the immenselabor entrusted upon it, the inexhaustible condensation ofcontent; the magnificent arrangement; the overall style andaccuracy; these factors are completely vigorous and highlypicturesque which would command great attention. It wouldalways convey the overall and the deepest meaning withunending energy which is described in singular breadthaccuracy.
The journal has made its permanent mark in thehistoric European literature. The vast compilation and the design of Gibbon, and thesupremacy with which he has cast and portrayed the downfallof the Roman Empire; the birth and formation of the newthings and principles; are all accurately rendered by the "TheDecline and Fall of the Roman Empire". As stated by theeminent French editor M. Guizot; the decline of the mostextraordinary civilization which was ever able to invade andoppress the world; the fall of the vast prosperous empire, which was erected on the ruins of many republics, kingdoms, and barbarous states.
The annihilation of the religion of Romeand Greece was witnessed with the birth and advancement ofthe two religions which shared the most beautiful era of theEarth by the degenerative manners and the expiring glory. TheRoman Empire observed the infancy of the modern world andthe flashbacks of its first advancement with a new directiongiven to man and culture. The work of Gibbon has distinguished the harmony of designfrom all other European historical literature.
He is the firstperson to bridge the gap between the ancient and the modernera and has successfully managed to connect the two realms ofthe historical worlds. The main advantage which is possessedby the classical historians over the modern ones is that theyhave a unity of plan and its execution. They have been indeedprovided with the narrow sphere of information and technologywhich confines their research process.
Except for Herodotus(the great ancient historian of Greece), the modern compilerslike Diodorus Siculus; these limited themselves to a singlehistoric period or to the sphere of the Greek affairs. When the barbarians surpassed the boundaries of Greece, theywere admitted to glance through the Grecian history. To theRoman historians, Rome had been their center of unity. Gibbonhas always placed Rome as the central point of his research inall the classical models of his imitations.
It was not exactlypossible for Gibbon to remember the dates but the events andthe occurrences were precisely clear in his mind.