Edward Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

This is the master index for Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Gibbon (b. 1737, d. 1794) upon visiting the ruins of the Roman forum in 1762, during his Grand Tour, was inspired to write a history of the Roman Empire and its long fall. Volume one was published in 1776 after a decade of labor, Volumes two and three in 1781; and the last three were released in 1788. Gibbon was one of the leading figures of the Enlightenment, and his unvarnished take on the early Church has led to the book being banned sporadically. The Decline and Fall has had a massive cultural impact, including being an inspiration for Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.

The sheer dimensions of this book mean that it is seldom reprinted in entirety any more. This is a transcription of the unabridged (and public domain) 1845 edition, with notes and editing by H. H. Milman.

Note: The images on this page and each volume's index are previously unreleased photographs which I took in Rome in 1968, newly scanned. They are not public domain.--JBH.