Yet the people, and even the clergy, incapable of forming any rational judgment of the business of peace and war, presumed to… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the princes… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The pastoral labours of the archbishop of Constantinople provoked and gradually united against him two sorts of enemies; the aspiring clergy, who… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
In populous cities, which are the seat of commerce and manufactures, the middle ranks of inhabitants, who derive their subsistence from the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Antoninus diffused order and tranquility over the greatest part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The barbarians of Germany had felt, and still dreaded, the arms of the young Caesar; his soldiers were the companions of his… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A warlike nation like the Germans, without either cities, letters, arts, or money, found some compensation for this savage state in the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A small number of temples was protected by the fears, the venality, the taste, or the prudence of the civil and ecclesiastical… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and guide the natural descent of its object, operates with irresistible weight; and… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The chaste severity of the fathers in whatever related to the commerce of the two sexes flowed from the same principle --… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The character of the tribunes was, in every respect, different from that of the consuls. The appearance of the former was modest… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroyed; and near twenty years afterwards, the appearance of the empty shelves excited the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
In their censures of luxury the fathers are extremely minute and circumstantial; and among the various articles which excite their pious indignation,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
This variety of objects will suspend, for some time, the course of the narrative; but the interruption will be censured only by… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[The] events by which the fate of nations is not materially changed, leave a faint impression on the page of history, and… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The ancients were destitute of many of the conveniences of life which have been invented or improved by the progress of industry;… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius himself, indirectly confesses that he has related whatever might redound to the glory, and that… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The imprudent Maximus disregarded these salutary considerations: he gratified his resentment and ambition; he saw the bleeding corpse of Valentinian at his… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Yet the arts of Severus cannot be justified by the most ample privileges of state reason. He promised only to betray; he… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition, was not denied to the Roman slave; and if he had any opportunity of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
We stand in need of such reflections to comfort us for the loss of some illustrious characters, which in our eyes might… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If all the barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The division of the Roman world between the sons of Theodosius marks the final establishment of the empire of the East, which,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It is scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption.… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Theodosius was chaste and temperate; he enjoyed, without excess, the sensual and social pleasures of the table, and the warmth of his… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The love of action is a principle of a much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often leads to anger, to ambition,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of pleasure and… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
As long as the same passions and interests subsist among mankind, the questions of war and peace, of justice and policy, which… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
When Julian ascended the throne, he declared his impatience to embrace and reward the Syrian sophist, who had preserved, in a degenerate… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The knowledge that is suited to our situation and powers, the whole compass of moral, natural, and mathematical science, was neglected by… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But the human character, however it may be exalted or depressed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by degrees to its proper… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The distinctions of personal merit and influence, so conspicuous in a republic, so feeble and obscure under a monarchy, were abolished by… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The active cavalry of Scythia is always followed, in their most distant and rapid incursions, by an adequate number of spare horses,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The fabric of a mighty state, which has been reared by the labours of successive ages, could not be overturned by the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The emperor of the East was no longer guided by the wisdom and authority of his elder brother, whose death happened towards… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
That country [Carthage] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the princes and prelates… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If all the barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West:… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
![“[The] events by which the fate of nations is not materially changed, leave a faint impression on the page of history, and the patience of the reader would be exhausted by the repetition of the same hostilities [between Rome and Persia], undertaken without cause, prosecuted without glory, and…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/228/edward-gibbon-710_causes_the-events-by-which-the-fate-of-nations_826775.jpg)
![“The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without fear, slow or rapid according to the exigencies of the moment; that in the deepest distress he was animated by real or apparent hope, but that he was…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/56a/edward-gibbon-710_animated_the-spectator-and-historian-of-belisariu_2985677.jpg)
![“That country [Carthage] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws; and every step of intestine discord was marked by some deplorable victory of savage man over civilized society.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/70c/edward-gibbon-710_barbarism_that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinkin_393.jpg)
![“[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/338/edward-gibbon-710_byzantine_in-the-national-and-religious-conflict-o_29382.jpg)
![“[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4de/edward-gibbon-710_delay_every-hour-of-delay-abates-the-fame-and_94668.jpg)
