Fashion was the only law, pleasure the only pursuit, and the splendour of dress and furniture was the only distinction of the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The manly pride of the Romans, content with substantial power, had left to the vanity of the East the forms and ceremonies… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A people who still remembered that their ancestors had been the masters of the world would have applauded, with conscious pride, the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The triumph of the Romans was indeed sullied by their treatment of the captive king, whom they hung on a gibbet without… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mention the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserve their compassion… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
His manners were less pure, but his character was equally amiable with that of his father. Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If the emperor had capriciously decreed the death of the most eminent and virtuous citizen of the republic, the cruel order would… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial government, as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It was the fashion of the times to attribute every remarkable event to the particular will of the Deity; the alterations of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Julian sincerely abhorred the system of oriental despotism which Diocletian, Constantine, and the patient habits of four score years, had established in… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
That public virtue which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
“[A historian] will more seriously deplore the loss of the Byzantine libraries, which were destroyed or scattered in the general confusion: one… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
“The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The brutal soldiers satisfied their sensual appetites without consulting either the inclination or the duties of their female captives; and a nice… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; and the use of letters is the principal… — 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
![“[A historian] will more seriously deplore the loss of the Byzantine libraries, which were destroyed or scattered in the general confusion: one hundred and twenty thousand manuscripts are said to have disappeared; ten volumes might be purchased for a single ducat; and the same ignominious price…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6e5/edward-gibbon-710_ancient-greece_a-historian-will-more-seriously-deplore_638477.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)
