Arms Quote by Edward Gibbon
“The dark cloud, which had been cleared by the Phoenician discoveries, and finally dispelled by the arms of Caesar, again settled on the shores of the Atlantic, and a Roman province [Britain] was again lost among the fabulous Islands of the Ocean.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776
The Roman grip on Britain waned, and the island returned to mythic isolation after earlier conquests.
In simple terms: Britain slipped from Roman control.
Recognize the cyclical rise and fall of empires.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- colonial expansion
- military campaigns
- regional governance
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What factors cause empires to lose distant provinces?
- How does myth shape our view of historical loss?
Even after conquest, control can be fleeting.