Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776

Edward Gibbon wrote the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the greatest historical work in English, publishing it from 1776 onward.





Edward Gibbon began publishing his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in 1776. America's founders were trained in the classics, so they knew Roman history. Gibbon's work was understood as a warning about what could happen to our country. Only a few decades ago we were expected to know that history, too.