Edward Gibbon and the Decline and Fall of Roman Civilization

Edward Gibbon

Zerrrouk (PN)

Edward Gibbon is one of the most famous and influential historical writers of the 18th century. His, “The Decline and Fall of Roman Civilization, “ has been praised and ranked as an historical masterpiece.[1] In Gibbon 's writings on the fall of the Roman civilization, he points out that Christians and people that are not civic-minded are the major reason for the fall of Rome. Gibbon comes up with this theory through the major experiences in life: beginning at his early childhood, with a frail and diseased body, to the youthful Gibbon under the constant oppression of a demanding father, to the experiences of his life on the grand tour. These things have helped form his worldview and caused him to create theories, and a seemingly emotional disdain for religion. All of these things have had a tie into influencing his works, and how he became the historian he is famous for today.
Edward Gibbon was born April 27, 1737 at Putney, Surrey. Gibbon was the eldest of six children and, as it turned out, was the only child to not die at infancy; thus, Gibbon was their only child. His mother was a “pretty and vivacious woman, and found little time for her son.” The role of “mother” for Edward Gibbon was filled by his maiden aunt, Catherine Porten, who encouraged Edward 's “intellectual inclinations.”[2] When Edward was born, he had a disease until the age of fifteen and his “puny constitution was afflicted with almost every species of disease and weakness.”[3] Due to these conditions, Gibbon spend most of his time at home in bed instead of at school; Gibbon did not mind this because he hated school.[4] Due to his weak condition, Gibbon was “kept from the joyous play of his equals”[5]; his condition was the center of many taunts. Due to this childhood, Gibbon carried on a, “lifelong aversion to schools and doctors,” causing him to hold a negative view of all educational affiliations.[6]
When Gibbon was fifteen, his disorders suddenly vanished and his father enrolled him at Magdalen College in the town of Oxford. He was enrolled in 1753, as a Gentleman Commoner, and arrived at Oxford delighted by his new found freedom; however, Gibbon was “as unprepared for Oxford as Oxford was for Edward Gibbon.”[7] Gibbon refers to this time of his life as a time where he “lost fourteen valuable months of [his] youth.”[8] While at Oxford, Gibbon was always absent from classes. Despite his recurring absence, he read some controversial books and began religious discussions with a Roman Catholic student. Shortly after this he was converted to Catholicism and Edward Gibbon was kicked out of Oxford and thus, “left the promise of an easy and conventional life.”[9]
Gibbon 's father sent him into exile to be converted back to Protestantism following his conversion to Catholicism. Gibbon was sent to Lausanne and stayed at the house of Daniel Pavilliard, a Calvinist minister. He spent almost five years in Switzerland and converted back to Protestantism on Christmas day.[10] His time in Lausanne was a big influence on his worldview and his life. It is during this time that he acquired “perfect knowledge” of the French language, which consequently inspired his writing of Essay sur L 'etude de la Literature, the first French journal ever written by an English man.[11] It was due to his bilingualism that he was able to read
French literature such as Corneille, Voltaire, and one of his greatest influences: the works of the philosophes. The ideas of the philosophes influenced him, “but even more he was seduced by their style.”[12] Writers, such as Voltaire, helped to develop his negative view on Christianity. Gibbon was also influenced by Continental scholarship and wrote essays “on abstruse points of ancient history and literature, and entered into a Latin correspondence with several scholars.”[13] The years that Gibbon spent in Luasanne made him into the scholar that he later became; without that influence, he would not have become the European scholar that was famously known.[14]
During the Seven Years ' War in 1760, Gibbon 's father enlisted Edward into the Militia. This enlistment was not a pointless time in Gibbon’s life, as it gave him the opportunity to be entered into London society, and escape the cramped library he had been entwined in.[15] While in the militia, Gibbon still found time to read literature and would march with a backpack full of books. He mostly studied historical wars and the practice of modern tactics.[16] During Gibbon’s time in the militia, he was able to develop a tactical view on the fall of Rome later in his life.
As soon as the Seven Year 's War ended Gibbon returned home. Shortly after returning home he convinced his father to let him take the grand tour.[17] The grand tour played a role of great importance in the development of Gibbon 's worldview; it was during the visit to Italy, while Gibbon was sitting among the ruins of old Rome, that he started thinking about the idea of writing The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.[18]
When Gibbon returned home in 1767, he went back to his “country routine and began seriously writing history.”[19] While at home, he began the writing of Histoire générale des républiques; but he abandoned the project shortly afterwords.[20] He then co-authored the journal, Mémoires littéraires de la Grande Bretagne with his friend Georges Deyverdun .[21] During these years, he did not write, and almost all of his work was halted when his father died in 1770.[22] Gibbon said one of the greatest things from his father 's inheritance is, “the first of earthly blessings: Independence.”[23] The period of untangling the finances and estates kept him busy until 1773 when he began writing his greatest work: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.[24] The first volume of The Decline and Fall appeared on February 17, 1776; it was immediately deemed a masterpiece.[25] It was praised by the London society as a classic work; and in a few short weeks, thousands of second and third editions were printed and even two Irish pirated editions.[26] Then, in 1781, his second and third editions were completed. Two years later in 1783, Gibbon retired to Lausanne to “bask” in his fame and to complete The Decline and Fall.[27] He then completed the last three volumes of The Decline and Fall in 1788, and lived out the rest of his life in Lausanne enjoying the luxuries of being a renowned writer.[28]Gibbon did not return to England until 1793.
In 1793, Gibbon set out from Lausanne to England to be with his friend John Holroyd whose wife had just died; this journey drained him and “literally killed him.”[29] Gibbon died at the young age of 59 due to his exhaustion. The past years of dysfunctions and disease caught up to him. [30]
Edward Gibbon, through The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, developed a dislike and major criticism towards Christianity. He believes that the Fall of Rome is due to Christianity. It is important to note that Gibbon was an unbeliever, though he was not outright against religion. Some speculated that Gibbon was: “an atheist, a deist, a skeptical Christian.”[31] Throughout Gibbon 's life, Gibbon experiences a lot of major shifts in his views on religion, and he converts back and forth between Catholicism and Protestantism.[32] Stephen Miller states that “Gibbon was an unbeliever- a religious skeptic like his mentor Hume...”[33]
Gibbon 's major problems with Christianity were “endemic”[34], and have been the subject of much scrutiny.[35] Gibbon, as a skeptic, casts an eye on Christianity’s “supernatural truths”, saying that “the primitive Christians perpetually trod on mystic ground, and their minds were exercised by the habits of believing the most extraordinary events.”[36] Gibbon never did call himself an atheist though; he despised dogmatic atheism.[37] It was actually suggested by a critic named Smyth Loftus that Gibbon was closer to being a theist.[38] However, Gibbon “describes the beliefs of Christians in a supercilious manner. He is interested only in weighing the social and political effects of such beliefs.”[39]
Gibbon believed that the other worldliness attitudes that Christians possessed made them bad judges “of the relative merits of worldly things.”[40] Meaning that, the people of Rome could not make good decisions on worldly manners due to the focus on metaphysical matters. This is one of the reasons why Christianity made Rome fall. Due to the focus on other things not material or worldly, neglect was given to the society of Rome.[41] Gibbon suggests that the motivation for Christianity was enthusiasm which - during this time in history - could be confused for religious fanaticism.[42] Gibbon was in agreement with Hume who thought that fanaticism “inspires the deluded fanatic with the opinion of divine illuminations, and with contempt for the common rules of reason, morality, and prudence.”[43]This took away from the focus on worldly matters that the Romans should have focused more on. This emphasis on fanaticism blinded the Romans from the worldly problems.
Gibbon 's views towards Christianity were not always negative. He stated that, Christianity took care of “many unhappy persons whom the neglect of the world would have abandoned to the miseries of want, of sickness, and of old age.”[44] Nevertheless, his portrait of Christianity was dominantly negative due to the lack of respect Gibbon gives anyone who has an “indolent or even criminal disregard to the public welfare.”[45] Gibbon finishes his thought here by stating that “it was not in this world that the primitive Christians were desirous of making themselves either agreeable or useful.”[46]
In Gibbon 's “attack” on Christianity it is important to note that he is not attacking all Christians, but just the “primitive” Christians. He says that these primitive Christians “were enemies of civil society because they were animated by enthusiasm, yet enthusiasm... is always a temporary phenomenon...”[47] In this statement, we see Gibbon 's disregard for people who ignore the civic order and the characteristic of nationalism for a fallen society. Gibbon notes that 4th Century Christians have become less enthusiastic or primitive.[48] Christianity becomes the primary religion under Constantine 's rule and, thus, there is no differentiating characteristic between a Christian and a good citizen.[49] According to Gibbon, Christianity had robed the Roman military of “its physical and martial qualities.”[50]Gibbon believed that enthusiasm and superstition took the achievement of progress away from societies and extinguished the “light of reason.”[51] It is because of this Roman Christianity that the Barbarians were civilized: “Christianity, which opened the gates of Heaven to the barbarians, introduced an important change in their moral and political condition.”[52]
From what has been discussed about religion, we tend to see how Gibbon forms his argument that Christianity is the reason for the Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon believed that Christianity hastened the decline and fall of Rome because it did not make civic-mindedness the highest virtue.[53] Gibbon does not solely believe that Christianity was the deciding factor to whether or not the Roman Empire survived. Gibbon suggested that Rome 's civic culture would have collapsed of its own accord anyway; no one took religion seriously when Constantine became emperor, therefore it is not Christianity 's sole fault.[54]
Edward Gibbon 's most famous work was a speculation on what the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire were. As Christianity spread, so did the belief that Christianity was the “only means of securing an eternal happiness.”[55] He stated that it is due to Christianity that the Roman Empire collapsed; this is based on the idea that people lost their civic-minded attitudes; in return they received a metaphysical promise of an eternal happiness. However, he does not put all the blame on Christianity. Thus, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, served as a disrupting force, “manifesting itself in the many controversies which Gibbon carefully treats.”[56]
In Gibbon 's General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West he states that, “Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight.”[57] Gibbon means that, because of the prosperity, caused by a new Christian enlightenment, the social order itself began to erode, and this erosion made way for Rome’s’ ultimate destruction. On his claims of Christianity as the reason for the fall, Gibbon says that, “The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister.”[58] The doctrine of peace called for no action. Gibbon stated that this doctrine caused Rome to not take action against its enemies, thus destroyed the order and spirit of the Roman military. On the economic side he states that, “... a large portion of the public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion...”[59] Thus, not only had Christianity sapped the spirit of the Roman military, but it had also sucked the coffers of the Roman Empire clean. These General Observations are relevant to the understanding of Gibbon 's views on “cultural progress, morality… relations between humanity and its natural surroundings,” and how all these specific parts of the Roman civilization were broken by Christianity.[60]
Edward Gibbon credits Christianity as belonging to the, “peasants and mechanics, of boys and women, of beggars and slaves.”[61] Gibbon believed that Christianity basically belonged to the fools and the weak.[62] Through this distribution of Christianity, it was able to spread very quickly. Although Gibbon believed that only the weak and poor belonged to Christianity, he believes that it was due to this group that Christianity spread. Due to the slaves being able to tell their masters, and the women being able to tell their husbands, Christianity spread like a wildfire throughout Rome.[63]
In Gibbon 's studies he observes that the more savage a nation, the more it depended on instincts and not reason; this distinguished itself from other nations.[64] In other words, the more that these human societies were akin to animals the more their behaviors, and lifestyles were, “uniform and barbarous.”[65] It was due to these influences and observations that Gibbon believed that the Roman Empire collapsed because of expansion, professionalization of the armies, the institution of the principate, the decay of virtue, and the loss of civic-mindedness.[66]Edward Gibbon, the deformed, diseased, and socially awkward genius of the eighteenth century was by far one of the best historians this world has seen. Gibbon 's life from his early childhood with a frail and diseased body, to the youthful Gibbon under the constant oppression of a demanding father, to the experiences of his life on the grand tour; all of these have had an effect on Gibbon 's life, and his works on Christianity. It was by his love for Rome, and the studies he produced from looking at the inner affairs of Roman Civilization, that Gibbon was able to come to the conclusion and theories he created. Despite the offensive nature of his claims, the main point was that Edward Gibbon could convince his readers that his beliefs were valid.

Bibliography
Deno J. Geanakoplos, “Edward Gibbon and Byzantine Ecclesiastical History,” Church History 35 no. 2 (1966):170-185.
David P. Jordan, “Edward Gibbon: The Historian of the Roman Empire,” Daedalus 105 no. 3 (1976): 1-11. Edward Gibbon, “The Autobiographies of Edward Gibbon,” Internet Archive. Microsoft Corporation, http://www.archive.org/stream/autobiographieso00gibb#page/294/mode/2upp. 295-307.
Edward Gibbon, “Memoirs of my life and writing,”Project Gutenberg, Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6031/6031-h/6031-h.htm.
Catherine N. Parke, “Edward Gibbon by Edward Gibbon,” Modern Language Quarterly 50, no. 1 (1989): 23-37.
B. W. Young, “ 'Scepticism in Excess ': Gibbon and Eighteenth-Century Christianity,” The Historical Journal 41, no. 1 (1998): 179-199.
Shelby Thomas McCloy, Gibbon’s Antagonism to Christianity . New York: Burt Franklin, 1933.
Stephen Miller, “The Achievement of Gibbon,” Sewanee Review 111, no. 4 (2003):564.
Edward Gibbon, “General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (1772),” Christian Classics Ethereal Libarary.http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume1/chap39.htm.
Nathaniel Wolloch, “Gibbon 's Cosmology,” International Journal of the Classical Tradition 17, no. 2 (2010): 165-177.
J. G. A. Pocock, “Gibbon 's Decline and Fall and the World View of the Late Englightenment,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 10, no. 3 (1977): 287-302.
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. No. 15, §58. Retrieved from http://www.yellowloam.com/books/gibbon/chapters/chapter15.html.

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[ 1 ]. Deno J. Geanakoplos, “Edward Gibbon and Byzantine Ecclesiastical History,” Church History 35 no. 2 (1966):170,
[ 2 ]. David P. Jordan, “Edward Gibbon: The Historian of the Roman Empire,” Daedalus 105 no. 3 (1976): 2,
[ 3 ]. Edward Gibbon, “The Autobiographies of Edward Gibbon,” Internet Archive. Microsoft Corporation, http://www.archive.org/stream/autobiographieso00gibb#page/294/mode/2up, p. 295. (Cited hereafter as Edward Gibbon, Autobiographies, p. x)
[ 4 ]. Ibid., p. 4.
[ 5 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Autobiographies,” p. 297.
[ 6 ]. David P. Jordan, p. 4.
[ 7 ]. Ibid., p. 4.
[ 8 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Autobiographies,” p. 296.
[ 9 ]. David P. Jordan., p. 4.
[ 10 ]. Ibid., p 4.
[ 11 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Autobiographies,” p. 297.
[ 12 ]. David P. Jordan., p. 5.
[ 13 ]. Ibid., p. 5.
[ 14 ]. Ibid., p. 5
[ 15 ]. Ibid., p. 5.
[ 16 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Autobiographies,” p. 299.
[ 17 ]. David P. Jordan., p. 5.
[ 18 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Autobiographies,” p. 302.
[ 19 ]. David P. Jordan., p. 5.
[ 20 ]. Ibid., p. 5.
[ 21 ]. Ibid., p. 5.
[ 22 ]. Ibid., p. 5.
[ 23 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Autobiographies,” p. 307.
[ 24 ]. David P. Jordan., p. 5.
[ 25 ]. Edward Gibbon, “Memoirs of my life and writing,”Project Gutenberg, Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6031/6031-h/6031-h.htm.
[ 26 ]. Ibid., p. 6.
[ 27 ]. Ibid., p. 6.
[ 28 ]. Ibid., p.6.
[ 29 ]. Ibid., p.6
[ 30 ]. Catherine N. Parke, “Edward Gibbon by Edward Gibbon,” Modern Language Quarterly 50, no. 1 (1989): 27, http://search.ebscohost.com.
[ 31 ]. B. W. Young, “ 'Scepticism in Excess ': Gibbon and Eighteenth-Century Christianity,” The Historical Journal 41, no. 1 (1998): 181, http://www.jstor.org/
[ 32 ]. B. W. Young., p. 181.
[ 33 ]. Ibid., p. 181.
[ 34 ]. (of a disease or condition) Regularly found among particular people or in a certain area. www.dictionary.com . Means that his views on religion were natural and continual for Gibbon.
[ 35 ]. Ibid., p. 181.
[ 36 ]. Stephen Miller, “The Achievement of Gibbon,” Sewanee Review 111, no. 4 (2003):564, http://search.ebscohost.com.
[ 37 ]. Stephen Miller., p. 564.
[ 38 ]. B. W. Young., p 187.
[ 39 ]. Stephen Miller., p. 564.
[ 40 ]. Ibid., p. 564.
[ 41 ]. Ibid., p. 564.
[ 42 ]. Ibid., p. 565.
[ 43 ]. Ibid., p. 565
[ 44 ]. Edward Gibbon.
[ 45 ]. Ibid., p. 565.
[ 46 ]. Ibid., p. 565.
[ 47 ]. Ibid., p. 566.
[ 48 ]. Ibid., p. 566.
[ 49 ]. Ibid., p. 566.
[ 50 ]. Shelby Thomas McCloy, Gibbon’s Antagonism to Christianity (New York: Burt Franklin, 1933), 14.
[ 51 ]. Ibid., p. 566.
[ 52 ]. Ibid., p. 568.
[ 53 ]. Ibid., p. 568.
[ 54 ]. Ibid., p. 569.
[ 55 ]. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. William Smith, abridged (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1874), 110.
[ 56 ]. Shelby McCloy, p.17.
[ 57 ]. Edward Gibbon, “General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (1772),” Christian Classics Ethereal Libarary, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume1/chap39.htm.
[ 58 ]. Edward Gibbon, “General Observations.”
[ 59 ]. Edward Gibbon, “General Observations.”
[ 60 ]. Nathaniel Wolloch, “Gibbon 's Cosmology,” International Journal of the Classical Tradition 17, no. 2 (2010): 166, http://searrch.ebscohost.com.
[ 61 ]. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. No. 15, §58. Retrieved from http://www.yellowloam.com/books/gibbon/chapters/chapter15.html.
[ 62 ]. Gibbon refers to women as weak and ignorant. During this time women were not thought of as being intellectuals, so Gibbon believes that they would fall for Christianity because they could not think rationally.
[ 63 ]. Ibid., No. 15, §58.
[ 64 ]. Nathaniel, Wolloch, p. 168.
[ 65 ]. Ibid., p. 168.
[ 66 ]. J. G. A. Pocock, “Gibbon 's Decline and Fall and the World View of the Late Englightenment,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 10, no. 3 (1977): 288, http://jstor.org

Bibliography: Deno J. Geanakoplos, “Edward Gibbon and Byzantine Ecclesiastical History,” Church History 35 no. 2 (1966):170-185. David P. Jordan, “Edward Gibbon: The Historian of the Roman Empire,” Daedalus 105 no. 3 (1976): 1-11. Catherine N. Parke, “Edward Gibbon by Edward Gibbon,” Modern Language Quarterly 50, no. 1 (1989): 23-37. B. W. Young, “ 'Scepticism in Excess ': Gibbon and Eighteenth-Century Christianity,” The Historical Journal 41, no. 1 (1998): 179-199. Shelby Thomas McCloy, Gibbon’s Antagonism to Christianity . New York: Burt Franklin, 1933. Stephen Miller, “The Achievement of Gibbon,” Sewanee Review 111, no. 4 (2003):564. Edward Gibbon, “General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (1772),” Christian Classics Ethereal Libarary.http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume1/chap39.htm. Nathaniel Wolloch, “Gibbon 's Cosmology,” International Journal of the Classical Tradition 17, no. 2 (2010): 165-177. J. G. A. Pocock, “Gibbon 's Decline and Fall and the World View of the Late Englightenment,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 10, no. 3 (1977): 287-302. [ 2 ]. David P. Jordan, “Edward Gibbon: The Historian of the Roman Empire,” Daedalus 105 no. 3 (1976): 2, [ 3 ] [ 31 ]. B. W. Young, “ 'Scepticism in Excess ': Gibbon and Eighteenth-Century Christianity,” The Historical Journal 41, no. 1 (1998): 181, http://www.jstor.org/ [ 32 ] [ 36 ]. Stephen Miller, “The Achievement of Gibbon,” Sewanee Review 111, no. 4 (2003):564, http://search.ebscohost.com. [ 50 ]. Shelby Thomas McCloy, Gibbon’s Antagonism to Christianity (New York: Burt Franklin, 1933), 14. [ 55 ]. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. William Smith, abridged (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1874), 110. [ 57 ]. Edward Gibbon, “General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (1772),” Christian Classics Ethereal Libarary, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume1/chap39.htm. [ 60 ]. Nathaniel Wolloch, “Gibbon 's Cosmology,” International Journal of the Classical Tradition 17, no. 2 (2010): 166, http://searrch.ebscohost.com. [ 66 ]. J. G. A. Pocock, “Gibbon 's Decline and Fall and the World View of the Late Englightenment,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 10, no. 3 (1977): 288, http://jstor.org