Edward Gibbon

Quotes

  1. [E]unuchs, that pernicious vermin of the East...

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  2. Civil governments, in their first institutions, are voluntary associations for mutual defence.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  3. Wars, and the administration of public affairs, are the principal objects of history.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  4. Vitellius consumed in mere eating, at least six millions of our money in about seven months. It is not easy to express his vices with dignity, or even decency.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  5. There is no surer proof of the military skill of the Romans, than their first surmounting the idle terror, and afterwards disdaining the dangerous use, of elephants in war.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  6. The contemporaries of Severus, in the enjoyment of the peace and glory of his reign, forgave the cruelties by which it had been introduced. Posterity, who experienced the fatal effects of his maxims and example, justly considered him as the principal author of the decline of the Roman Empire.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  7. In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised portion of mankind.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  8. A weak prince will always be governed by his domestics.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  9. It was dangerous to trust the sincerity of Augustus; to seem to distrust it was still more dangerous.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  10. Antoninus diffused order and tranquility over the greatest part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  11. Clodius Albinus surpassed both his competitors in the nobility of his extraction. Which he derived from the most illustrious names of the old Republic, but the branch from which he claimed descent had long sunk into mean circumstances, and transplanted into a remote province. It is difficult to form a just idea of his character. Under the philisophic cloak of austerity, he stands accused of concealing most of the vices which degrade human nature.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  12. A warlike nation like the Germans, without either cities, letters, arts, or money, found some compensation for this savage state in the enjoyment of liberty. Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism.

    Book cover: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire