Edward Gibbon and Empire

This book examines Gibbon's interpretations of empire and the intellectual context in which he formulated them against a background of the eighteenth- and late twentieth-century knowledge of late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Gibbon's ideas of empire, his understanding of monarchy and the balance of power, his sources and working methods, the structure of the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, his attitude towards the barbarians, the contrasting treatments of the eastern and western Empire, his appreciation of past civilizations and their material remains, his audience and their reactions - contemporary and Victorian - are considered in the light of the latest research on eighteenth-century intellectual history on the one hand and on late antiquity, Byzantium and the Middle Ages on the other. The book breaks new ground in taking the form of a dialogue between experts on the fields about which Gibbon himself wrote, and eighteenth-century intellectual historians.

Introduction Rosamond McKitterick and Roland Quinault; 1. Gibbon and the later Roman Empire: causes and circumstances John Matthews; 2. Gibbon and Justinian Averil Cameron; 3. Gibbon and the middle period of the Byzantine Empire James Howard-Johnson; 4. Byzantine soldiers, missionaries and diplomacy under Gibbon's eyes Jonathan Shepard; 5. Gibbon and the later Byzantine empires Anthony Bryer; 6. Gibbon and the Merovingians Ian Wood; 7. Gibbon, Hodgkin, and the invaders of Italy T. S. Brown; 8. Gibbon and the early Middle Ages in eighteenth-century Europe Rosamond McKitterick; 9. Gibbon and the 'watchmen of the Holy City': religion and revision in The Decline and Fall David Womersley; 10. Gibbon and international relations Jeremy Black; 11. Gibbon's Roman Empire as a universal monarchy John Robertson; 12. The conception of Gibbon's History Peter Ghosh; 13. Winston Churchill and Gibbon Roland Quinault; Epilogue J. W. Burrow, Rosamond McKitterick and Roland Quinault.

This book examines Gibbon and his interpretations of empire and the intellectual context in which he formulated them against a background of both eighteenth- and late twentieth-century knowledge of late antiquity and the Middle Ages.