The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1J. Murray, 1887 - Byzantine Empire |
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Page xi
... Perhaps something of importance may have thus escaped , and his expressions may not quite contain the whole substance of the passage from which they are taken . His limits , at times , compel him to sketch ; where that is the case , it ...
... Perhaps something of importance may have thus escaped , and his expressions may not quite contain the whole substance of the passage from which they are taken . His limits , at times , compel him to sketch ; where that is the case , it ...
Page xv
... perhaps less picturesque , but still with lively and attractive descriptiveness ? He might have thrown aside with the same scorn the mass of ecclesiastical fiction which envelopes the early history of the church , stripped off the ...
... perhaps less picturesque , but still with lively and attractive descriptiveness ? He might have thrown aside with the same scorn the mass of ecclesiastical fiction which envelopes the early history of the church , stripped off the ...
Page xviii
... perhaps be expected that I should explain , in a few words , the nature and limits of my general plan . The memorable series of revolutions which , in the course of about thirteen centuries , gradually undermined , and at length ...
... perhaps be expected that I should explain , in a few words , the nature and limits of my general plan . The memorable series of revolutions which , in the course of about thirteen centuries , gradually undermined , and at length ...
Page xix
... perhaps too hastily , to commit to the press a work which , in every sense of the word , deserves the epithet of imperfect , I consider myself as contracting an engagement to finish , most probably in a second volume , the first of ...
... perhaps too hastily , to commit to the press a work which , in every sense of the word , deserves the epithet of imperfect , I consider myself as contracting an engagement to finish , most probably in a second volume , the first of ...
Page xx
... perhaps be alarmed at the long prospect of nine hundred years . But it is not my intention to expatiate with the same minuteness on the whole series of the Byzantine history . At our entrance into this period . the reign of Justinian ...
... perhaps be alarmed at the long prospect of nine hundred years . But it is not my intention to expatiate with the same minuteness on the whole series of the Byzantine history . At our entrance into this period . the reign of Justinian ...
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agreeable amusement ancient Antonines Antoninus Pius arms arts Asia Augustan History Augustus barbarians BERITON Buriton Cæsar Cappadocia character Christianity church cities civil College confined conquest conversation curious death Decline and Fall Dion Cass Dion Cassius Edward Gibbon elegant emperors England English enjoyed Essay esteem exercise father favour formed fortune freedom French Gaul genius Gibbon Greek habits Hadrian Hist historian honour hundred Italy labour language Latin Lausanne learning legions letters liberal London Lord Sheffield Magdalen College manners master Memoirs merit military militia mind modern native nature never Oxford Pannonia passage perhaps philosopher pleasure political Prætorian princes provinces reign religion republic Rolvenden Roman empire Rome senate slaves society soldier soon spirit Strabo style success Syria Tacitus taste tion Trajan vanity Vegetius virtue volume writings youth
Popular passages
Page xxxii - What recks it them? What need they? They are sped; And, when they list, their lean and flashy songs Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw; The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, But, swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread : Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw Daily devours apace, and nothing said: But that two-handed engine at the door Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more.
Page 41 - After laying down my pen. I took several turns in a berceau, or covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, the lake and the mountains. The air was temperate, the sky was serene, the silver orb of the moon was reflected from the waters, and all nature was silent.
Page viii - The secrets of the hoary deep; a dark Illimitable ocean, without bound, Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
Page 41 - I wrote the last lines of the last page, in a summer house in my garden. After laying down my pen, I took several turns in a berceau, or covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, the lake, and the mountains.
Page 9 - I arrived at Oxford with a stock of erudition that might have puzzled a doctor, and a degree of ignorance of which a school-boy would have been ashamed.
Page 67 - The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true, by the philosopher as equally false, and by the magistrate as equally useful...
Page 45 - ... and experience of the sage Fontenelle. His choice is approved by the eloquent historian of nature, who fixes our moral happiness to the mature season, in which our passions are supposed to be calmed, our duties fulfilled, our ambition satisfied, our fame and fortune established on a solid basis.
Page 28 - It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter,* that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.
Page 5 - Their conversation stagnated in a round of college business, Tory politics, personal anecdotes, and private scandal : their dull and deep potations excused the brisk intemperance of youth...