The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: By Edward Gibbon, Esq; ... [pt.6]

General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

THE Greeks, after their country had been reduced into a province, imputed the tri∣umphs of Rome, not to the merit, but to the FORTUNE, of the republic. The inconstant god∣dess, who so blindly distributes and resumes her favours, had now consented (such was the lan∣guage of envious flattery) to resign her wings, to descend from her globe, and to fix her firm and immutable throne on the banks of the Tyber 1 1.1. A wiser Greek, who has composed, with a phi∣losophic spirit, the memorable history of his own times, deprived his countrymen of this vain and delusive comfort, by opening to their view the deep foundations of the greatness of Rome 2 1.2. The fidelity of the citizens to each other, and to the state, was confirmed by the habits of education, and the prejudices of religion. Honour, as well as virtue, was the principle of the republic; the ambitious citizens laboured to deserve the solemn

glories of a triumph; and the ardour of the Ro∣man youth was kindled into active emulation, as often as they beheld the domestic images of their ancestors 3 1.3. The temperate struggles of the pa∣tricians and plebeians had finally established the firm and equal balance of the constitution; which united the freedom of popular assemblies, with the authority and wisdom of a senate, and the executive powers of a regal magistrate. When the consul displayed the standard of the republic, each citizen bound himself, by the obligation of an oath, to draw his sword in the cause of his country, till he had discharged the sacred duty by a military service of ten years. This wise insti∣tution continually poured into the field the ri∣sing generations of freemen and soldiers; and their numbers were reinforced by the warlike and populous states of Italy, who, after a brave resist∣ance, had yielded to the valour, and embraced the alliance, of the Romans. The sage historian, who excited the virtue of the younger Scipio, and beheld the ruin of Carthage 4 1.4, has accurately described their military system; their levies, arms, exercises, subordination, marches, encampments;

and the invincible legion, superior in active strength to the Macedonian phalanx of Philip and Alexander. From these institutions of peace and war, Polybius has deduced the spirit and success of a people, incapable of fear, and impatient of repose. The ambitious design of conquest, which might have been defeated by the seasonable con∣spiracy of mankind, was attempted and atchiev∣ed; and the perpetual violation of justice was maintained by the political virtues of prudence and courage. The arms of the republic, some∣times vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the Ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome 5 1.5.

The rise of a city, which swelled into an empire, may deserve, as a singular prodigy, the reflection of a philosophic mind. But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. 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. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious; and instead of enquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which ren∣dered them alike formidable to their sovereign and to the enemy; the vigour of the military government was relaxed, and finally dissolved, by the partial institutions of Constantine; and the Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians.

The decay of Rome has been frequently ascrib∣ed to the translation of the seat of empire; but this history has already shewn, that the powers of government were divided, rather than removed. The throne of Constantinople was erected in the East; while the West was still possessed by a series of emperors who held their residence in Italy, and claimed their equal inheritance of the legions and provinces. This dangerous novelty impaired the strength, and fomented the vices, of a double reign: the instruments of an oppressive and arbitrary system were multiplied; and a vain emulation of luxury, not of merit, was intro∣duced and supported between the degenerate

successors of Theodosius. Extreme distress, which unites the virtue of a free people, embitters the factions of a declining monarchy. The hostile favourites of Arcadius and Honorius betrayed the republic to its common enemies; and the Byzan∣tine court beheld with indifference, perhaps with pleasure, the disgrace of Rome, the misfortunes of Italy, and the loss of the West. Under the succeeding reigns, the alliance of the two empires was restored; but the aid of the Oriental Romans was tardy, doubtful, and ineffectual; and the national schism of the Greeks and Latins was enlarged by the perpetual difference of language and manners, of interest, and even of religion. Yet the salutary event approved in some measure the judgment of Constantine. During a long period of decay, his impregnable city repelled the victorious armies of Barbarians, protected the wealth of Asia, and commanded, both in peace and war, the important streights which connect the Euxine and Mediterranean seas. The foun∣dation of Constantinople more essentially con∣tributed to the preservation of the East, than to the ruin of the West.

As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, we may hear without surprise or scandal, that the introduction, or at least the abuse, of Christianity, had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of pa∣tience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last remains

of military spirit were buried in the cloyster: a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes, who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity. Faith, zeal, curiosity, and the more earthly pas∣sions of malice and ambition, kindled the flame of theological discord; the church, and even the state, were distracted by religious factions, whose conflicts were sometimes bloody, and always implacable; the attention of the emperors was diverted from camps to synods; the Roman world was oppressed by a new species of tyranny; and the persecuted sects became the secret enemies of their country. Yet party-spirit, however per∣nicious or absurd, is a principle of union as well as of dissention. The bishops, from eighteen hundred pulpits, inculcated the duty of passive obedience to a lawful and orthodox sovereign; their frequent assemblies, and perpetual corre∣spondence, maintained the communion of distant churches; and the benevolent temper of the go∣spel was strengthened, though confined, by the spiritual alliance of the Catholics. The sacred indolence of the monks was devoutly embraced by a servile and effeminate age; but if supersti∣tion had not afforded a decent retreat, the same vices would have tempted the unworthy Romans to desert, from baser motives, the standard of the republic. Religious precepts are easily obeyed, which indulge and sanctify the natural inclinations

of their votaries; but the pure and genuine influ∣ence of Christianity may be traced in its beneficial, though imperfect, effects on the Barbarian pro∣selytes of the North. If the decline of the Roman empire was hastened by the conversion of Con∣stantine, his victorious religion broke the violence of the fall, and mollified the ferocious temper of the conquerors.

This awful revolution may be usefully applied to the instruction of the present age. It is the duty of a patriot to prefer and promote the ex∣clusive interest and glory of his native country: but a philosopher may be permitted to enlarge his views, and to consider Europe as one great republic, whose various inhabitants have attained almost the same level of politeness and cultivation. The balance of power will continue to fluctuate, and the prosperity of our own, or the neighbour∣ing kingdoms, may be alternately exalted or de∣pressed; but these partial events cannot essen∣tially injure our general state of happiness, the system of arts, and laws, and manners, which so advantageously distinguish, above the rest of man∣kind, the Europeans and their colonies. The savage nations of the globe are the common ene∣mies of civilised society; and we may inquire with anxious curiosity, whether Europe is still threatened with a repetition of those calamities, which formerly oppressed the arms and institu∣tions of Rome. Perhaps the same reflections will illustrate the fall of that mighty empire, and explain the probable causes of our actual security.

I. The Romans were ignorant of the extent of their danger, and the number of their enemies. Beyond the Rhine and Danube, the northern countries of Europe and Asia were filled with innumerable tribes of hunters and shepherds, poor, voracious, and turbulent; bold in arms, and impatient to ravish the fruits of industry. The Barbarian world was agitated by the rapid impulse of war; and the peace of Gaul or Italy was shaken by the distant revolutions of China. The Huns, who fled before a victorious enemy, directed their march towards the West; and the torrent was swelled by the gradual accession of captives and allies. The flying tribes who yielded to the Huns, assumed in their turn the spirit of conquest; the endless column of Barbarians pressed on the Roman empire with accumulated weight; and, if the foremost were destroyed, the vacant space was instantly replenished by new assailants. Such formidable emigrations can no longer issue from the North; and the long repose, which has been imputed to the decrease of population, is the happy consequence of the progress of arts and agriculture. Instead of some rude villages, thinly scattered among its woods and morasses, Germany now produces a list of two thousand three hundred walled towns: the Christian kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Poland have been successively established; and the Hanse merchants, with the Teutonic knights, have extended their colonies along the coast of the Baltic, as far as the Gulf of Finland. From

the Gulf of Finland to the Eastern Ocean, Russia now assumes the form of a powerful and civilised empire. The plough, the loom, and the forge are introduced on the banks of the Volga, the Oby, and the Lena; and the fiercest of the Tar∣tar hords have been taught to tremble and obey. The reign of independent Barbarism is now con∣tracted to a narrow span; and the remnant of Calmucks or Uzbecks, whose forces may be al∣most numbered, cannot seriously excite the ap∣prehensions of the great republic of Europe 6 1.6. Yet this apparent security should not tempt us to forget that new enemies, and unknown dangers, may possibly arise from some obscure people, scarcely visible in the map of the world. The Arabs or Saracens, who spread their conquests from India to Sapin, had languished in poverty and contempt, till Mahomet breathed into those savage bodies the soul of enthusiasm.

II. The empire of Rome was firmly established by the singular and perfect coalition of its mem∣bers. The subject nations, resigning the hope, and even the wish, of independence, embraced the character of Roman citizens; and the pro∣vinces of the West were reluctantly torn by the

Barbarians from the bosom of their mother∣country 7 1.7. But this union was purchased by the loss of national freedom and military spirit; and the servile provinces, destitute of life and motion, expected their safety from the mercenary troops and governors, who were directed by the orders of a distant court. The happiness of an hundred millions depended on the personal merit of one, or two, men, perhaps children, whose minds were corrupted by education, luxury, and despotic power. The deepest wounds were in∣flicted on the empire during the minorities of the sons and grandsons of Theodosius; and after those incapable princes seemed to attain the age of manhood, they abandoned the church to the bishops, the state to the eunuchs, and the provinces to the Barbarians. Europe is now divided into twelve powerful, though un∣equal, kingdoms, three respectable common∣wealths, and a variety of smaller, though inde∣pendent, states: the chances of royal and ministerial talents are multiplied, at least, with the number of its rulers; and a Julian, or Semi∣ramis, may reign in the North, while Arcadius and Honorius again slumber on the thrones of the South. The abuses of tyranny are restrained by the mutual influence of fear and shame; re∣publics have acquired order and stability; mo∣narchies have imbibed the principles of freedom,

or, at least, of moderation; and some sense of honour and justice is introduced into the most defective constitutions by the general manners of the times. In peace, the progress of knowledge and industry is accelerated by the emulation of so many active rivals: in war, the European forces are exercised by temperate and undecisive contests. If a savage conqueror should issue from the deserts of Tartary, he must repeatedly van∣quish the robust peasants of Russia, the numerous armies of Germany, the gallant nobles of France, and the intrepid freemen of Britain; who, per∣haps, might confederate for their common de∣fence. Should the victorious Barbarians carry slavery and desolation as far as the Atlantic Ocean, ten thousand vessels would transport be∣yond their pursuit the remains of civilised society; and Europe would revive and flourish in the American world, which is already filled with her colonies, and institutions 8 1.8.

III. Cold, poverty, and a life of danger and fatigue, fortify the strength and courage of Bar∣barians. In every age they have oppressed the polite and peaceful nations of China, India, and Persia, who neglected, and still neglect, to coun∣terbalance these natural powers by the resources of military art. The warlike states of antiquity,

Greece, Macedonia, and Rome, educated a race of soldiers; exercised their bodies, disciplined their courage, multiplied their forces by regular evolutions, and converted the iron, which they possessed, into strong and serviceable weapons. But this superiority insensibly declined with their laws and manners; and the feeble policy of Con∣stantine and his successors armed and instructed, for the ruin of the empire, the rude valour of the Barbarian mercenaries. The military art has been changed by the invention of gunpowder; which enables man to command the two most powerful agents of nature, air and fire. Mathe∣matics, chymistry, mechanics, architecture, have been applied to the service of war; and the ad∣verse parties oppose to each other the most ela∣borate modes of attack and of defence. Histo∣rians may indignantly observe, that the prepara∣tions of a siege would found and maintain a flourishing colony 9 1.9; yet we cannot be displeased, that the subversion of a city should be a work of cost and difficulty; or that an industrious people should be protected by those arts, which survive

and supply the decay of military virtue. Cannon and fortifications now form an impregnable bar∣rier against the Tartar horse; and Europe is secure from any future irruption of Barbarians; since, before they can conquer, they must cease to be barbarous. Their gradual advances in the science of war would always be accompanied, as we may learn from the example of Russia, with a proportionable improvement in the arts of peace and civil policy; and they themselves must de∣serve a place among the polished nations whom they subdue.

Should these speculations be found doubtful or fallacious, there still remains a more humble source of comfort and hope. The discoveries of ancient and modern navigators, and the do∣mestic history, or tradition, of the most en∣lightened nations, represent the human savage, naked both in mind and body, and destitute of laws, of arts, of ideas, and almost of language 10 1.10. From this abject condition, perhaps the primitive and universal state of man, he has gradually arisen to command the animals, to fertilise the earth, to traverse the ocean, and to measure the

heavens. His progress in the improvement and exercise of his mental and corporeal faculties 11 1.11 has been irregular and various; infinitely slow in the beginning, and increasing by degrees with redoubled velocity: ages of laborious ascent have been followed by a moment of rapid down∣fal; and the several climates of the globe have felt the vicissitudes of light and darkness. Yet the experience of four thousand years should enlarge our hopes, and diminish our apprehen∣sions: we cannot determine to what height the human species may aspire in their advances to∣wards perfection; but it may safely be presumed, that no people, unless the face of nature is changed, will relapse into their original bar∣barism. The improvements of society may be viewed under a threefold aspect. 1. The poet or philosopher illustrates his age and country by the efforts of a single mind; but these superior powers of reason or fancy are rare and sponta∣neous productions; and the genius of Homer, or Cicero, or Newton, would excite less admira∣tion, if they could be created by the will of a prince, or the lessons of a preceptor. 2. The benefits of law and policy, of trade and manu∣factures, of arts and sciences, are more solid and permanent; and many individuals may be quali∣fied, by education and discipline, to promote, in their respective stations, the interest of the com∣munity.

But this general order is the effect of skill and labour; and the complex machinery may be decayed by time, or injured by violence. 3. Fortunately for mankind, the more useful, or, at least, more necessary arts, can be per∣formed without superior talents, or national subordination; without the powers of one, or the union of many. Each village, each family, each individual, must always possess both ability and inclination, to perpetuate the use of fire 12 1.12 and of metals; the propagation and service of do∣mestic animals; the methods of hunting and fishing; the rudiments of navigation; the imper∣fect cultivation of corn, or other nutritive grain; and the simple practice of the mechanic trades. Private genius and public industry may be extir∣tirpated; but these hardy plants survive the tempest, and strike an everlasting root into the most unfavourable soil. The splendid days of Augustus and Trajan were eclipsed by a cloud of ignorance; and the Barbarians subverted the laws and palaces of Rome. But the scythe, the invention or emblem of Saturn 13 1.13, still con∣tinued annually to mow the harvests of Italy;

and the human feasts of the Laestrigons 14 1.14 have never been renewed on the coast of Campania.

Since the first discovery of the arts, war, commerce, and religious zeal have diffused, among the savages of the Old and New World, these inestimable gifts: they have been succes∣sively propagated; they can never be lost. We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclu∣sion, that every age of the world has increased, and still increases, the real wealth, the happi∣ness, the knowledge, and perhaps the virtue, of the human race 15 1.15.

Notes

• 1 1.1

  Such are the figurative expressions of Plutarch (Opera, tom. ii. p. 318. edit. Wechel), to whom, on the faith of his son Lamprias (Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. iii. p. 341.), I shall boldly impute the malicious declamation, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The same opi∣nions had prevailed among the Greeks two hundred and fifty years before Plutarch; and to confute them, is the professed intention of Polybius (Hist. l. i. p. 90. edit. Gronov. Amstel. 1670.).
• 2 1.2

  See the inestimable remains of the sixth book of Polybius, and many other parts of his general history, particularly a digression in the seventeenth book, in which he compares the phalanx and the legion.
• 3 1.3

  Sallust, de Bell. Jugurthin. c. 4. Such were the generous pro∣fessions of P. Scipio and Q. Maximus. The Latin historian had read, and most probably transcribes, Polybius, their contemporary and friend.
• 4 1.4

  While Carthage was in flames, Scipio repeated two lines of the Iliad, which express the destruction of Troy, acknowledging to Po∣lybius, his friend and preceptor (Polyb. in Excerpt. de Virtut. et Vit. tom. ii. p. 1455—1465). that while he recollected the vicissi∣tudes of human affairs, he inwardly applied them to the future cala∣mities of Rome (Appian. in Libycis, p. 136. edit. Toll.).
• 5 1.5

  See Daniel ii. 31—40.

  "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things."

  The remainder of the prophecy (the mixture of iron and clay) was accomplished, according to St. Jerom, in his own ••ime. Sicut enim in principio nihil Romano Imperio fortius et du∣rius, ita in sine rerum nihil imbecillius: quum et in bellis civilibus et adversus diversas nationes, aliarum gentium barbararum auxilio indigemus (Opera, tom. v. p. 572.).
• 6 1.6

  The French and English editors of the Genealogical History of the Tartars have subjoined a curious, though imperfect, descrip∣tion of their present state. We might question the independence of the Calmucks, or Eluths, since they have been recently vanquished by the Chinese, who, in the year 1759, subdued the lesser Bucharia, and advanced into the country of Badakshan, near the sources of the Oxus (Memoires sur les Chinois, tom. i. p. 325—400.). But these conquests are precarious, nor will I venture to ensure the safety of the Chinese empire.
• 7 1.7

  The prudent reader will determine how far this general propo∣sition is weakened by the revolt of the Isaurians, the independence of Britain and Armorica, the Moorish tribes, or the Bagaudae of Gaul and Spain (vol. i. p. 240. vol. iii. p. 273. 337. 434.).
• 8 1.8

  America now contains about six millions of European blood and descent; and their numbers, at least in the North, are conti∣nually increasing. Whatever may be the changes of their political situation, they must preserve the manners of Europe; and we may reflect with some pleasure, that the English language will probably be diffused over an immense and populous continent.
• 9 1.9

  On avoit fait venir (for the siege of Turin) 140 pieces de canon; et il est à remarquer que chaque gros canon monté revient à environ 2000 ecus: il y avoit 110,000 boulets; 106,000 cartouches d'une façon, et 300,000 d'une autre; 21,000 bombes; 27,700 gre∣nades, 15,000 facs à terre, 30,000 instrumens pour le pionnage; 1,200,000 livres de poudre. Ajoutez à ces munitions, le plomb, le fer, et le fer-blanc, les cordages, tout ce qui ser. aux mineurs, le souphre, le salpêtre, les outils de toute espece. Il est certain que les frais de tous ces préparatiss de destruction suffiroient pour fonder et pour faire fleurir la plus nombreuse colonie. Voltaire, Siécle de Louis XIV. c. xx. in his Works, tom. xi. p. 391.
• 10 1.10

  It would be an easy, though tedious task, to produce the authorities of poets, philosophers, and historians. I shall therefore content myself with appealing to the decisive and authentic testimony of Diodorus Siculus (tom. i. l. i. p. 11, 12. l. iii. p. 184, &c. edit. Wesseling.). The Icthyophagi, who in his time wandered along the shores of the Red Sea, can only be compared to the natives of New Holland (Dampier's Voyages, vol. i. p. 464—469.). Fancy, or perhaps reason, may still suppose an extreme and absolute state of nature far below the level of these savages, who had acquired some arts and instruments.
• 11 1.11

  See the learned and rational work of the President Goguet, de l'Origine des Loix, des Arts et des Sciences. He traces from facts, or conjectures (tom. i. p. 147—337, edit. 12mo.), the first and most difficult steps of human invention.
• 12 1.12

  It is certain, however strange, that many nations have been ignorant of the use of fire. Even the ingenious natives of Otaheite, who are destitute of metals, have not invented any earthen vessels capable of sustaining the action of fire, and of communicating the heat to the liquids which they contain.
• 13 1.13

  Plutarch. Quaest. Rom. in tom. ii. p. 275. Macrob. Saturnal. l. i. c. 8. p. 152. edit. London. The arrival of Saturn (of his re∣ligious worship) in a ship, may indicate, that the savage coast of Latium was first discovered and civilised by the Phoenicians.
• 14 1.14

  In the ninth and tenth books of the Odyssey, Homer has em∣bellished the tales of fearful and credulous sailors, who transformed the cannibals of Italy and Sicily into monstrous giants.
• 15 1.15

  The merit of discovery has too often been stained with avarice, cruelty, and fanaticism; and the intercourse of nations has produced the communication of disease and prejudice. A singular exception is due to the virtue of our own times and country. The five great voyages successively undertaken by the command of his present Ma∣jesty, were inspired by the pure and generous love of science and of mankind. The same prince, adapting his benefactions to the diffe∣rent stages of society, has founded a school of painting in his capital; and has introduced into the islands of the South Sea, the vegetables and animals most useful to human life.