J. B. Bury epub The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon Edited in Seven Volumes, With Introduction, Notes, Appendices, and Index, Vol. 1 of 7 (Classic Reprint)

It is not my intention to detain the reader by expatiating on the variety, or the importance of the subject, which I have undertaken tQ treat; since the merit of the choice would serve to render the weakness of the execution still more apparent, and still less excusable. But, as I have presumed to lay before the Public s, first volume only of tlie History of theD ecline andF aU of the Roman Empire, it wiU 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 destroyed, the solid fabric of human greatness, may, with some propriety, be divided into the three following periods: I. The first of these periods may be traced from the age ofT rajan and the A ntonines, when the Roman monarchy, having attained its full strength and maturity, began to verge towards its decline; and will extend to the subversion of theW estern Empire, by the barbarians of Germany andS cythia, the rude ancestors of the most polished nations of modem Europe. This extraordinary revolution, which subjected Rome to the power of aG othic conqueror, was completed about the beginning of the sixth century. The first volume of the quarto, which is now contained in the two first volumes of the octavo, edition.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text.