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.
- Reassesses Gibbon's Decline and Fall in the light of modern research on the period about which he wrote
- Explores Gibbon's ideas of empire, his sources and working methods
- Provides a dialogue between historians of antiquity and the middle ages and historians of the eighteenth century
Reviews & endorsements
"This scholarly and well-produced set of essays is, then, one which undelines the continuing influence and vitality of Gibbon's work." canadian Jrnl of History
Product details
April 2011Adobe eBook Reader
9780511888335
0 pages
0kg
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- 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.