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Quotation from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections) by Edward Gibbon
“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.”
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections), Chapter II, Part I (Milman edition, Project Gutenberg text)
Gibbon's account of how Roman religious policy held together a world of many local cults; the note that follows records Benjamin Constant's objection that this tolerance did not rest on any principle of individual liberty.
Citation: "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." — Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections), Chapter II, Part I (Milman edition, Project Gutenberg text). (id gibbon-decline-and-fall-selections-q1)
Portrait: Edward Emily Gibbon, Joshua Reynolds, Public domain.
