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Quotation from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections) by Edward Gibbon
“If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.”
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections), Chapter III, Part II (Milman edition, Project Gutenberg text)
Gibbon's celebrated verdict on the age of the adoptive emperors, followed at once by a reflection on how much that happiness depended on the character of one man.
Citation: "If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus." — Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections), Chapter III, Part II (Milman edition, Project Gutenberg text). (id gibbon-decline-and-fall-selections-q4)
Portrait: Edward Emily Gibbon, Joshua Reynolds, Public domain.
