Quotes · Quote card
Quotation from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections) by Edward Gibbon
“But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness.”
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections), General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (Milman edition, Project Gutenberg text)
The thesis sentence of Gibbon's reflections at the close of the third volume.
Citation: "But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness." — Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections), General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (Milman edition, Project Gutenberg text). (id gibbon-decline-and-fall-selections-q5)
Portrait: Edward Emily Gibbon, Joshua Reynolds, Public domain.
