Excerpt from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1 of 8 The great work of Gl hon is indispensable tc the student of history. The n'erature of Europe offers no su}}: stitute for The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful occupant, of the vast period which it compre hends. However some subjects, which it embraces, may have undergone more complete investigation, on the general view of the Whole period, this history is the sole undisputed authority to Which all defer, and from Which few appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers. The inherent interest of the subject, the inexhaustible labor employed upon it; the immense condensation of matter; the luminous ar rangement the general accuracy; the style, Which, howevelmonotonous from its uniform stateliness, and sometimes wearisome from its elaborate art, is through; out vigorous, animated, often picturesque, always com mands attention, always conveys its meaning With emphatic energy, describes With singular breadth and fidelity, and generalizes With unrivalled felicity of npression; all these high qualifications have secured. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.