'History, in its essence, is little more than a catalogue of the crimes, follies, and miseries of the human race,' wrote the British historian Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) in his major work, a massive account of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. In this innovative and at the same time provocative book, the author traces the processes that took place in the Roman state and society, from the heyday of the Empire to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which marked its end. Despite the long and heated controversy over Gibbon's 'anti-religious' views on the origin and spread of Christianity, his work remains one of the classic texts for the study of this period in Western universities.
Book II of this edition includes chapters covering events from the reign of Jovian to the reign of Justinian. The text is printed with minor abbreviations.