The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Edward Gibbon's masterpiece of historical writing, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, is presented here in a stunning large-format gift edition with printed page edges and classic illustrations by Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

The original publication of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall was an exhaustive, six-volume account of a 'revolution which shall ever be remembered and is still felt by the nations of the earth'. Here, this celebrated work of historical scholarship has been abridged to a more digestible length, complete with scabrous and entertaining footnotes detailing the decadence that led to the fall of Rome.

This handsome hardback editions is gloriously illustrated by the illustrious Italian artist, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. These dramatic neoclassical etchings accompany the text, as well as the printed page edges and full-color endpapers of this edition.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus Epic Classics brings together stunning hardback gift editions of classic works, presented with striking illustrated page edges and illustrated throughout by such greats as Gustave Doré and Harry Clarke.

A giant of Enlightenment literature, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) was born in Putney, then a village near London. He had six siblings, all of whom died in infancy. Gibbon attended Magdalen College, Oxford and was later a member of parliament in London. It was on the Grand Tour in 1763 when he first visited Rome and conceived the idea of a grand history centered on the Eternal City and its empire. It is one of the great historical masterpieces ever written.