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Brief Lives

Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)

John P. Irish considers some principles of history through the history of a historian.

In 1764, while on the traditional Grand Tour for wealthy young Europeans, Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) visited the ruins of Rome. This encounter profoundly influenced him, almost as a religious experience. As he recounted in his Memoirs of My Life and Writings (1796): “After a sleepless night I trod with a lofty step the ruins of the Forum; each memorable spot where Romulus stood, or Tully spoke, or Caesar fell was at once present to my eye.” This moment inspired what is arguably the most important historical work ever published, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788).

Before this monumental publication, however, in 1761 Gibbon wrote a defense of the humanities: An Essay on the Study of Literature (ESL).

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