The vices of the clergy are far less dangerous than their virtues.
September 16, 2015 9:09 PM   Subscribe

The Best of Scribblers - an appreciation of Edward Gibbon and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
posted by Chrysostom (17 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
3 years.

It took me 3 years to read all 6 volumes. I ended up buying it 3 times for having lost volumes to various breakups and house moves. At the time, that was %10 of my life on Earth. This was after a jag of Livy, Tacitus, Suetonius, Plutarch, Polybius, and Josephus. Dense prose. Thick & chewy in places. Had to read it like you just took too large of a bite of beef jerky that's too good to give up on.

Gibbons' scholarship, conceits, and prejudices aside, it was totally worth it. Changed my perspective on virtually all aspects of classical western culture. Some high-fallutin' cynical theory mixed in with lurid scandal, depravity, violence and ribaldry. Good times.
posted by rye bread at 9:54 PM on September 16, 2015 [7 favorites]


That article was an entertaining read in itself.

I'm nearing the end of the oft-recommended History of Rome podcast which of course mentions Gibbons time and again.
posted by Harald74 at 12:15 AM on September 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


What people don't know is that Edward Gibbon really was a gibbon.
posted by w0mbat at 12:27 AM on September 17, 2015 [7 favorites]


Given his likenesses of the day, the Northern white-cheeked gibbon fits.

I'm half way through a re-read of Vol. I. mostly the footnotes.
posted by clavdivs at 12:42 AM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: Some high-fallutin' cynical theory mixed in with lurid scandal, depravity, violence and ribaldry. Good times.
posted by Segundus at 1:13 AM on September 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


That article was an entertaining read in itself.

It really was!
posted by Kevin Street at 1:55 AM on September 17, 2015


. β€œAt the flexible period of youth, from the age of sixteen to twenty-one, my opinions, habits, and sentiments were cast in a foreign mold; the faint and distant remembrance of England was almost obliterated; my native language had grown less familiar; and I should cheerfully have accepted the offer of a moderate independent fortune on the terms of perpetual exile.”

You and me both, Gibbon!
posted by rebent at 4:12 AM on September 17, 2015 [7 favorites]


Pedantry Sidenote: The spelling of that word is highfalutin (origin uncertain) (with variants because nobody remembers the real spelling, but still, it's worth preserving). It has always been my personal mission to inform at least 3 people of that fact per week, every week, forever.

Spread the word.
posted by BlackPebble at 5:50 AM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


If you're bored at work and want something to read, Gibbon's masterpiece is freely available in full from Project Gutenberg.
posted by clawsoon at 7:48 AM on September 17, 2015


There's also this re-read blog.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:03 AM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Gibbon is total worth the reading, if only for the deliciously snarky footnotes. But also for the ride in general. (I have to admit, I found the final volume a bit sloggy and had to force my way though the middle ages.)
posted by Quasirandom at 8:11 AM on September 17, 2015


I found the final volume a bit sloggy and had to force my way though the middle ages.

Well, so did the Romans.
posted by weston at 8:59 AM on September 17, 2015 [6 favorites]


β€œ...his incapacity and his ignorance were equal to his presumption.”


I have found a home.
posted by mule98J at 9:07 AM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


For those who finish Decline and Fall and still want more (as which of us would not?), there are five volumes of Miscellaneous Works (some in French).
posted by BWA at 10:11 AM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


I wish Gibbon had been able to write that history of England he wanted to do.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:13 AM on September 17, 2015


I love Gibbon's Decline & Fall, yeah.
posted by ovvl at 5:19 PM on September 17, 2015


I wish Orson Welles would have recorded the section on Valens.
posted by clavdivs at 8:25 PM on September 17, 2015


« Older Crane Collapses into Grand Mosque, Killing 107   |   American Experience Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments