Even with the eventual fall of the empire, Europe, both Western and Eastern, to this day retains some striking resemblances to the Roman Empire. The impact of Religion, particularly of the role of Christianity is discussed in great detail. With the emergence of Constantinople, Rome continued to slide somewhat into irrelevance. And I was amazed at how many non Italian born Roman Emperors that there were. Several of the Emperors rarely if ever, even visited Rome. It was very interesting to see the slow loss of impact that the city of Rome itself had on the empire. There is a span of time before Diocletian that almost no Emperor was able to remain in power, or alive for that matter, for more than a year or two after assuming the purple. Gibbon goes into excruciating detail to describe slow decline of the empire and the monumental steps toward the eventual fall. If you enjoy Roman History then you will love this book.
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