The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Gibbon continues his discussion of why Rome was so great by moving on to the topics of Rome’s religion and social and political organization. He argues that military strength alone does not explain Rome’s success.

Significantly, there was religious tolerance both from the government and between different sects and cultures. The “general principle of government was wise, simple, and beneficent” (28), believing that Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Celtic pagans all had the right to worship their chosen gods and recognizing all of their gods and rites as equally valid. In fact, some believed the gods of other peoples were the same as their gods, just with different names. Gibbon admits that the Senate of Rome did occasionally persecute certain cults, such as destroying the Druids of Gaul and banishing the Egyptian cults of Isis and Serapis from Italy, but eventually even the Egyptian cults became permitted (32).

Philosophical schools like the Stoics, the Platonists, and the Epicureans had their own opinions while still respecting, at least to an extent, the beliefs of the populace. Different philosophers either did not believe in the existence of any gods or treated the existence of the divine like an abstract matter, focusing their philosophy instead on human nature. Whatever their beliefs about religion, philosophers in the Roman Empire still enjoyed freedom of inquiry.

Rome was also able to expand through incorporating other peoples. Unlike the Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens, Rome often extended rights and citizenship to the peoples it conquered while maintaining a distinction between Italy and the provinces. Italy was exempt from taxation and the emperors and the Senate kept Rome as the capital. However, Rome did also give opportunities to join the military and political elite even to provincials. Gibbon notes, “The grandsons of the Gauls who had besieged Julius Caesar in Alesia commanded legions, governed provinces, and were admitted into the Senate of Rome” (37). Through the spread of Latin and Roman culture, the provinces were unified under Roman rule. This remained the case even though, after the Romans conquered Greece and the Greek-speaking “Eastern” lands, Greek culture and literature became so popular among the Romans that every upper-class Roman was fluent in both Latin and Greek. 

Gibbon admits that, as open to new citizens as the Roman Empire was, it was still built on violence and slavery. He notes, “The perfect settlement of the Roman empire was preceded by ages of violence and rapine” (39). Enslaved people were usually foreign people captured in war. Because revolts led by enslaved people were a major threat to the empire, they were kept repressed through harsh laws. Still, by the second century CE, laws dealing with enslaved people became less oppressive, with enslavers no longer having the right to kill those they’d enslaved for any reason. Also, traditionally under Roman law, enslaved people could achieve freedom and become regular members of society.

In contrast to what Gibbon describes as the “despotism” of the “monarchies of Asia,” Gibbon argues that the submission to Rome was in a way “voluntary” (43). The subject peoples of the Roman Empire shared in the benefits of Roman society and culture. They benefited especially from the Roman Empire’s great cities, which were filled with impressive monuments, public works, and wealth. The cities were connected together by a sophisticated network of highways.

Even with the brutality of Rome’s rise, Gibbon sees the Roman Empire as bringing the benefits of civilization developed in Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa to the “rude and warlike barbarians” (51) of Western Europe. The Romans also introduced valuable crops, like olives and flax, to Western Europe and created a widespread trade in luxuries across their empire. However, Gibbon also believes that it was the spread of luxury that undermined the old military spirit of the Romans, helping to make the culture of the empire stagnant.