Hehe has clearly undertaken, in all those years since that grand tour to rome, a vast amount of reading. The french philosophy to which gibbon was more attracted was the historically informed sociology of montesquieu. He also gets some ideas about how the church has acted in society and the effects of religious beliefs on human psychology. And then finally, from adam smith, i think gibbon will have got a reinforcement of his anti imperialist commitments.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of one of the great historians, best known for his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (published 1776-89). According to Gibbon (1737-94) , the idea for this work came to him on 15th of October 1764 as he sat musing amidst the ruins of Rome, while barefooted friars were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter. Decline and Fall covers thirteen centuries and is an enormous intellectual undertaking and, on publication, it became a phenomenal success across Europe.
The image above is of Edward Gibbon by Henry Walton, oil on mahogany panel, 1773.
With
David Womersley
The Thomas Wharton Professor of English Literature at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford
Charlotte Roberts
Lecturer in English at University College London
And
Karen O’Brien
Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson