The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

I think what's amazing about the Roman Empire is it endures as long as it does. And if Titus had not burnt the temple, maybe things would be different. So I think that actually Gibbon gets it the wrong way around. This is what seems so odd to the Romans in the early years of Christianity. They are a kind of universal people without their ruthless cosmopolitan,. As you might want to say. But it's precisely that that ultimately makes Christianity so suited to an empire that is universal in scope.