tonine period, through the dreadful century of
anarchy between Pertinax and Diocletian, through the relative peace
brought about by Diocletian's reforms, the civil wars of the sons of
Constantine, the disastrous defeat of Julian, the calamities of the
Gothic war, the short respite under Theodosius, the growing anarchy
and misery under his incompetent sons, the three sieges of Rome and
its sack by the Goths, the awful appearance of Attila and his Huns,
the final submergence of the Western Empire under the barbarians, and
the universal ruin which marked the close of the fifth century. This
was the temporal side of affairs. On the spiritual, we have the silent
occult growth of the early Church, the conversion of Constantine, the
tremendous conflict of hostile sects, the heresy of Arius, the final
triumph of Athanasius, the spread of monasticism, the extinction of
paganism. Antiquity has ended, the middle ages have begun.

Over all this immense field Gibbon moves with a striking attitude of
power, which arose from his consciousness of complete preparation.
What there was to be known of his subject he felt sure that he knew.
His method of treatment is very simple, one might say primitive, but
it is very effective. He masters his materials, and then condenses and
clarifies them into a broad, well-filled narrative, which is always or
nearly always perfectly lucid through his skill in grouping events and
characters, and his fine boldness in neglecting chronological sequence
for the sake of clearness and unity of action. It is doing the book
injustice to consult it only as a work of reference, or even to read
it in detached portions. It should be read through, if we would
appreciate the art with which the story is told. No part can be
fairly judged without regard to the remainder. In fact, Gibbon was
much more an artist than perhaps be suspected, and less of a
philosophic thinker on history than he would have been willing to
allow. His shortcomings in this latter respect will be adverted to
presently; we are now considering his merits. And among these the very
high one of lofty and vigorous narrative stands pre-eminent. The
campaigns of Julian, Belisarius, and Heraclius are painted with a dash
and clearness which few civil historians have equalled. His
descriptive power is also very great. The picture of Constantinople in
the seventeenth chapter is, as the writer of these pages can testify,
a wonderful achievement, both for fide