This article contains two extracts from Gibbon that might serve as a guide to nations and individual persons. I will not presume to suggest what policy changes governments might make but it offers food for thought. Regarding nations: Background: The Arabs (post the death of the prophet) had invaded Europe and made great advances. This […]
Tag Archives: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
An aid to prevent Communal violence
I came across the following anecdote in my reading of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. It may help the police and the government more generally speaking to maintain communal harmony whenever the Muslim community is offended because of insults to their faith and to the prophet. The anecdote involves not […]
Commodus and the Sri Lankan crisis
I picked up my copy of Gibbon to research material for an article on Islam that I want to write. Going through the Table of Contents however I was intrigued by the chapter on the life and death of Emperor Commodus. Commodus was the villain in the movie in the blockbuster action movie Gladiator starring […]
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
I have had my copy of the abridged version of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon for many years now. But it is only now that I have started to read it. I read just the Foreword, Introduction, Preface and the first chapter and was blown away by the insights […]