Comparisons of articles on the end of the Roman Empire

The first article, by Edward Gibbon, has a very different view than the second article, by Arnold Toynbee does about the fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon's article says that Rome was maybe a little barbaric, as were all of the other countries in Italy. He seems to say that fighting was very important to them. Overall, he says that many things affected Rome's fall, but invasions and battles from and with other civilizations played a big part in its downfall. Also, Rome was such a huge, powerful, and successful empire, so it had to fall sometime. The stress of being on top for so long finally helped take them down.

The second article, by Arnold Toynbee, states completely different reasons. Also, this article was written after Gibbon's, and Toynbee looks at the article that I reviewed above, and criticizes it. He agrees with some parts, but disagrees with others. He says that the fall was more caused by inherent defects of Rome, and religion may play a little part in it, but not too much. He is not explaining his view as much as he is trying to disprove the thought that religion was the cause of Rome's downfall. He does say that at one point, Rome had sort of an inner war, with lots of street fighting and such. The emperor wanted to sail away, but his wife persuaded him to stay. This show the weakness of the ruler, and this is one of the reasons that Rome fell. Over all, Toynbee is saying that Christianity greatly affected many civilizations, but was indeed not the cause of Rome's downfall.

In Toynbee's article, he states one thing that was a major mistake of Gibbon. Gibbon thought that the fall of Rome began in the second century CE, whereas Toynbee thought it began five centuries before Christ. Both of these articles have some truth, and it really shows how many ways one can view the fall of Rome.

Sources:

Gibbon, Edward. "Medieval Sourcebook: Gibbon: The Fall of the Roman Empire."FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gibbon-fall.html>.

Toynbee, Arnold. "Christianity and Civilization." Welcome to MYRIOBIBLOS - The Etext Library of the Church of Greece. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/toynbee.html>.

Photograph from:

Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia, 30 Apr. 2007. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colosseum_in_Rome,_Italy_-_April_2007.jpg>.