"The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated."
— Gibbon, Edward (1737-1794)
Author
Date
1776, 1781, 1788-89
Metaphor
"The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated."
Metaphor in Context
It was scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated. The natives of Europe were brave and robust. Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Illyricum supplied the legions with excellent soldiers, and constituted the real strength of the monarchy. Their personal valour remained, but they no longer possessed that public courage which is nourished by the love of independence, the sense of national honour, the presence of danger, and the habit of command. They received laws and governors from the will of their sovereign, and trusted for their defence to a mercenary army. The posterity of their boldest leaders was contented with the rank of citizens and subjects. The most aspiring spirits resorted to the court or standard of the emperors; and the deserted provinces, deprived of political strength or union, insensibly sunk into the languid indifference of private life.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" in Liberty Fund's OLL edition of The Decline and Fall
Citation
Published in six volumes: vol. I in 1776; vols. II and III, 1781; vols. IV, V, and VI, 1788-1789. At least 36 entries in ESTC (1776, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1797).
See The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Edward Gibbon, Esq; Volume the First. (London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1776). <Link to ESTC>
Searching in Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. J.B. Bury with an Introduction by W.E.H. Lecky (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906), in 12 vols.
See The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Edward Gibbon, Esq; Volume the First. (London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1776). <Link to ESTC>
Searching in Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. J.B. Bury with an Introduction by W.E.H. Lecky (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906), in 12 vols.
Date of Entry
10/09/2005
