Quotes from Gibbon in Chapter Three:
Happiness of the Romans
If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.
Memory of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian
The annals of the emperors exhibit a strong and various picture of human nature, which we should vainly seek among the mixed and doubtful characters of modern history. In the conduct of those monarchs we may trace the utmost lines of vice and virtue; the most exalted perfection, and the meanest degeneracy of our own species.
Do you agree? Disagree? If it's true, why should it be true? Or does it say more about Gibbon than about Roman times and the emperors?
Bingley