Gibbon, Edward (1737–1794)

English historian. He wrote one major work, arranged in three parts, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–88), a continuous narrative from the 2nd century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

He began work on it while in Rome in 1764. Although immediately successful, he was compelled to reply to attacks on his account of the early development of Christianity by a ‘Vindication’ in 1779. His Autobiography, pieced together from fragments, appeared in 1796.