provinces by the Arabs, who embraced the religion of Mahomet; the revolt of the Roman people against the feeble princes of Constantinople; and the elevation of Charlemagne, who, in the year 800, established the second, or German empire of the west.
III. The last and longest of these periods includes about six centuries and a half; from the revival of the western empire, till the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, and the extinction of a degenerate race of princes, who continued to assume the titles of Cæsar and Augustus, after their dominions were contracted to the limits of a single city; in which the language, as well as manners, of the ancient Romans, had been long since forgotten. The writer who should undertake to relate the events of this period, would find himself obliged to enter into the general history of the crusades, as far as they contributed to the ruin of the Greek empire; and he would scarcely be able to restrain his curiosity from making some enquiry into the state of the city of Rome during the darkness and confusion of the middle ages.
As I have ventured, perhaps too hastily, to commit to the press a work which, in every sense of the word, deserves the epithet of imperfect, I consider myself as contracting an engagement to finish, most probably in a second volume,[1] the first of these memorable periods; and to deliver to the public the complete history of the decline and fall of Rome, from the age of the Antonines to the subversion of the western empire. With regard to the subsequent periods, though I may entertain some hopes, I dare not presume to give any assurances. The execution of the extensive plan which I have described, would connect the ancient and modern history of the world; but it would require many years of health, of leisure, and of perseverance.
Bentinck Street, February 1, 1776.
- ↑ The author, as it frequently happens, took an inadequate measure of his growing work. The first period has filled three volumes in quarto, and is contained in the first four volumes of this edition.
