The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

1926

Brasch DG311 GE142 1926

London: Methuen

In 180 AD, Emperor Marcus Aurelius died, having ruled over an empire that stretched from northern Britain, across Europe, to the Middle East. He was succeeded by his son Commodus (161-192 AD) who, incidentally, was played by the actor Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s movie Gladiator (2000). In his seminal work, Edward Gibbon claimed Commodus’s accession to the imperial throne was the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire.