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The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 [1776] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 Edition Used: 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. Vol. 9. Author: Edward Gibbon Editor: John Bagnell Bury About This Title: The ninth volume of a 12 volume set of Gibbon’s magesterial history of the end of the Roman Empire, one of the greatest works of history written during the Enlightenment. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1436 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1436 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 Table Of Contents The Works of Edward Gibbon List of Illustrations The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter L Chapter Li Chapter Lii Chapter Liii Appendix Additional Notes By the Editor 1.: Gold In Arabia — ( P. 4 ) 2.: The Sabians — ( P. 26 , 27 ) 3.: Two Treaties of Mohammad — ( P. 72 , 80 ) 4.: Mokaukas — ( P. 88 , 177 ) 5.: Chronology of the Saracen Conquest of Syria and Egypt — ( P. 134-182 ) 6.: Authorities — ( Ch. Lii . Sqq. ) 7.: Saracen Coinage — ( P. 241 ) 8.: The Themes of the Roman Empire — ( P. 243 , 315 , 320 Sqq. ) 9.: Constantine Porphyrogennetos On the Administration of the Empire — ( P. 315-351 ) 10. The Byzantine Navy — ( P. 248 , 351 Sqq. ) 11.: The Slavs In the Peloponnesus — ( P. 323-4 ) PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1436 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 [Back to Table of Contents] THE WORKS OF EDWARD GIBBON HISTORY OF ROME VOLUME IX NEW YORK FRED DeFAU & COMPANY PUBLISHERS PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1436 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 [Back to Table of Contents] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Cairo . Frontispiece From a photograph. Mahomet . page 30 From a rare print. The Temple at Mecca . 60 From a rare print. Damascus . 146 From an old drawing by Dibdin. Map of Western Asia . 230 An Arab Horseman . 280 From a painting by Adolph Schreyer. NOTE In the revision of the proof sheets of Chapters L. to LIII. invaluable help has been received from Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, who, in the case of the previous volumes also, has been untiringly kind in answering questions and making suggestions. J. B. B. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1436 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 [Back to Table of Contents] THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE CHAPTER L Description of Arabia and its Inhabitants — Birth, Character, and Doctrine of Mahomet — He preaches at Mecca — Flies to Medina — Propagates his Religion by the Sword — Voluntary or reluctant Submission of the Arabs — His Death and Successors — The Claims and Fortunes of Ali and his Descendants After pursuing, above six hundred years, the fleeting Cæsars of Constantinople and Germany, I now descend, in the reign of Heraclius, on the eastern borders of the Greek monarchy. While the state was exhausted by the Persian war, and the church was distracted by the Nestorian and Monophysite sects, Mahomet, with the sword in one hand and the Koran in the other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of Rome. The genius of the Arabian prophet, the manners of his nation, and the spirit of his religion involve the causes of the decline and fall of the Eastern empire; and our eyes are curiously intent on one of the most memorable revolutions which have impressed a new and lasting character on the nations of the globe.1 In the vacant space between Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Æthiopia, the Arabian peninsula2 may be conceived as a triangle of spacious but irregular dimensions. From the northern point of Beles3 on the Euphrates, a line of fifteen hundred miles is terminated by the straits of Babelmandeb and the land of frankincense. About half this length4 may be allowed for the middle breadth from east to west, from Bassora to Suez, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.5 The sides of the triangle are gradually enlarged, and the southern basis presents a front of a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean. The entire surface of the peninsula exceeds in a fourfold proportion that of Germany or France; but the far greater part has been justly stigmatised with the epithets of the stony and the sandy. Even the wilds of Tartary are decked by the hand of nature with lofty trees and luxuriant herbage; and the lonesome traveller derives a sort of comfort and society from the presence of vegetable life. But in the dreary waste of Arabia, a boundless level of sand is intersected by sharp and naked mountains, and the face of the desert, without shade or shelter, is scorched by the direct and intense rays of a tropical sun. Instead of refreshing breezes, the winds, particularly from the south-west, diffuse a noxious and even deadly vapour; the hillocks of sand which they alternately raise and scatter are compared to the billows of the ocean; and whole caravans, whole armies, have been lost and buried in the whirlwind. The common benefits of water are an object of desire and contest; and such is the scarcity of wood that some art is requisite to preserve and propagate the element of fire. Arabia is destitute of navigable rivers, which fertilise the soil and convey its produce to the adjacent regions; the torrents that fall from the hills are imbibed by the thirsty earth; the rare and hardy plants, the tamarind or the acacia, that strike their roots into the clefts of the rocks, are nourished by the dews of the night; a scanty supply of rain is collected in cisterns and aqueducts; the wells and springs are PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 7 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1436 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 9 the secret treasure of the desert; and the pilgrim of Mecca,6 after many a dry and sultry march, is disgusted by the taste of the waters, which have rolled over a bed of sulphur or salt. Such is the general and genuine picture of the climate of Arabia. The experience of evil enhances the value of any local or partial enjoyments. A shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of fresh water, are sufficient to attract a colony of sedentary Arabs to the fortunate spots which can afford food and refreshment to themselves and their cattle, and which encourage their industry in the cultivation of the palm-tree and the vine. The high lands that border on the Indian Ocean are distinguished by their superior plenty of wood and water; the air is more temperate, the fruits are more delicious, the animals and the human race more numerous; the fertility of the soil invites and rewards the toil of the husbandman; and the peculiar gifts of frankincense7 and coffee have attracted, in different ages, the merchants of the world.