英文摘要 |
This article investigates the connection between Edward Gibbon's account of the Roman Empire and the classical scholarship of early modern Europe. Gibbon devoted most of his scholarly life to writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It took him nearly twenty years to complete this masterwork. On what scholarly foundation was this masterwork based? This is an important question which deserves further inquiry. Gibbon came from a gentry family and had received a classical basic education from grammar school through his youth. He was later sent to Lausanne, Switzerland, to receive a Protestant education and it was on this venture that he was introduced into the world of French classical scholarship. He then read extensively the writings of European scholars from the Renaissance, covering classical philology and antiquarian research. In this way, he accumulated a large amount of historical knowledge on Roman history, laying the foundation for his later work on the Roman Empire. Gibbon himself never became a professional classical scholar, but he understood very well the value of the researches of classical scholars, and knew how to make use of their findings to illuminate ancient history. In writing The History, he shrewdly combined the classical scholarship of modern Europe and the spirit of the Enlightenment, thus giving the world the greatest historical writing since classical times. |