The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire II

This volume follows the recovery of the empire under the Illyrian emperors and Diocletian's tetrarchy into the reign of Constantine. Gibbon recounts civil wars, the founding of Constantinople, the emperor's alliance with the Christian church, and the new court's ceremonies and laws. He examines how a persecuted religion became an imperial institution and how the capital shifted from the Tiber to the Bosporus. The book is narrative political and ecclesiastical history of the early fourth century, not a biography of Constantine alone and not a theological treatise.

Bound in dark red-brown buckram decorated in gold. Map endleaves. Pale yellow-brown slipcase.