How did Edward Gibbon describe the Roman Empire’s decline?

In his monumental work, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon characterized the Roman Empire as a single entity in a state of undeviating decline from the ideals of political and intellectual freedom found in classical literature.12

Gibbon argued that the material decay of the empire was both a symbol and a direct consequence of moral decadence. He famously summarized the causes of this collapse with the epigrammatic phrase, "I have described the triumph of barbarism and religion," highlighting his view that the rise of Christianity and the pressure of barbarian invasions were central factors in the retrogression of the Greco-Roman world.12

While his work is celebrated for its literary style and rigorous scholarship, modern historians note that his perspective was influenced by his identity as an 18th-century "philosopher," leading him to view the transition away from classical ideals as a negative process.2