History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 — Page 6
This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which he has cast the decay and ruin of the ancient civilization, the formation and birth of the new order of things, will of itself, independent of the laborious execution of his immense plan, render "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" an unapproachable subject to the future historian: 101 in the eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot:—
Dieser gewaltige Entwurf Gibbons, das großartige Ganze, in das er den Verfall und den Untergang der antiken Zivilisation sowie die Entstehung und Geburt einer neuen Weltordnung gegossen hat, wird für sich allein, unabhängig von der mühevollen Ausführung seines umfassenden Plans, „Der Verfall und Untergang des Römischen Reiches" zu einem unerreichbaren Thema für künftige Historiker machen: 101 in den beredten Worten seines jüngsten französischen Herausgebers, M. Guizot:—
101 (return) [ A considerable portion of this preface has already appeared before us public in the Quarterly Review.]
101 (Rückverweis) [ Ein beträchtlicher Teil dieses Vorworts ist bereits öffentlich im Quarterly Review erschienen.]
"The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion which has ever invaded and oppressed the world; the fall of that immense empire, erected on the ruins of so many kingdoms, republics, and states both barbarous and civilized; and forming in its turn, by its dismemberment, a multitude of states, republics, and kingdoms; the annihilation of the religion of Greece and Rome; the birth and the progress of the two new religions which have shared the most beautiful regions of the earth; the decrepitude of the ancient world, the spectacle of its expiring glory and degenerate manners; the infancy of the modern world, the picture of its first progress, of the new direction given to the mind and character of man—such a subject must necessarily fix the attention and excite the interest of men, who cannot behold with indifference those memorable epochs, during which, in the fine language of Corneille—
„Der allmähliche Niedergang der außergewöhnlichsten Herrschaft, die je in die Welt eingefallen ist und sie unterdrückt hat; der Untergang jenes gewaltigen Reiches, das auf den Trümmern so vieler Königreiche, Republiken und Staaten, barbarischer wie zivilisierter, errichtet wurde; und das seinerseits durch seine Zerstückelung eine Vielzahl von Staaten, Republiken und Königreichen hervorbrachte; die Vernichtung der Religion Griechenlands und Roms; die Geburt und der Aufstieg der beiden neuen Religionen, die sich die schönsten Regionen der Erde geteilt haben; der Verfall der alten Welt, das Schauspiel ihres erlöschenden Ruhms und ihrer entarteten Sitten; die Kindheit der modernen Welt, das Bild ihres ersten Fortschritts, der neuen Richtung, die dem Geist und dem Charakter des Menschen gegeben wurde — ein solches Thema muss zwangsläufig die Aufmerksamkeit fesseln und das Interesse jener Menschen wecken, die jene denkwürdigen Epochen nicht gleichgültig betrachten können, während derer, in den treffenden Worten Corneilles —
'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'achève.
'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'achève.
Vocabulary
- gewaltige
- Enormous, powerful, or mighty in scale.
- Entwurf
- Draft, sketch, or initial plan of something.
- großartige
- Grand, magnificent, or splendid in character.
- Ganze
- The whole, entirety, or complete totality.
- Verfall
- Decay, decline, or deterioration of something.
- Untergang
- Downfall, ruin, or complete destruction of something.
- antiken
- Of or relating to classical antiquity; ancient.
- Zivilisation
- Civilization; organized and developed human society.
- sowie
- As well as; conjunction linking additional elements.
- Entstehung
- Origin, emergence, or coming into being of something.
- Geburt
- Birth; the moment something or someone begins.
- Weltordnung
- World order; global political and social arrangement.
- gegossen
- Cast or poured; past participle of gießen.
- allein
- Alone, solely, or by itself without others.
- unabhängig
- Independent, not relying on or connected to others.
- mühevollen
- Laborious, painstaking, requiring great effort.
- Ausführung
- Execution, implementation, or carrying out of a plan.
- umfassenden
- Comprehensive, all-encompassing, wide-ranging in scope.
- Römischen
- Roman (adjective, relating to ancient Rome).
- Reiches
- Empire's; genitive of Reich (empire, realm).
- unerreichbaren
- Unreachable, unattainable, beyond anyone's capability.
- Thema
- Topic, theme, or subject of discussion or work.
- künftige
- Future, upcoming (adjective referring to what is ahead).
- Historiker
- Historians; scholars who study and write history.
- beredten
- Eloquent, articulate (inflected form of beredt).
- jüngsten
- Most recent, latest (superlative of jung in context).
- französischen
- French (adjective, relating to France or its culture).
- Herausgebers
- Editor's or publisher's; genitive of Herausgeber.
- Rückverweis
- Back reference or cross-reference pointing backward.
- beträchtlicher
- Considerable, substantial, significant in amount.
- Teil
- Part, portion, or section of a larger whole.
- Vorworts
- Preface's; genitive of Vorwort (foreword, preface).
- bereits
- Already, previously; adverb indicating prior occurrence.
- öffentlich
- Publicly, openly; available or visible to all.
- erschienen
- Appeared, published; past participle of erscheinen.
- allmähliche
- Gradual, slow, happening little by little over time.
- Niedergang
- Decline, downfall, or gradual deterioration of something.
- außergewöhnlichsten
- Most extraordinary, exceptional beyond all usual standards.
- Herrschaft
- Rule, dominion, or authority over people or territory.
- je
- Ever, at any time; adverb used in superlative contexts.
- eingefallen
- Invaded, fallen upon; past participle of einfallen.
- unterdrückt
- Suppressed, oppressed; past participle of unterdrücken.
- jenes
- That (neuter genitive/nominative demonstrative pronoun).
- gewaltigen
- Immense, powerful (inflected adjective form of gewaltig).
- Trümmern
- Ruins, rubble, remains of destroyed structures.
- Königreiche
- Kingdoms; plural of Königreich (kingdom, realm).
- Republiken
- Republics; plural of Republik (republican state).
- Staaten
- States, nations; plural of Staat (state, country).
- barbarischer
- Barbarian (genitive/comparative form); uncivilized peoples.
- zivilisierter
- More civilized; comparative adjective of zivilisiert.
- errichtet
- Built, erected; past participle of errichten.
- seinerseits
- In turn, for its part; adverb of reciprocal reference.
- Zerstückelung
- Fragmentation, dismemberment, breaking into many pieces.
- Vielzahl
- Multitude, large number, or great variety of things.
- Königreichen
- Kingdoms (dative plural of Königreich).
- hervorbrachte
- Produced, brought forth; past tense of hervorbringen.
- Vernichtung
- Annihilation, destruction, complete elimination of something.
- Religion
- Religion; organized system of faith and worship.
- Griechenlands
- Of Greece; genitive form of Griechenland.
- Roms
- Of Rome; genitive form of Rom (Rome).
- Aufstieg
- Rise, ascent, or upward progress of something.
- beiden
- Both; referring to two previously mentioned things.
- Religionen
- Religions; plural of Religion (faith traditions).
- schönsten
- Most beautiful; superlative of schön (beautiful).
- Regionen
- Regions; plural of Region (geographical area).
- Erde
- Earth, ground; the planet or terrestrial surface.
- geteilt
- Divided, shared; past participle of teilen.
- Schauspiel
- Spectacle, play, or dramatic scene to observe.
- erlöschenden
- Fading, dying out, extinguishing (present participle of erlöschen).
- Ruhms
- Of glory, fame's; genitive of Ruhm (fame, glory).
- entarteten
- Degenerate, corrupted, morally decayed (past participle adjective).
- Sitten
- Customs, morals, manners of a society or group.
- Kindheit
- Childhood; early stage of life or development.
- modernen
- Modern (inflected adjective form); relating to present era.
- Bild
- Image, picture, or portrayal of something.
- Fortschritts
- Of progress; genitive of Fortschritt (advance, progress).
- Richtung
- Direction, orientation, or path toward something.
- Geist
- Spirit, mind, or intellect; essential nature of something.
- Charakter
- Character, nature, or defining qualities of a person.
- solches
- Such a, of that kind (neuter nominative form).
- zwangsläufig
- Inevitably, necessarily, without any alternative outcome.
- Aufmerksamkeit
- Attention, attentiveness; focused mental engagement with something.
- fesseln
- To captivate, bind, or hold someone's attention firmly.
- Interesse
- Interest; curiosity or concern directed toward something.
- jener
- Of those, that (demonstrative pronoun, genitive form).
- wecken
- To awaken, arouse, or stir up feelings or interest.
- jene
- Those; demonstrative pronoun referring to distant things.
- denkwürdigen
- Memorable, noteworthy, worthy of being remembered.
- Epochen
- Epochs, eras; significant periods of historical time.
- gleichgültig
- Indifferent, apathetic, uncaring about something or someone.
- betrachten
- To view, observe, or consider something carefully.
- während
- During, while; preposition or conjunction of time.
- derer
- Of which, of those; relative or demonstrative genitive pronoun.
- treffenden
- Apt, fitting, accurate (inflected form of treffend).
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