History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 — Page 14
A second attentive and regular perusal of the entire work, of the notes of the author, and of those which I had thought it right to subjoin, showed me how much I had exaggerated the importance of the reproaches which Gibbon really deserved;
Una seconda lettura attenta e regolare dell'intera opera, delle note dell'autore, e di quelle che avevo ritenuto opportuno aggiungere, mi mostrò quanto avessi esagerato l'importanza dei rimproveri che Gibbon meritava davvero;
I was struck with the same errors, the same partiality on certain subjects;
fui colpito dagli stessi errori, dalla stessa parzialità su certi argomenti;
but I had been far from doing adequate justice to the immensity of his researches, the variety of his knowledge, and above all, to that truly philosophical discrimination (_justesse d'esprit_) which judges the past as it would judge the present;
ma ero ben lontano dall'aver reso adeguata giustizia all'immensità delle sue ricerche, alla varietà del suo sapere, e soprattutto a quella discriminazione veramente filosofica (_justesse d'esprit_) che giudica il passato come giudicherebbe il presente;
which does not permit itself to be blinded by the clouds which time gathers around the dead, and which prevent us from seeing that, under the toga, as under the modern dress, in the senate as in our councils, men were what they still are, and that events took place eighteen centuries ago, as they take place in our days.
che non permette a se stessa di essere accecata dalle nubi che il tempo raccoglie intorno ai morti, e che ci impediscono di vedere che, sotto la toga, come sotto l'abito moderno, nel senato come nei nostri consigli, gli uomini erano ciò che sono ancora, e che gli eventi ebbero luogo diciotto secoli fa, come avvengono ai nostri giorni.
I then felt that his book, in spite of its faults, will always be a noble work—and that we may correct his errors and combat his prejudices, without ceasing to admit that few men have combined, if we are not to say in so high a degree, at least in a manner so complete, and so well regulated, the necessary qualifications for a writer of history.
Sentii allora che il suo libro, nonostante i suoi difetti, sarà sempre un'opera nobile — e che possiamo correggere i suoi errori e combattere i suoi pregiudizi, senza smettere di ammettere che pochi uomini hanno saputo riunire, se non vogliamo dire in così alto grado, almeno in maniera così completa e così ben ordinata, le qualità necessarie a uno scrittore di storia.
Vocabulary
- seconda
- Second; ordinal number, feminine form
- lettura
- Reading; the act of reading a text
- attenta
- Careful, attentive; adjective feminine singular
- regolare
- Regular, consistent, steady in occurrence
- intera
- Entire, whole, complete; feminine adjective
- opera
- Work, opus; a literary or artistic creation
- note
- Notes; written annotations or remarks
- autore
- Author; person who writes a literary work
- quelle
- Those; demonstrative adjective/pronoun, feminine plural
- ritenuto
- Considered, deemed, regarded as appropriate
- opportuno
- Opportune, appropriate, suitable for the occasion
- aggiungere
- To add, to append something to existing content
- mostrò
- Showed, demonstrated; third-person singular past
- quanto
- How much, how greatly; interrogative or relative adverb
- esagerato
- Exaggerated, overstated; past participle of 'esagerare'
- importanza
- Importance, significance, relevance of something
- rimproveri
- Reproaches, rebukes, criticisms directed at someone
- meritava
- Deserved, merited; third-person singular imperfect
- davvero
- Really, truly, indeed; adverb of affirmation
- colpito
- Struck, hit, impressed; past participle of 'colpire'
- stessi
- Same; adjective masculine plural, indicating identity
- errori
- Errors, mistakes; plural of 'errore'
- stessa
- Same; adjective feminine singular, indicating identity
- parzialità
- Partiality, bias, one-sided judgment or favoritism
- certi
- Certain, some; adjective masculine plural
- argomenti
- Topics, subjects, arguments; plural of 'argomento'
- lontano
- Far, distant; adjective or adverb of distance
- reso
- Rendered, given; past participle of 'rendere'
- adeguata
- Adequate, sufficient, appropriate; feminine adjective
- giustizia
- Justice, fairness; giving something its due recognition
- immensità
- Immensity, vastness, enormous scope or extent
- ricerche
- Research, investigations, scholarly inquiries
- varietà
- Variety, diversity, range of different elements
- sapere
- Knowledge, learning; also 'to know' as infinitive
- soprattutto
- Above all, especially, most importantly; adverb
- discriminazione
- Discrimination, discernment; ability to distinguish carefully
- veramente
- Truly, really, genuinely; adverb of manner
- filosofica
- Philosophical; relating to philosophy, feminine adjective
- giudica
- Judges, evaluates; third-person singular present of 'giudicare'
- passato
- Past; noun or adjective referring to previous times
- giudicherebbe
- Would judge; third-person singular conditional of 'giudicare'
- presente
- Present; the current time or moment
- permette
- Allows, permits; third-person singular present of 'permettere'
- accecata
- Blinded; past participle feminine of 'accecare'
- nubi
- Clouds; plural of 'nube', metaphorically obscuring clarity
- tempo
- Time; also weather; very common Italian noun
- raccoglie
- Gathers, collects; third-person singular present of 'raccogliere'
- intorno
- Around, surrounding; adverb or preposition of position
- morti
- Dead, the deceased; plural noun or adjective
- impediscono
- They prevent, hinder; third-person plural present of 'impedire'
- vedere
- To see, to perceive; common Italian infinitive verb
- sotto
- Under, beneath; preposition indicating position below
- toga
- Toga; ancient Roman garment worn in public life
- abito
- Suit, clothing, garment; modern attire or dress
- moderno
- Modern, contemporary; adjective masculine singular
- senato
- Senate; legislative assembly in ancient or modern context
- consigli
- Councils, assemblies; also advice; plural of 'consiglio'
- uomini
- Men, human beings; plural of 'uomo'
- ciò
- That, this; demonstrative pronoun for abstract reference
- ancora
- Still, yet, again; common Italian adverb
- eventi
- Events, occurrences; plural of 'evento'
- luogo
- Place; also 'ebbe luogo' means 'took place'
- diciotto
- Eighteen; cardinal number
- secoli
- Centuries; plural of 'secolo'
- fa
- Ago; used with time expressions to indicate past
- avvengono
- They happen, occur; third-person plural present of 'avvenire'
- giorni
- Days; plural of 'giorno'
- Sentii
- I felt, I sensed; first-person singular passato remoto of 'sentire'
- allora
- Then, at that time; common Italian adverb
- libro
- Book; a written or printed literary work
- nonostante
- Despite, notwithstanding; concessive preposition or conjunction
- difetti
- Defects, flaws, shortcomings; plural of 'difetto'
- sempre
- Always, forever; common Italian adverb of time
- nobile
- Noble, distinguished, admirable; adjective or noun
- correggere
- To correct, to fix errors or mistakes
- combattere
- To fight, to combat, to struggle against something
- pregiudizi
- Prejudices, biases; plural of 'pregiudizio'
- senza
- Without; preposition indicating absence or lack
- smettere
- To stop, to cease doing something
- ammettere
- To admit, to acknowledge, to concede something
- pochi
- Few, not many; adjective masculine plural
- saputo
- Known, managed to; past participle of 'sapere'
- riunire
- To unite, to bring together, to combine elements
- dire
- To say, to tell; common Italian infinitive verb
- così
- So, thus, in this way; common Italian adverb
- alto
- High, elevated; adjective describing degree or stature
- grado
- Degree, level, extent; measure of something's intensity
- almeno
- At least; adverb expressing minimum quantity or condition
- maniera
- Manner, way, style of doing something
- completa
- Complete, thorough, full; feminine adjective
- ordinata
- Orderly, organized, well-arranged; feminine adjective
- qualità
- Qualities, attributes, characteristics of a person or thing
- necessarie
- Necessary, required, essential; feminine plural adjective
- scrittore
- Writer, author; person who writes literary works
- storia
- History, story; narrative of past events
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