The decline and fall of the Roman Empire

What Hacker News says

1. expedition32Apr 2026
   Ever read "the history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire" by Gibbon? It's actually quite amusing until you realise humanity hasn't changed one iota.
   thread
2. DyslexicAtheistDec 2023
   The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon

   edit: lol downvotes?

   thread
3. DrPhishJun 2023
   As nice as that is for a quick overview, the whole story was told rather well by Gibbon in his "History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire".

   If that has whet your appetite and you'd like a more in-depth telling of just this episode then you can skip right to : https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/895/pg895-images.html#l... and enjoy.

   If you have an inclination, I'd heartily recommend the entire set of books. As an anecdote, it took me 2 years of reading 10-20 minutes per night most nights. I found it extremely enlightening and entertaining (Gibbon has a wicked wit).

   As much as Gibbon is not in fashion these days, the research I did showed that the essential parts of our understanding of the nuts and bolts of the history haven't changed since it was written, and I don't think anyone else has contextualized and editorialized the whole story with as much intelligence and careful thought since.

   I also found pretty well all the complaints about Gibbon's interpretation to have actually been though about and answered _by_ Gibbon in the text (in eloquent detail!), which I found surprising given the frequency with which he seems to be dismissed with simplistic arguments.

   Show morethread
4. sacnoradhqJan 2023
   I can't recall the quote, but "A book worth burning is a book worth reading."

   No one has to support or agree with ideas to delve into them, find their flaws and strengths (reality and people are mixtures of gray), and consider other perspectives. To avoid topics is one path to ignorance and decline.

   - Das Kapital

   - Understanding Socialism

   - The God Delusion

   - Bible

   - Quran

   - Mein Kampf

   - Atlas Shrugged

   - (numerous critiques of objectivism and its political-economic brand: libertarianism)

   - Critique of Pure Reason

   - The Social Contract

   - Industrial Society and Its Future

   - A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

   - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

   - Guns, Germs, and Steel

   == And some fiction ===

   - Howl

   - Tropic of Cancer

   - Four Past Midnight (yes, Stephen King)

   - Maus

   Show morethread
5. labradorOct 2022
   The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1776)

   It's many volumes but I never considered not finishing.

   Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay (1841)

   Reading that helped me understand the NFT craze and how these things get going and usually end

   thread
6. topologieFeb 2022
   - Herodotus: The Histories (Landmark Series version highly recommended).

   - Any book by Nassim Taleb (I'd recommend starting with Antifragile).

   - The Count of Monte Cristo (Most fun novel I have ever read).

   - Moby Dick or The Whale (One of the top two novels I've ever read).

   - Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West (Tied with Moby Dick for best novel I've ever read).

   - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Epic reading... worth the commitment).

   Show morethread