What is the Gibbon Thesis?

Answer 1

The Gibbon Thesis, proposed by historian Edward Gibbon in his seminal work "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," suggests that the decline of Rome was primarily due to the rise of Christianity. Gibbon argued that the spread of Christian values undermined traditional Roman civic virtue and military discipline, contributing to the empire's weakening. He posited that the moral and cultural shifts instigated by Christianity played a significant role in the eventual collapse of Roman authority and power.