231 years ago today, on January 16, 1794 (the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month), British historian Edward Gibbon passed away.

On January 16, 1794, the famous British historian and author of the world-famous historical giant The History of the Decline of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, died.

Gibbon was born on April 27, 1737, to a bourgeois family in the town of Putney near London. Because of his mother's early death and his father's strictness, he developed a silent and introverted personality and an addiction to reading since childhood. As a teenager, he read widely, especially loved historiography. Recalling this initial study life, Gibbon wrote: "Reading, reading freely and arbitrarily, is my work and comfort when I am lonely."

At the age of 22, Gibbon retired and served in the army for about four years. In January 1763, he left England and traveled to Europe. He first stayed in Paris for a while. At that time, Paris was the center of the European Enlightenment movement, and Gibbon was deeply influenced here. In 1764, he travelled to Italy, whilst looking at the remains of ancient Rome, he was agitated, flattered, and planned to write a history of the fall of Rome.

When his father died in 1770, he settled in London and began to write The History of the Decline of the Roman Empire. On the evening of June 27, 1787, Gibbons wrote the final chapter. From the idea of writing to the writing, it took 20 years to complete, giving him the energy of his lifetime. The History of the Decline of the Roman Empire was a huge book. The entire book was 6 volumes of 71 chapters, more than 1.2 million words. Although the book had many shortcomings because of the author's ideological view of history, the book was rich in information, fine writing, vivid language, and a reward. It was born and immediately received a piece of praise from the European academic community. The famous American economist Adam Smith wrote a letter to him congratulating him that the book allowed him to enter the first place in the European literary history at the time