The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Edward Gibbon
About this work
Edward Gibbon, an English historian, published The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. This is Chapter 27 of that work. He follows Rome from the prosperous age of Trajan and the Antonines, around the year 100, through the fall of the West and on to the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453.
Chapter 27 takes up death of Gratian—Ruin of Arianism—St. Ambrose—First civil war, against Maximus—Character, administration, and penance of Theodosius—Death of Valentinian II—Second civil war, against Eugenius—Death of Theodosius. The footnotes are not in this reading; what you have is the narrative.