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 52 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 52 takes up the two sieges of Constantinople by the Arabs—Their invasion of France, and defeat by Charles Martel—Civil War of the Ommiades and Abbassides—Learning of the Arabs—Luxury of the Caliphs—Naval enterprises on Crete, Sicily, and Rome—Decay and division of the empire of the Caliphs—Defeats and victories of the Greek emperors. The footnotes are not in this reading; what you have is the narrative.