Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/191

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 169 CHAPTER XLVIII Plan of the last two [q-j/ar^o] Volumes — Succession and Characters of the Greek Emperors of Constantinople, jrom the Time of Heraclius to the Latin Conquest I HAVE ROW deduced from Trajan to Constantine, from Con- Defects of stantine to Heraclius, the regular series of the Roman tine history emperors ; and faithfully exposed the prosperous and adverse fortunes of their reigns. Five centuries of the decline and fall of the empire have already elapsed ; but a period of more than eight hundred years still separates me from the term of my labours, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. Should I persevere in the same course, should I observe the same measure, a prolix and slender thread would be spun through many a volume, nor would the patient reader find an adequate reward of instruction or amusement. At every step, as we sink deeper in the decline and fall of the Eastern empire, the annals of each succeeding reign would impose a more ungrateful and melancholy task. These annals must continue to repeat a tedious and uniform tale of weakness and misery ; the natural connexion of causes and events wouH '-««^ broken by frequent and hasty transitions, and a minute ac- cumulation of circumstances must destroy the light and effect of those general pictures which compose the use and ornament of a remote history. From the time of Heraclius, the Byzan- tine theatre is contracted and darkened ; the line of empire, which had been defined by the laws of Justinian and the arms of Belisarius, recedes on all sides from our view ; the Roman name, the proper subject of our inquiries, is reduced to a narrow corner of Europe, to the lonely suburbs of Constanti- nople ; and the fate of the Greek empire has been compared to that of the Rhine, which loses itself in the sands before its waters can mingle with the ocean. The scale of dominion is diminished to our view by the distance of time and place ; nor is the loss of external splendour compensated by the nobler gifts of virtue and genius. In the last moments of her decay,