First appeared in 1776 it covers the following: The Golden Age of the Antonines, the Challenge to the Old Regime. The Growth of Military Autocracy and the Influx of Orientalism. The Distribution of the Empire. The Turn of the Tide. The New Imperial System. The Rise of Christianity. The Movement Towards the East. The Recognition of Christianity: the Beginnings of Heresy. The Pagan Counter-reformation. The Return of Christianity to Favour. The Great Invasions. The End of the Empire in the West. The State of Italy. The Age of Justinian. Theological Influences. The Coming of Islam. The Decline of the Empire in the East. The Crusades. The End of the Roman Empire. The Epilogue: Mediaeval Rome and the Dawn of the Renaissance. Bibliographical Note. A Chronological List of the Roman Emperors. Index. A Map of the Roman and Ottoman Empires about 1400. A Map of the Roman Empire in the Time of the Atonines.