Tuesday, June 06, 2017
The Eternal City
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), The Memoirs of the Life of Edward Gibbon, with Various Observations and Excursions. By Himself. Edited by George Birbeck Hill (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1900), p. 163 (footnotes omitted)
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My temper is not very susceptible of enthusiasm; and the enthusiasm which I do not feel, I have ever scorned to affect. But, at the distance of twenty-five years, I can neither forget nor express the strong emotions which agitated my mind as I first approached and entered the eternal city. After a sleepless night, I trod, with a lofty step, the ruins of the Forum; each memorable spot where Romulus stood, or Tully spoke, or Caesar fell, was at once present to my eye; and several days of intoxication were lost or enjoyed before I could descend to a cool and minute investigation.
