The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · ¶360

The entire series of Roman emperors, from the first of the Caesars to the last of the Constantines, extends above fifteen hundred years: and the term of dominion, unbroken by foreign conquest, surpasses the measure of the ancient monarchies; the Assyrians or Medes, the successors of Cyrus, or those of Alexander.

Edward Gibbon · Project Gutenberg #734 (Milman edition) — public domain
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