I finished chapter 37 of *The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire*, ISBN: 1853264997. (See 2004-02-11 Books for electronic copies.) In the printed copy I have, chapters 38-49 are not included. The summaries talke about the reign of Justinian in the east, which I am very interested in because I heard that Gavriel Kay’s *Sailing to Sarantium* books are modeled after Justinian, ISBN: 0743450094.
But then again, I still have the three *Byzantium* volumes by John Julius Norwich to read, ISBN: 0140114475. (Ordered them 2003-10-11.)
I wonder, is it worth reading Gibbon’s text, or should I leave it out, finish the book I have, and read about Justinian in Norwich’s book?
#Books
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when i read something authoritative (ex. Gibbon) and then something derivative, the critical faculty dominates – you see the errors in the derivative work. so i would read the derivative work for fun, then read Gibbon and see how well the derivative work holds up.
– GregScott 2004-02-15 00:10 UTC
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Yeah... I think I will finish reading the Gibbon chapters that are in my books, skipping Justinian, and then read Norwich, and then return to selected Gibbon chapters from the electronic copies available...
– Alex Schroeder 2004-02-15 02:18 UTC