Gibbon and Toynbee were both historians who looked at the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Their opinions on it, however, are very different. Gibbon believed that the Roman Empire did fall as a result of attacks from northern Barbaric tribes. He thought that the fall of such a powerful empire was inevitable and it was surprising that it lasted so long. Unlike Toynbee, Gibbon briefly explains how Christianity was a major cause of the fall because it made the empire lose its zeal for conquest. Toynbee's main focus in looking at the fall of Rome is the rise of Christianity. Contrary to what Gibbon believes, Toynbee does not think that Christianity caused the Roman Empire to fall. He says that it had already started to self-destruct before Christianity came into play. Christianity was merely a bridge between Roman and modern civilizations. He does not actually believe that Rome "fell." Its power gradually declined until it developed into today's modern Europe.
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