Short answers, pulled from the story.
Edward Gibbon began his life's work in 1764 while sitting on the ruins of the Roman Forum. He was twenty-seven years old and had just returned from a Grand Tour of Europe when the idea struck him that afternoon.
Volume I appeared in February 1776 through publishers William Strahan and Thomas Cadell. Volumes II and III arrived together in 1781 after five years of additional research, and the final three volumes IV through VI were issued simultaneously in 1788.
Gibbon argued that embracing Christianity significantly contributed to the Roman Empire's internal decline by redirecting wealth toward church activities. He claimed this shift reduced participation in imperial bureaucracy and weakened state support systems while encouraging fewer people to serve in the military.
The third volume triggered immediate backlash from religious groups who labeled Gibbon a paganist for his portrayal of Christianity as intolerant. Critics published numerous tracts attacking his views, leading Gibbon to issue A Vindication of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in 1779 to defend his use of historical evidence.
William Shirer used similar phrasing for The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in 1960, and Jefferson Davis wrote about Confederate governance using Gibbon's structural framework decades after publication. David Bowie titled his rock opera The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars drawing inspiration directly from these concepts.