Romanised Goths, Vandals, and Franks were the defenders, nearly the
only defenders, of the empire against other tribes and nations who
were not Romanised, and nothing can be more plain than that Gibbon saw
this as well as any one since, but he has not set it forth with
prominence and clearness. With his complete mastery of the subject he
would have done it admirably, if he had assumed the necessary point of
view.
Similarly, with regard to the causes of the fall of the empire. It is
quite evident that he was not at all unconscious of the deep economic
and social vices which undermined the great fabric. Depopulation,
decay of agriculture, fiscal oppression, the general prostration
begotten of despotism--all these sources of the great collapse may be
traced in his text, or his wonderful notes, hinted very often with a
flashing insight which anticipates the most recent inquiries into the
subject. But these considerations are not brought together to a
luminous point, nor made to yield clear and tangible results. They lie
scattered, isolated, and barren over three volumes, and are easily
overlooked.
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