"The casual disputes that so frequently happened in their tumultuous parties of hunting or drinking were sufficient to inflame the minds of whole nations"
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Published in six volumes: vol. I in 1776; vols. II and III, 1781; vols. IV, V, and VI, 1788-1789. At least 36 entries in ESTC (1776, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1797).<br>
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See <u>The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Edward Gibbon, Esq; Volume the First.</u> (London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1776). &lt;<a href="http://estc.bl.uk/T78356">Link to ESTC</a>&gt;<br>
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Searching in  Edward Gibbon, <u>The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, </u>ed. J.B. Bury with an Introduction by W.E.H. Lecky (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906), in 12 vols.