Gibbon, or, as it was called in my experience, “The Gibbon”—
“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Leads to so many ancient books and writings of all kinds.
Horrendous. Hard. Complex. And masterful.
yes, indeed...that is already part of the equation. Gibbon picks up (roughly) where Tacitus stops.
Fortunately, there are some very good abridged versions of Gibbon out there. Some excellent scholars have gone to the trouble of editing out his many deviations but left the general flow of his history intact (and of course his masterful use of the English language, as you rightly note).
So Gibbon is in the queue for post-Tacitus, up through not only the end of the Empire in the West, but continuing on through Justinian.
Which still leaves the earlier stuff...
I guess I could look for an abridged Livy and an abridged Tacitus....