[muawiyah]

Gibbon pretty much blamed the whole thing on invading barbarians. Subsequent research has demonstrated the barbarians were pretty civilized, didn't destroy the Western Roman Empire economy, and had nothing to do with the climatic catastrophe that precipitated the Dark Ages.

Gibbon was also soft on the idea that the Eastern Empire suffered.

Given that you and Gibbon are in lockstep agreement on all the major points, why are you complaining about Mr. Gibbon?

[The_Reader_David]

Gibbon popularized the notion that there was a Roman Empire which disolved into chaos and a different 'Byzantine' Empire existed in the East, He was the one who created the fiction of the 'Fall of Rome'. I was tweaking you for you Gibbonian insistence on using 'Byzantium'.