Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1

I was going to post regularly about The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, but life has a habit of getting in the way.  But I just want to mark that I finished vol. 1.  In this volume, Gibbon lays out at least some of his thesis on the decline and fall.  In his view, Rome didn't have the civil apparatus for an orderly transfer of power, and so all too often, the Empire ended up in some sort of strife as rival claimants to the throne tried to grab it.  Even when that wasn't the case, the rivals would try to bribe the army, leading to an overweening armed force that was difficult to control.

He views the monarchy as an antidote to this problem.  You may not always have a good ruler, but at least there's an orderly succession in place, and everyone knows what it is.  (Although he glosses over things like, say, the fight between Mary and Elizabeth I).  He doesn't believe in popular government, because rival claimants will try to hold on to the throne by appealing to the mob or the army -- Gibbon can't seem to envision a popular election system where there's also an orderly transfer of power.

He also begins the process of working out his other great theme, the harmful effect Christianity had on the Empire.  His famous 16th chapter is savage on the subject of Christianity's claims to truth, but he doesn't really yet enter into the larger effect of Christianity on the Empire.  I eagerly look forward to reading vol. 2.