The Rhetoric of Numbers in Gibbon's History

This book, the first to be devoted to a historian's use of numbers, argues that Edward Gibbon, though a humanist historian, placed great value on numerical evidence. He uses numbers as part of his rhetorical strategy to persuade through rational, emotional, and ethical proofs. Gibbon's use of numbers to measure chronology, geography, and population is examined alongside his application of numbers to war, religion, finance, and even literature. Throughout his work, Gibbon sifted his sources carefully in order to deduce social and economic information about the daily lives and standard of living of ordinary people.

F.P. Lock is professor of English at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada.