decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight." Weakened by internal decay, the Western Roman Empire "was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians." Underlying causes When Gibbon published his landmark work, it quickly became the standard, and remained so for over 200 years. Peter Brown has written that "Gibbon's work formed the peak of a century of scholarship which had been conducted in the belief that the study of the declining Roman Empire was also the study of the origins of modern Europe". Gibbon was the first to attempt an explanation of causes of a Fall of empire. Historian Gerald J. Gruman explains Gibbon's views as built around two important concepts: "balance" and "excess". Gibbon's interpretation of the causes of the decline and fall of the Roman empire are primarily political and can be grouped under four political headings: universal domination, democracy, militarism and religion. Universal domination Gibbon assumes the best course for all nations is to preserve a balance of power between them. Without balance, humans produce domination, or its opposite excess, submergence. Rome's pursuit of empire led to its own demise, because such domination is "artificial and abnormal". Gibbon thought that, in its quest for world dominion, Rome had created a situation that intensified the evils of despotism, lost public freedom, and allowed the universal dominion of their Pax Romana to cause the deterioration of the political virtues. The Roman Empire included many different nations and cultures, and Rome pushed assimilation by offering citizenship in what Gibbon saw as a profligate manner. The citizens of the Roman world-empire "received the name without adopting the spirit of Romans". This led to what Gibbon saw as an obliteration of what it meant to be Roman. Democracy Gibbon admired the Roman aristocracy, and believed democracy led to anarchy and instability. He condemned Roman imperialism because it reduced nations to a mediocre uniformity, levelling all classes and individuals to a servile equality. What followed democracy's inevitable collapse was despotism. Gibbon accused despotism of weakening the military virtues (I, 194 and II, 522), of causing excessive taxation (II, 190), of fettering the mind (I, 58), and of producing other consequences fatal to the health of the empire. Militarism Like democracy and universal domination, militarism was considered by