 For readers of the modern age , The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon ( 1737 – 94 ) further cemented the scandalous reputation of Elagabalus . Gibbon not only accepted and expressed outrage at the allegations of the ancient historians , but might have added some details of his own ; he is the first historian known to state that Gannys was a eunuch , for example . Gibbon wrote : 
