英语世界最伟大的史学家吉朋在他死后两年出版的《自传》（一七九六）里记述了《罗马帝国衰亡史》的缘起。他二十七岁那年曾独自坐在罗马卡匹托尔山的废墟中沉思 ,赤足修士在近旁的朱庇特神庙唱着晚祷曲。眼前的景物触发了苍凉的历史感 ,他顿时萌生了撰写那部皇皇巨著的念头。 Ji Peng, the greatest historian in the English-speaking world, chronicles in the “Autobiography” (1796) published two years after his death the history of the fall of the Roman Empire. At twenty-seven, he was alone in the ruins of Mount Carpet in Rome, meditating, and the Barefoot monks sang the late prayer in the Temple of Jupiter nearby. In front of the scene triggered a sense of desolation, he immediately initiated the idea of ​​writing that piece of the emperor Huang.