Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline

E54231

historical treatise non-fiction book political treatise

Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline is a historical and political treatise by Montesquieu that analyzes the factors behind the rise and fall of the Roman Empire to draw broader lessons about power, virtue, and corruption in states.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence	2
Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T432477 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline
Context triple: [Montesquieu, notableWork, Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline]

A. Desiderantes meliorem patriam
Desiderantes meliorem patriam is a Latin phrase meaning "They desire a better country," serving as the aspirational motto associated with the Order of Canada.
B. Book III: Polybius
Book III: Polybius is a section of Cotton Mather’s historical work *Magnalia Christi Americana* that emulates the style of the ancient historian Polybius to interpret and narrate New England’s colonial history.
C. Tractatus Politicus
Tractatus Politicus is a posthumously published political treatise by philosopher Baruch Spinoza that analyzes the nature of political authority and proposes a rational, secular foundation for the state.
D. Zosimus' "New History"
Zosimus' "New History" is a late antique Greek historical work that offers a pagan, critical account of the Roman Empire’s decline, including a detailed narrative of the Sack of Rome in 410.
E. The Outline of History
The Outline of History is a sweeping early-20th-century universal history book by H. G. Wells that attempts to narrate the story of humanity from prehistoric times to the modern era.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline
Target entity description: Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline is a historical and political treatise by Montesquieu that analyzes the factors behind the rise and fall of the Roman Empire to draw broader lessons about power, virtue, and corruption in states.

A. Desiderantes meliorem patriam
Desiderantes meliorem patriam is a Latin phrase meaning "They desire a better country," serving as the aspirational motto associated with the Order of Canada.
B. Book III: Polybius
Book III: Polybius is a section of Cotton Mather’s historical work *Magnalia Christi Americana* that emulates the style of the ancient historian Polybius to interpret and narrate New England’s colonial history.
C. Tractatus Politicus
Tractatus Politicus is a posthumously published political treatise by philosopher Baruch Spinoza that analyzes the nature of political authority and proposes a rational, secular foundation for the state.
D. Zosimus' "New History"
Zosimus' "New History" is a late antique Greek historical work that offers a pagan, critical account of the Roman Empire’s decline, including a detailed narrative of the Sack of Rome in 410.
E. The Outline of History
The Outline of History is a sweeping early-20th-century universal history book by H. G. Wells that attempts to narrate the story of humanity from prehistoric times to the modern era.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical treatise ⓘ non-fiction book ⓘ political treatise ⓘ
aimsTo	draw lessons about power from Roman history ⓘ explain the causes of Roman decline ⓘ explain the causes of Roman greatness ⓘ
analyzes	Roman civic virtue ⓘ Roman political institutions ⓘ corruption in Rome ⓘ effects of conquest on Rome ⓘ military institutions of Rome ⓘ
author	Montesquieu ⓘ surface form: Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu Montesquieu ⓘ
centuryOfPublication	18th century ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	France ⓘ
examinesPeriod	from the early Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire ⓘ
focusesOn	Roman Empire ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ
genre	historical analysis ⓘ political philosophy ⓘ
hasForm	prose ⓘ
historicalFiguresDiscussed	Augustus ⓘ Julius Caesar ⓘ various Roman consuls and emperors ⓘ
historicalPerspective	critical of despotism ⓘ secular interpretation of Roman history ⓘ
influenced	later theories of the rise and fall of empires ⓘ modern political science ⓘ
intendedAudience	educated public ⓘ statesmen and political thinkers ⓘ
languageOfTitle	French ⓘ
mainSubject	causes of political greatness and decline ⓘ history of ancient Rome ⓘ political theory ⓘ rise and fall of the Roman Empire ⓘ
originalLanguage	French ⓘ
originalTitle	Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence
philosophicalCurrent	Enlightenment political thought ⓘ
publicationYear	1734 ⓘ
relatedWorkByAuthor	The Spirit of the Laws ⓘ
structure	series of chronological chapters on Roman history ⓘ
theme	corruption of political institutions ⓘ effects of expansion and empire ⓘ fragility of political greatness ⓘ relationship between virtue and power ⓘ
usesMethod	comparative historical analysis ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Montesquieu → notableWork → Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline ⓘ

Montesquieu → authorOf → Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline ⓘ

this entity surface form: Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence

Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline → originalTitle → Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline self-linksurface differs ⓘ