ABSTRACT
Montesquieu's work on the Romans appeared in 1734, about midway between his other two great works, Persian Letters, and The Spirit of the Laws. Considerations, like Montesquieu' other two major works, contains parts linked by a "secret chain" or hidden design. Montesquieu takes his account of the Western Empire up to the time of its collapse under Arcadius and Honorius. A sympathetic study of republican Rome is, in fact, by its very nature an attack on the Bible, its leaders and its peoples. In particular, any effort to explain the causes of Rome's greatness and decline must reckon with the religious possibility. Montesquieu's radical teaching is not meant to have immediate practical consequences. Instead, it seeks to win the best minds both as colleagues in wisdom and as allies in the spiritual warfare necessary to preparing for whatever opportunities the future may bring.
