Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire religions that we now label "paganism" was seen as the result of the religious intolerance inherent in the monotheistic Christian faith. The classic expression of this view occurs in the work of Edward Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." As historian Herbert Drake puts it, "It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Gibbon's interpretation on subsequent scholarship." Herbert Drake takes issue with the historiography of Gibbon, arguing that while persecution certainly occurred for religious reasons, that the underlying motivation was consolidation of power in the Constantinian dynasty, which was offered in the form of promoting the cult
Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire (1985; second edition 2004) is a book by the psychologist Hans Eysenck, in which the author criticizes Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, which he argues is unscientific. The second edition has a preface by his widow, Sybil Eysenck. The book received both positive and negative reviews. Eysenck has been criticized for his discussion of Josef Breuer's treatment of his patient Anna O., whom Eysenck argues suffered from tuberculous meningitis. Eysenck argues that psychoanalysis is unscientific and that its theories are based on no legitimate base of observation