Passage (Edward Gibbon, *The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire*, 1776, Chapter I): "In the second century of the Christian Æra, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valor. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. During a happy period of more than fourscore years, the public administration was conducted by the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. It is the design of this, and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of their empire; and afterwards, from the death of Marcus Antoninus, to deduce the most important circumstances of its decline and fall; a revolution which will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth." What can be inferred from the sentence "The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government"?
AThe Roman senate's sovereignty was a polite fiction, in fact ceded to the emperors who exercised effective power.
BThe Roman senate held genuine sovereign authority and merely delegated some functions to the emperors.
CThe Roman senate and the emperors shared sovereign authority equally during this period.
DThe Roman senate had been formally abolished by the second century.
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. The Roman senate's sovereignty was a polite fiction, in fact ceded to the emperors who exercised effective power.
The keys are *appeared* and *image*. Gibbon writes that *the image of a free constitution* was preserved (an image, not the substance), and that the senate *appeared* to possess sovereignty. To say the senate *appeared* to possess sovereign authority — but then *devolved* (handed off) all executive power to the emperors — is to say the senate kept the form of authority while the emperors held the substance. That is a polite fiction.
- **A** misreads *appeared* as endorsement.
- **C** ignores Gibbon's careful asymmetry: the senate *appeared* to have authority, the emperors *had* the executive powers.
- **D** is contradicted — the paragraph says the senate is part of a preserved image, not that it was abolished.
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