CHAP. I.
INTRODUCTION and plan of the work. -- Explanation of what the author understands by wealthy and powerful nations, and of the general cause of wealth and power......1
CHAP. II.
Of the general causes that operate, both externally and internally, in bringing down nations that have risen above their level to that assigned to them by their extent, fertility, and population; and of the manner in which wealth destroyed power in ancient nations...............14
CHAP. III.
Of the nations that rose to wealth and power previous to the conquests in Asia and Africa, and the causes which ruined them...............20
CHAP. IV.
Of the Romans. -- The causes of their rise under the republic, and of their decline under the emperors. -- The great error generally fallen into with respect to the comparison between Rome and Carthage; proofs that it is wrong, and not at all applicable to France and England................27
CHAP. V.
Of the cities and nations that rose to wealth and power in the middle ages, after the fall of the Western Empire, and previous to the discovery of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, and of America. -- Different effects of wealth on nations in cold and in warm climates, and of the fall of the Eastern Empire..............44