Was the Roman Empire Damaged by Climate Change?
Saturday December 13, 2008
A recently published study on climate has prompted some to ask the question: was the Roman Empire (and its later incarnation as the Byzantine Empire) brought low by changes in the climate? The study noted that the climate was particularly dry between 100 – 400 CE, the era often associated with the decline of the Western Roman Empire. A similar claim was made for the Byzantine lands. As University of Wisconsin Professor John W. Valley puts it: "Whether this is what weakened the Byzantines or not isn’t known, but it is an interesting correlation… These things were certainly going on at the time that those historic changes occurred." The decline of Rome has been blamed on a range of events, including “barbarian” invasion, and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to add a further cause into the complicated mix, just as long as no one is claiming that climate change was the sole cause, which I would find unrealistic.
Comments
Very interesting to hear this… Very interesting indeed… Thanks for the excepcional information!
According to historian Peter Heather, the late Roman Empire was a period of agricultural expansion. He relies on arceological evidence and extensive research and if it’s allright with you, I’ll take his word over Valley’s.
Also, isn’t it true a “dry” period would have had the most effect in areas NOT used for farming? Areas allready too dry for farming?
Not necessarily. In an area with intensive agricultural production, a long dry spell can have devastating consequences. Think of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl during the Great Depression in the US, or the droughts of the 1980s.
My understanding was that Late Antiquity was not a time of agricultural expansion, but rather of decline as the lack of influx of slaves from foreign wars caused a major labor shortage. That’s why laws were passed requiring farm workers to remain on their farms, etc.
So a long period of drought could certainly have contributed, among many other factors, to the “fall” of the Empire (or more correctly, the gradual decline of the Empire).
You should read Peter Heather’s book “The fall of Rome”. He put everything I ever learned about the fall of Rome on it’s head. There is a whole chapter on the agricultural expansion during the late empire, with archeological evidence to back it up. I wonder what evidence this other guy has.
Check out Brian Fagan’s books “The Little Ice Age” and “The Great Warming” to see the effect of climate change during Medieval Europe, et. al.