As Rome expanded further and further in the rule of Emperor Trajan, environmental missteps by this massive empire were factors that led to its eventually instability and decline. While the climate was locked as fairly humid and warm in the early days of the Roman Empire, the climate changed quite a bit towards the end.
Scattered ruins of Ancient Rome
Deforestation, in order to produce wood for building, clearing land for farming and urbanizing for trade, caused the soil to become eroded and infertile, and the temperature to lower. To serve a booming population and economy, the Romans sacrificed key areas of their environment.
However, while some argue that the Romans were never aware of the consequences for cutting down trees, conservation methods were eventually instated (though as the environment was already declining). In addition, writings from Plato and Cicero acknowledge the erosion and complacency of humans in taking advantage of the environment.
Statues of Plato (left) and Cicero (right)
Most notably of all, Ancient Rome experienced the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which slaughtered the city of Pompeii. This natural disaster is estimated to be one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history, killing 16,000 and spewing ash over nearby land.
One of the many victims of the eruption Mount Vesuvius frozen in time under ash
While these climate impacts were likely not the most important factor in the Roman Empire’s decline, we can still see some early effects of deforestation in a large civilization. This is similar to deforestation today, and marks the importance of our modern society’s opposition to it. However, while climate in Rome shifted a bit, our society has a much larger danger, with the rise of carbon emissions and still common production of unrenewable, inefficient resources. Luckily, our world is changing, and we might be able to turn some of this change around by learning from the complacency of civilizations before us and the data that we have now. While we still have volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis in our world today, our technological and medical improvements have equipped us to respond to them much easier and create more preventative measures.
In conclusion, not much has changed in how climate declines, but this process has sped up over time as we’ve invented more and more environmentally damaging technology.
“Frozen in Time: Casts of Pompeii Reveal Last Moments of Volcano Victims.” Ancient Origins. Last modified May 25, 2015. http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/frozen-time-casts-pompeii-reveal-last-moments-volcano-victims-003117.
Haralampopoulos, Maria. “Plato’s Ecologically Cautionary Words.” New Greek TV | The Greek Channel of New York. Last modified October 6, 2013. http://www.newgreektv.com/english-news/item/998-plato-s-ecologically-cautionary-words.
“The Ancient Roman Empire and Natural Disasters.” Ancient Rome. Last modified May 15, 2017. https://ancientromedotcom.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/the-ancient-roman-empire-and-natural-disasters/.
Zielinski, Sarah. “Climate and the Fall of the Roman Empire.” Smithsonian. Last modified January 18, 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/climate-and-the-fall-of-the-roman-empire-42171285/.
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