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Fresh lessons from the Romans – droughts and deaths
The Economist recently published a thought-provoking piece on what the history of the Roman empire tells us about the cost of bad weather. It shared a chart showing a strong association between drought and the assassination of Roman emperors - when the rains failed and people got hungry, imperial heads rolled.
By Felicity Duncan
The Economist recently published a thought-provoking piece on what the history of the Roman empire tells us about the cost of bad weather. Specifically, it shared a chart – you can see it on Twitter– showing a strong association between rainfall and the assassination of Roman emperors. In a nutshell, when the rains failed and people got hungry, imperial heads rolled. Between 235 AD to 285 AD – a period of prolonged drought – 14 of 26 emperors were assassinated.
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