πŸ”’ Fresh lessons from the Romans – droughts and deaths

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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Given today’s climate upheaval and the rising spectre of drought affecting previously fertile land, the news from Rome is grim. It’s especially worrying when you consider the role drought played in Sudan’s civil war. Sometimes climate change means political change, and not for the better.

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