The Mediterranean Climate in Modern and Roman Times

The Mediterranean Climate in Modern and Roman Times

Florence, Italy lies in the Tuscan region in the middle of the Italian peninsula, and is a part of the temperate Mediterranean climate region. Being in such a temperate zone means that Italy is less subject to extreme climate change than other parts of the world. This does not mean that throughout recorded history the climate of the region has been static, however we can see many similarities between the climate today and that of the time of the Roman Empire.

H.H. Lamb describes a gradual global warming in Europe leading up to AD (CE) 400. As he says, this is consistent with a rising sea level during the same period of time. We have evidence of Roman writers indicating that olive and the vine could be grown farther north than earlier in Roman history (Lamb, 157). As those two crops are very prominent cultural aspects of Rome, this is a very culturally pertinent piece of evidence. Not only was this northern cultivation of olive and vine possible during Pliny’s time (1 st century CE), but it is still possible now, as olives and wine are two very important parts of Mediterranean culture.

Ptolemy kept a weather journal in the 2 nd century, near the time of Pliny, which Lamb refers to, citing “occurrence of rain in every month of the year except August, of thunder in all summer months, and in that days of great heat were commonest in July and August” (Lamb, 159).

This is still more or less true of the Mediterranean, particularly Florence. [tu30.jpg]While Lamb says that “today the continual north and northwest winds off the sea in [July, August] lower the temperature,” Ptolemy kept his journal in Alexandria, farther south than Florence. While Florence may not have expe...

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...e had shifted dramatically south.

Eventually, as we know, the Roman Empire fell apart and was unable to maintain its magnitude or its grandeur, and its downfall is closely linked to climate change. The ecotone currently lies in southern France, where, as Fagan tells us, we can see the vegetation change from Mediterranean to temperate within a few meters. The trend today suggests warming, but unlike in the high period of the Roman Empire, today a lot of this warming appears to be caused by human activity. Political trends show that an Empire of such magnitude as Rome would not be possible today, but undeniably the history of human life is tied closely to our climate.

Bibliography

Lamb, H. H. Climate, History, and the Modern World. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 1982. 156-170.

Fagan, Brain. The Long Summer. New York: Basic Books, 2004. 189-212.