Summary of the Article
This article was done by Werner Max, Robin Haunschild and Lutz Bornman in 2018. The title is Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question. The work’s thesis is that the Western Roman Empire’s decline and fall were majorly caused by climate change.1 The authors researched the relevant literature about why the Empire failed and how climate change was connected to the decline.
The document has main ideas that the authors express about climate change that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. First, the report gives brief information about the leading groups that the Empire controlled. Major areas include Britain, Southern Continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. From their work, a reader can understand how the Empire was characterized by geographic region, population, and other factors.2 The writers dispute that the Empire fell because of societal and human factors. The authors suggest that the climatic changes were the major contributing factor towards the weakening of the power of Rome. Second, they believe that the fall of the Roman Empire led to societal collapse and a decline in complex human metrics in the region.
The writers suggest that the gradual transition from Late Antiquity into the early middle age allowed other groups to invade the region, such as Barbarians.3 The authors insinuate that it is at this point that climate change enters the story. The migration of Huns to the borders of the Roman Empire led to the integration of warfare, and tragedy followed as there was less conservation of the environment. The conclusion is that the rapidly evolving climate change and the disorganization of society then contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.4 The late antique environmental change and the wars mentioned, such as Persians and Arabs, contributed to the fall.
Critical Analysis of the Article
Strengths and Weaknesses
The article gives information by comparing the existing data with the authors’ research. The article gives essential information about what happened in ancient times, such as the scramble for the areas to control, the wars involved, and society’s gradual transition in terms of ideological differences.5 The writers mention deforestation and soil erosion as some of the key factors that led to the deterioration of climate change. The drought in Central Asia and the onset of cooler climate in the German region made some of the parties such as Era Pessimum at the beginning of the Medieval Climate Optimum around AD 800.6 There is the support of ideas whereby the article associates the lake deposits and soil cross sections by the Bokovenko as the contributing elements in climate change.
The writers have relied on literature from other scholars about the issue of climate change being the major factor in the fall of the Roman Empire. From what the article presents, the long-term shifts in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are the major influence on the climate in the Northern Hemisphere.7 NAO gives an element of fluctuations in atmospheric pressure temperature at sea level, among others. The two phases of NAO that are positive and negative impacts led to the controls in terms of the direction of the westerly winds across the North Atlantic. Therefore, more drought in the Eastern Mediterranean caused a more arid climate in Northern Europe.
The other strength of the article is the comparison of the major chronological events that characterized the Empire then. The writers mention the Eurasian steppe stretches and the debate about the fall of Rome. The gradual transition of the climate changes started making it hard for the region to have trees and later formed a desert. There is what is called Juniper tree-ring chronology in the Dulan-Wulan in the Tibetan plateau. There are major attributions given to the multi-decadal drought in AD 340.8 Here, a reader can understand the major events such as the migration of the Huns. The chronology of events gives it a major possible reflection of the duration of the key event. For example, the climate system cause was observed to last for more than forty years when Hunnic migrations occurred.
The Thoroughness and Clarity of the Article’s Topic
The article’s major points are related to issues that led to the decline of climate hence, the fall of the Roman Empire. The paper mentions the timespan in which climate change happened and the focus on the Roman Empire, in which the transition is attributed to the Middle Ages.9 The writers have cited paleoclimatic data from various points, which first caused the warm period known as the Roman Climate Optimum and the Migration Period Pessimum.10 To show how climate change affected the Roman Empire, the article mentions severe economic crises that weakened the military while boosting the decline by a significant margin. There was no longer stability in the Empire. The writers allege that the shift led to major political moments that started to disgruntle the people in Rome, including the leadership then. Climate change did affect not only Rome but also the peripheral regions such as Asia, and at this point, a migration period was provoked.11 Some of the migration elements comprised Germanic tribes, Goths, and Huns into the Roman Empire. The migration period eventually led to the downfall of the Western Roman Empire.
Evidence Used by The Authors to Support the Thesis
Several factors show the authors justify their thesis. The mention of NAO and the movement of groups to provoke the migration period is an example. Additionally, the authors used literary sources that show the archaeological parts of the Empire’s fall. For example, the article shows that there was a variation in rainfall and steppes and deserts that led to the instability of the Empire.12 Additionally, there are records of civil wars in the defense against Barbarians, resulting from the intense climatic pressure. Also, the article mentions diseases related to drought that attacked people then, leading to a long-lasting and final collapse of the Empire.
The Article’s Interaction with the Course Material
The topics discussed in class relevant to this article’s main point are the Section 6: Rome and Asia Minor, Governorship of Britain: its geography, Britain’s inhabitants, The nature of the land, Stirrings of rebellion, and Sound governance. Through these topics, the reader can relate how Rome and Asia were interconnected through social and economic ties and the factors that gave rise to climate changes from the social and political happenings.
The reading so far in class influenced my understanding of the article. By learning the geography of Britain, a reader can understand that several structures came to have gradual change in the land due to climate change.13 All this information is important as it plays a key role in understanding the structure and organization of the Roman Empire then. The governance by people such as Publius Cornelius Tacitus shows the reader how the success of the leading military at the expense of overlooking the environmental issues led to the Empire’s decline. The rebellions from the primary sources under the life of Julius Agricola show how divisions contributed to the lack of equality in environmental conservation.
The article enables the reader to understand ancient political and social structures and the moments that led to the split and fall in leadership strategies. Through the article, I understand the aspects of being in charge of an area and failing to utilize the powers given to control nature’s economy, geography, and other elements. I have learned from the article that strength in the military is not important if there is disregard for the need to conserve the environment to prevent changes in climate and weather.14 Additionally, failing to combat a simple matter may lead to a heavy impact, such as loss of lives and disorganization in society.
Work Cited
Marx, Werner, Robin Haunschild, and Lutz Bornmann. 2018. “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question.” Climate 6 (4): 1-21.
Footnotes
- 1 Werner Marx, Robin Haunschild and Lutz Bornmann, “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” (Leipzing: MDPI,2018): p. 1, line 6 doi:10.3390/cli6040090.
- 2 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 2, line 25-27
- 3 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 3, line 29-33
- 4″Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 20, line 6
- 5 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 17, line 20
- 6 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 18, line 21-22
- 7 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p.17, line 30-33
- 8 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 18, line 18-19
- 9 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 19, line 7
- 10 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question”, p. 19, line 16
- 11 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 19 line, 16-19
- 12 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 19, line 27
- 13 “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p. 18, line 29
- 14 Werner Marx, Robin Haunschild and Lutz Bornmann, “Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question,” p.1 line 15