A massive volcanic eruption may have contributed to the rise of the Roman Empire
A caldera in Alaska that formed during the Okmok eruption in 43 BCE. (Kerry Key (Columbia University, New York, NY)/)The year 43 BCE was, by all accounts, a tumultuous time for the Mediterranean region. The assassination of Julius Caesar one year earlier had sparked a seventeen-year power struggle that would lead to the demise of the Roman Republic and the Ptolemaic dynasty that governed ancient Egypt and the dawn of the Roman Empire. It was also a time of extremely weird weather; the years 43 and 42 BCE were marked by bitter cold and excessive rains that led to widespread famines and disease.Historians and scientists had previously suspected that a cataclysmic volcanic eruption may have been responsible for these miserable conditions. Now, an international team of researchers has identified when and where this event likely took place. After examining six ice cores taken from sites across the Arctic, the researchers...