Researchers have found evidence proving that the collapse of the Roman Empire 572 years ago was contributed by the “little ice age.”

For a long time, experts have proposed the theory that a change in the Earth’s climate might have made the empire more vulnerable to political instability, economic decline, invasion by foreign tribes, and other stress factors, weakening the empire.

Now, a new study strengthens the claim that a brief period of intense cold known as the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) prepared the Roman Empire for its fall in AD 1453.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the team found geological evidence in Iceland that suggests this event was more severe than previously thought, playing a crucial role in the collapse of the Eastern Empire.

In AD 286, the Ancient Roman Empire was split into two parts: the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire.

When this climate change began around AD 540, the Western Roman Empire had already collapsed, having been conquered by a Germanic king about 60 years earlier.

However, Dr. Thomas Gernon, one of the authors of the study and a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton, explained to DailyMail.com that the global drop in temperatures had a significant impact on the Eastern Empire.

The LALIA was triggered by the ashes of three major volcanic eruptions that blocked sunlight. Lasting between 200 and 300 years, this eruption reshaped the Roman Empire in Europe, possibly leading to mass migrations that could have destabilized it. Professor Gernon stated, “The event was very cold by today’s standards, and temperatures across Europe are estimated to have dropped between 1.8 and 3.6 degrees.”

Although this might not seem like much, it was enough to cause widespread crop failures, increased animal deaths, sharp rises in food prices, and ultimately widespread disease and famine throughout the Empire,” he added.

Numerous mummies decorated with golden tongues and nails were found in Egyptian tombs. For example, the LALIA coincides with the Justinian Plague, which began in AD 541 and resulted in the deaths of 30 to 50 million people worldwide, approximately half of the global population at the time.

“These events matched with a turbulent period in the Eastern Empire dealing with almost constant warfare, territorial expansion under Emperor Justinian, and internal religious conflicts,” Professor Gernon said.

Although the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire occurred centuries after the beginning of the ice age, some historians believe that the LALIA severely restricted the Empire from recovering from these crises, contributing to a more long-lasting structural decline.

In this way, Gernon stated, “It seems likely that the LALIA helped shift the balance at a time of weakness for the Eastern Empire.” Professor Gernon and his colleagues found new geological evidence supporting this theory.

“It Didn’t Look Like Anything”

Researchers examined unusual rocks found on an elevated shoreline terrace on Iceland’s northwest coast to determine their ages and origins. Dr. Christopher Spencer, a docent of tectonics at Queen’s University and the lead author, stated, “We knew these rocks looked out of place because the rock types did not resemble anything found in Iceland today, but we didn’t know where they had come from.”

The team dissected the rocks to answer this question, extracting and analyzing hundreds of small zircon mineral crystals. Spencer explained, “Zircons essentially act as time capsules, preserving vital information, including when they crystallized and compositional features.”

The combination of age and chemical composition, like forensic DNA analysis, allows us to take a fingerprint of the areas of the Earth’s surface currently being eroded.

Indicating Two Things

Findings published in the journal Geology indicated that the rocks were brought to this location by drifting icebergs during the LALIA.

Spencer stated, “This is the first direct evidence that icebergs transported large Greenland pavement stones to Iceland.”

Professor Gernon explained that this indicates two things. First, the Greenland Ice Sheet was growing and retreating more significantly than usual during the LALIA.

Second, the climate at that time must have been particularly cold, as “Icebergs reaching Iceland and affecting its geology so markedly would require it to be cold enough.” This suggests that the LALIA might have exerted significant pressure on the Eastern Roman Empire, with increasing evidence of its role in its collapse. Professor Gernon clarified, “To be clear, when the LALIA began, the Roman Empire was already in decline.”

However, he added that their findings supported the notion that climate change in the northern hemisphere was more severe than previously thought and likely acted as one of the main driving forces of significant societal change.