Drought And The Fall Of Rome

Geologists studying rainfall patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean believe that a long period of drought could have contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire, according to Discovery News. Working in a "dripping stalactite-filled cave outside of Jerusalem," the geologists discovered "a gradual drying between about 100 and 700 A.D. , with sharp drops in rainfall at 100 A.D. and 400 A.D. Overall, annual rainfall fell 50 percent during those centuries, dropping from an average of more than 3 feet per year to 1.6 feet." That's a pretty drastic climate change, I guess, but we're talking about western Asia here and it's hard to tell from this report if the drought extended to western Europe. If so, it would have weakened the Empire economically, depopulating marginal agricultural areas and reducing farm production in general, which is exactly what happened. Combined with an overall decline in population, this is probably one reason why the Romans agreed to resettle the Visigoths on their territory, a fatal mistake. They needed cheap labor for agriculture and to beef up the legions. Sound familiar?