Sol Invictus: Holocene climate change and its impact in the Roman Mediterranean

Abstract

In his dissertation Brian Dermody sought explanations for how the climate has changed in the last 10,000 years. Specifically, he used statistical methods to obtain a composite spatial and temporal image of climate change. He was also interested in how these climate changes have influenced past societies. He therefore developed a virtual water network of the Roman world based on grain production and transportation during the Roman period. In this way he could begin to unravel how Roman trade and agriculture influenced their resilience to climate change.