Scientists reveal what REALLY caused collapse of Roman Empire

Researchers have found evidence to suggest that a 'little ice age' contributed to the Roman Empire's collapse 572 years ago. 

Experts have long theorized that a change in Earth's climate may have weakened the empire, making it more vulnerable to political instability, economic decline, invasion by foreign tribes and other stressors.

Now, a new study has strengthened the case that a brief period of intense cooling called the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) primed the Roman Empire to finally fall in 1453 CE. 

The team found geological evidence in Iceland that suggested this event was 'more severe than previously thought,' and therefore played a key role in the Eastern Empire's decline. 

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

The Western Roman Empire had already fallen by the time this climatic shift began around 540 CE. It was conquered by a Germanic king some 60 years earlier. 

But the global drop in temperatures had a 'very significant impact' on the Eastern Empire, Dr Thomas Gernon, study co-author and professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton, told DailyMail.com. 

The LALIA was triggered by ash from three huge volcanic eruptions which blocked out sunlight. It lasted for 200 to 300 years and caused mass migrations throughout Europe that may have reshaped and destabilized the Roman Empire.

'The event in question was very cold by today's standards, with temperatures across Europe falling by an estimated 1.8 to 3.6°F,' Professor Gernon said. 

'While that might not sound like all that much, it was enough to cause widespread crop failures, increased livestock mortality, a sharp rise in food prices, and ultimately, widespread illness and famine across the Empire,' he added. 

For example, the LALIA coincided with the Justinian Plague, which began in 541 CE and killed between 30 and 50 million people around the world — about half the global population at the time. 

'These events overlapped with a turbulent time in the Eastern Empire, which was engaged in near-constant warfare, territorial expansion under [Emperor] Justinian, and internal religious conflict,' Professor Gernon said. 

He explained that some historians believe the LALIA greatly limited the empire's recovery from these crises and contributed to longer-term structural decline, even though the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire came centuries after the ice age began.

'In this way, it seems likely that the [LALIA] helped tip the balance at a moment when the Eastern Empire was stretched thin,' he said.  

Professor Gernon and his colleagues found new geologic evidence to support this theory.

The researchers studied unusual rocks found within a raised beach terrace on Iceland's northwest coast to determine their age and origin.

'We knew these rocks seemed somewhat out of place because the rock types are unlike anything found in Iceland today, but we didn't know where they came from,' said Dr Christopher Spencer, lead author and associate professor of tectonochemistry at Queen's University, in a statement.

To answer this question, the team crushed the rocks into fragments, extracted hundreds of tiny zircon mineral crystals and analyzed them. 

'Zircons are essentially time capsules that preserve vital information including when they crystallized as well as their compositional characteristics', Spencer said.

'The combination of age and chemical composition allows us to fingerprint currently exposed regions of the Earth's surface, much like is done in forensics.'

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

'This is the first direct evidence of icebergs carrying large Greenlandic cobbles to Iceland,' Spencer said. Cobbles are rounded rocks about the size of a fist. 

This points to two things, Professor Gernon explained. First, the Greenland Ice Sheet was growing and retreating more significantly than usual during the LALIA.

Second, the climate must have been particularly cold during that time, 'cold enough for icebergs to reach and noticeably impact the geology in Iceland,' he said. 

This suggests that the LALIA could have put significant strain on the Eastern Roman Empire, and adds to a growing body of evidence pointing to its role in the empire's decline. 

'To be absolutely clear, the Roman Empire was already in decline when the [LALIA] began,' Professor Gernon said. 

'However, our findings support the idea that climate change in the northern hemisphere was more severe than previously thought. 

'Indeed, it was probably a major driver of major societal change, rather than just one of several contributing factors.'