Resumen de Volcanic eruptions linked to rise of Roman Empire
People won't find it in history books, but the Roman Empire's rise to dominance in Egypt and the Middle East may have been influenced by a series of volcanic eruptions that reduced rainfall. The famine and unrest this caused weakened Egypt's Ptolemaic kingdom, paving the way for the defeat of Cleopatra and Antony by Octavian's Roman army in 31 BC--leading, ultimately, to the rise of the modem Western world. This is the first time the history of this period has had a climate component, says Joseph Manning, a historian at Vale University
