“What now remains compared with what then existed is like the skeleton of a sick man, all the fat and soft earth having wasted away, and only the bare framework of the land being left.”
These words were written by none other than Plato, in one of his late dialogues, Critias, which recounts the story of the kingdom of Atlantis in its attempt to conquer Athens. Although the dialogue was never finished, it raises the question of how humanity’s actions impact the world around us, an issue which still resonates with a contemporary audience.
There is an assumption, especially in today's society, that environmental concerns such as climate change are new and have only affected the planet post-industrial revolution. However, it turns out that the modern world is not the only world affected by these issues, for there is growing evidence that ancient societies also faced similar challenges to those we do now. Greek and Roman civilisations did not have the often-blamed fossil fuels or factories, however, so how did they manage to alter the climate and natural world so significantly?
To try and answer this question, we must start with dissecting the activities of their everyday lives. The Romans are well known for their advancements in areas which we now take for granted, such as their roads. At the peak of Rome's development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital; the late Empire's 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great roads. Although it is difficult to place a numerical value on the number of trees or amount of vegetation destroyed as a result of this, it is certain that it would have been extraordinarily high; not only from building the roads themselves, but the towns and infrastructure that was built because of the new connections.
This comprehensive road network therefore made it significantly easier to organise large-scale operations for their industries, such as agriculture. In particular, it was livestock that caused immense damage to the landscapes of ancient Italy and beyond. The Romans had limited awareness of overgrazing and its consequences, resulting in their cattle, sheep, and goats being left to destroy their own environment. The extent of overgrazing was severe, with many believing that certain areas in Southern Italy have yet to fully recover from its impacts.
Yet it was not just pastoral farming that had monumental consequences for the environment, but also arable farming, more specifically concerning the production and distribution of olive oil. It is estimated that the Roman Empire was consuming around 25 million litres of it every year, with the oil transported in amphorae to all areas. The impact of this can be seen particularly at Monte Testaccio, an artificial mound in Rome composed almost entirely of fragments of amphorae. Each of these broken amphorae had the capacity to transport 70 litres of olive oil, and it is thought that as many as 53 million are present in this hill alone. Although the Romans tended to be good at reusing and recycling materials for other purposes, these amphorae could not be reused, since they were made from terracotta. Over time, olive oil could turn rancid in terracotta pots, leaving behind a fatty residue that rendered the terracotta unsuitable for recycling into concrete. Consequently, it was deemed more practical to dispose of the used amphorae altogether. However, the impact from this pile is not entirely negative, as in the modern day, it fosters new life, providing fertile ground for the growth of flowers and trees that now adorn the site.
Further, one of the things that the Roman Empire is the most well-known for had a significant effect on the environment: its army. A great army which required an immense amount of wood to achieve its military endeavours. One example that shows the numbers involved is the Siege of Jerusalem, where the province of Judea rebelled against the Roman occupiers. To overcome the uprising, Rome sent 70,000 soldiers by ship. A typical Roman trireme could hold around 200 men on average; therefore, they would have sent around 350 ships for this siege alone. To approximate how much wood this required, it is possible to look at a modern-day recreation of a trireme ship. A,trireme built in 1985, known as ‘Olympias’, required roughly 35 tonnes of wood to make. Based on this statistic, we can estimate that constructing a trireme would require approximately 175 to 225 trees. This means that for the Siege of Jerusalem alone, around 75,000 trees would have been cut down. Considering this is just one of the thousands of wars that the Ancient Romans participated in, the sheer amount of wood required for their military campaigns is astronomical, especially when considering that they also used timber for construction and trade.
So, the next time that someone tries to play the Monty Python sketch of ‘What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?’ remember that not everything they did completely benefited our world. It is not possible to place the blame for the world's inevitable destruction purely on modern generations. Although on a smaller scale, the relationship between civilisations and their environment is longstanding, the Romans and Greeks no less.
More About the Author...
Name: Alex Down
School: Notting Hill & Ealing High School
Favourite classical figure: Hecuba or Artemisia I
Favourite classical subject: Greek Tragedy
Favourite piece of classical reception: The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
What inspired you to write this piece for the Rostra?
At school we have a classics club, and in the spring term our focus was on ‘nature in the classical world’, and we had read some of Horace’s work to do with nature. It made me think about whether the Romans would have been concerned about destroying the world around them, with all their endeavours. So I researched it, found it really interesting, and wrote about it!
What do you think is the biggest benefit of learning about Classics? Why should someone get into Classics?
I think the people you meet are an amazing benefit of doing classics, as everyone is really logical, like-minded, and passionate about their subject! Also the massive range of things you can learn is just unparalleled in any other subject.
If you’ve previously interacted with Classics for All, what impact has it had on your studies/interests/etc.?
I’ve attended a few of the lectures that have been offered to me since I’ve been a part of the chorus, and the ‘Legacy of Greek and Roman Science’ one has definitely stuck with me. Science has always been one of my main interests alongside classics, and it had never occurred to me that they could have such a big overlap. It definitely made me love classics even more because of the sheer range of things you can learn!