Climate in the Iron Age

[TiagoJRToledo]

Well, I concur with Brennus' response, to a degree.

There wasn't really a huge difference from today's climate, but I would argue that that isn't necessarily true in places like Northern Africa and Mesopotamia. Evidence points towards the climates of these places being much more temperate and the land more fertile than today's arid predominance. The great productive centres of common ceramics and Terra Sigillata of Northern Africa (those known in Tunisia) are actually located inland, as opposed to near the great populated hubs or water streams, which would indicate perfect living conditions were today you can only pass by.

In Mesopotamia, the same would apply. Accounts report that the climate was much more forgiving than today's, and the land was much more fertile and lush. We have to remember that Mesopotamia owes much of the state it is in today to Genghis Khan ordering the destruction of dams and irrigation systems to transform Mesopotamia into a frontier land.

In regards to Roman industry affecting climate change, I would contest that. I do agree that CO2 levels in the atmosphere only surpassed the Roman levels in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, but I would argue that the planet has been moving towards an heating period far before the Romans ever came. We only have to have in mind that in 12000 BC, Egypt and the Sahara were covered in tropical forest, and that same forest disappeared with no interference from Man.

And as the side note, we have to always consider the changes that occurred in the geomorphology when we study a culture or a territory. Just to give some examples: the Tagus estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) was much more wide, and at least 50% of today's Lisbon territory was under water; this same river was navigable up to Madrid until the 17th century, and now you can't even get to Santarém; Cadiz (southern Spain) was settled by Phoenicians not because it now is a peninsula, but because it was an island in the 8th century B.C.
This is why I think many places are not found, or are misinterpreted, because people look to the ground as it is now, and not as it was 2000 years ago.

Hope I was of assistance