Drought conditions caused Barbarian rebellions in Britain

[guy]

 

In AD 367, the Picts, Scotti, and Saxons launched attacks on Roman defenses in Britain. Dry summers are now believed to have led to famine and social pressures that precipitated the assaults. A recent study using oak tree-ring records suggests that severe drought was a catalyst for the Barbarian incursions, known as the Great Conspiracy (see Wikipedia article below).

 

Quote

Southern Britain experienced an exceptional sequence of remarkably dry summers from AD364 to 366, the researchers found. In the period AD350–500, average monthly reconstructed rainfall in the main growing season was 51mm. But in AD364, it fell to 29mm. AD365 was even worse with 28mm, and the rainfall the following year was still below average at 37mm.

 

 

https://scienceblog.com/drought-toppled-roman-britain-before-barbarians/

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/17/british-rebellion-against-roman-legions-caused-by-drought-research-finds#:~:text=The researchers identified no other,the Picts into northern Britain”.

 

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-extreme-drought-contributed-barbarian-invasion.amp

The academic article:
 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-025-03925-4

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Conspiracy

Edited Saturday at 02:00 AM by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

Colder temps & prolonged droughts are well known to probably be important factors in the fall of civilizations, from ancient Sumeria to the Anasazi to the Aztecs to Rome itself....but in this case, the very short drought was from 364-366, so why did the rebellion wait to start until 367?...Maybe the starving barbarians were too weak from starvation  to wield their swords in the three drought years?

In applying this concept to more modern events, recall that the "Arab Spring" uprising a decade ago (remember Bengazi/Hilary/destroyed phones?) was precipitated by a sudden rise in food prices in Tunisia (those @#*+ Cartiginians causing problems again)...and that the trade negotiations going on now between the US and China has a lot to do with China's limited food supply.

(I'm assuming that's a typo in the title above....If it isn't, then it's easy to see how a shortage of beer could cause a rebellion in Britain.)

[guy]

16 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said:

(I'm assuming that's a typo in the title above....If it isn't, then it's easy to see how a shortage of beer could cause a rebellion in Britain.)

 

Corrected. Funny, though.