For centuries, Rome ruled the
world. That being the case, the ultimate superpower, the Roman Empire united
the world in ways never seen before or since. However, while we know about the
excessive lives led by its upper class and its rulers, the nuances of
day-to-day life by the different Roman people are less well known. Various
discoveries give as a picture of the different classes and types who lived at
the time.
For starters, Rome had impressive
sanitation systems compared to other civilizations, but this did little more
than help people smell better. In other words, based on 2,000-year-old fecal
matter found at several historical sights, it was determined that parasites
were even worse in those alive in the Roman period compared to earlier,
supposedly less sanitary, periods of history like the Bronze Age or the Iron
Age. Even though most Romans had access to clean food and drink, it was their
bath water which was at fault for parasitic infestations: The water was kept
lukewarm and rarely changed, which would have been a perfect breeding ground
for parasites of all kinds. This, along with human faeces used as fertilizer,
would have led to massive breakouts.
Secondly, while Ancient Rome is
pictured as an era of extreme gluttony of all sorts, the massive feasts of
exotic delicacies were, unfortunately, only for the upper class. Consequently,
the remaining populations of Rome would have eaten a diet consisting of foods
like millet: a cheap grain that was looked down upon as fit only for livestock,
which means most Romans literally ate like animals. Despite living near the
seas, lower-class Romans would have eaten very little fish but would have
depended on wheat and the aforementioned millet. This could have led to a
variety of issues, including anaemia and poor dental hygiene. As a result, most
city dwellers ate well, but the farther outward a Roman dwelled, the worse
their diet became.
Thirdly, energy drinks are very
common among modern athletes because of their alleged performance-enhancing
abilities. These drinks are also common among other in the world of physical
fitness, but this is not a modern phenomenon. In a like manner, Gladiator
energy drinks existed centuries before the first Gatorade. The drinks were said
to have consisted of plant ash, a rich source of calcium that is known to help
improve bone growth. In fact, heightened calcium levels are common in excavated
gladiators, so this idea is not too farfetched. What would the drink have
tasted like? Considering it was nothing but ash and water, it would have been
incredibly bitter, but adding vinegar would have given it a much more pleasant
taste.
Lastly, by testing ice cores in
Greenland, climatologists are capable of measuring the amount of methane in the
atmosphere going back centuries. For example, methane was at natural levels
until 100 BC, when it shot up and remained sky high until AD 1600. This hike in
methane coincides with the rise of the Roman Empire, and when the empire was at
its zenith, so were its methane emissions. During this period, methane
emissions worldwide measured at around 31 million tons per year, just 5 million
short of the current emissions of the whole of the United States. To feed an
empire, massive amounts of livestock like cattle, sheep, and goats were needed.
This, along with growing populations in the Roman Empire in the West and the
Chinese empire and the East, contributed to pollution during the time.
