Drought and the Huns

[Erpingham]

Now, the main problem I have to worry about when a drought is declared is the garden.  For Romans, though, it could precipitate incursions of hostile barbarians.  That's the suggestion in this recent article from the Journal of Roman Studies, anyway.  One for the Late Antiquity fans to enjoy.

[Jon Freitag]

I reckon climate has always been a push factor for migration.  We see it today.  Oh, climate and the promise of free stuff.

[DBS]

Interesting, though not sure there is much new there.  The "steppe gradient" concept is well established - colder, more dry in the east, warmer and wetter in the west, so a near constant truth that the grass is always greener in the west - as an explanation for why all the known movements are from east to west.  Also, not sure that one can meaningfully suggest a cultural change from "horse-herding nomads" to "chiefly retinues and warbands", since, as far as we can tell, the horse-herding nomads were always very happy to raid anyone weaker than them, or just momentarily vulnerable, from the first time that Cimmerians and Scythians enter the historical record.

[Imperial Dave]

I have seen such proposals elsewhere and in the main I am supportive of their role in helping to drive population movements. It has been suggested that the 'back end' of this helped to drive the main Saxon adventus in the mid to late 5th C in Britain.   

[Anton]

Yeah and rising sea levels too.

[DBS]

Yeah and rising sea levels too.

Probably the best name ever for a climate change event:  The Second Dunkirk Marine Transgression.

Always makes me think it refers to a set of court martial charges after an over exuberant run ashore by the Booties.