British rebellion against Roman legions caused by drought, research finds

A series of exceptionally dry summers that caused famine and social breakdown were behind one of the most severe threats to Roman rule of Britain, according to new academic research. The rebellion, known as the “barbarian conspiracy”, was a pivotal moment in Roman Britain. Picts, Scotti and Saxons took advantage of Britain’s descent into anarchy to inflict crushing blows on weakened Roman defences in the spring and summer of AD367. Senior Roman commanders were captured or killed, and some soldiers reportedly deserted and joined the invaders. It took two years for generals dispatched by Valentinian I, emperor of the western half of the Roman empire, to restore order. The last remnants of official Roman administration left Britain about 40 years later. Warning of the possible consequences of drought today, Tatiana Bebchuk, a researcher at Cambridge’s department of geography, said: “The relationship between climate and conflict is becoming increasingly clear in our own time, so these f ... Read full article.