Reactions | How Lead (Maybe?) Caused the Downfall of the Roman Empire @ACSReactions | Uploaded 3 years ago | Updated 1 hour ago
Ancient Rome’s emperors did some pretty bizarre stuff—bursting into uncontrollable fits of laughter, appointing a horse as a priest, dressing in animal skins and attacking people… the list goes on. Why did they act this way? Possibly… lead poisoning. In this week’s episode, we unwrap the possibility that lead caused the Roman Empire’s collapse.
You might also like:
The Top 5 Strangest Poisons That Can Kill You
youtube.com/watch?v=4hQ0G0GaYR8
How Do Blacksmiths Make Swords?:
youtu.be/Y_43_u9u_Ag
The US Military Gave Out Shark Repellent For Years. . . So Why Did They Stop?
youtube.com/watch?v=4u54c7cRAog
Are We Breathing Caesar's Last Breath:
youtu.be/a4v5U4J373k
Credits:
Executive Producers:
George Zaidan
Hilary Hudson
Producers:
Andrew Sobey
Elaine Seward
Writer/Host:
Sam Jones, PhD
Scientific consultants:
Leila Duman, PhD
Christopher Holstege, MD
Brianne Raccor, PhD
Sean Scott, PhD
SOURCES
Why ancient Rome kept choosing bizarre and perverted emperors
vox.com/2015/5/7/8564895/crazy-roman-emperors
Neuronal Calcium Signaling
cell.com/neuron/comments/S0896-6273(00)80510-3
The cationic (calcium and lead) and enzyme conundrum
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30917763
Pb Neurotoxicity: Neuropsychological Effects of Lead Toxicity
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909981
Lead and Lead Poisoning from Antiquity to Modern Times
https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/23252/V088N3-078.pdf?sequence=1
The Exposure of Some Romano-British Populations to Lead
jstor.org/stable/26294986?seq=1
Lead in ancient human bones and its relevance to historical developments of social problems with lead
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0048969787903664
Enhanced methods for assessment of the trace element composition of Iron Age bone
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969708002350
The first artificial sweetener poisoned lots of Romans
gizmodo.com/the-first-artificial-sweetener-poisoned-lots-of-romans-5877587
Lead Chemistry
rsc.org/periodic-table/element/82/lead
Why lead is dangerous, and the damage it does
theconversation.com/why-lead-is-dangerous-and-the-damage-it-does-116506
Lead poisoning and health
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health
Tracking Roman lead sources using lead isotope analysis. A case study from the imperial rural estate at Vagnari (Puglia, Italy)
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X2100033X?via%3Dihub
Lead between the lines
nature.com/articles/nchem.1761
Lead in ancient Rome’s city waters
pnas.org/content/111/18/6594
Lead poisoning and the fall of Rome
washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/02/17/lead-poisoning-and-the-fall-of-rome
Deadly lead: how lead poisoning affected the Roman Empire
sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/lead-poisoning-roman-empire-research-italy-archaeology-1.740191
Londinium Romans’ blood lead levels so high they may have lowered birth rates
chemistryworld.com/news/londinium-romans-blood-lead-levels-so-high-they-may-have-lowered-birth-rates/4010808.article
Lead: Versatile Metal, Long Legacy
https://sites.dartmouth.edu/toxmetal/more-metals/lead-versatile-metal-long-legacy/
Ancient Roman Metal Used for Physics Experiments Ignites Science Feud
scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-roman-lead-physics-archaeology-controversy
ScienceShot: Did Lead Poisoning Bring Down Ancient Rome?
sciencemag.org/news/2014/04/scienceshot-did-lead-poisoning-bring-down-ancient-rome#:~:text=Some%20historians%20argue%20that%20lead,and%20hastened%20the%20empire's%20fall.&text=While%20the%20lead%20contamination%20was,major%20culprit%20in%20Rome's%20demise.
Elevated lead exposure in Roman occupants of Londinium: New evidence from the archaeological record
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/arcm.12513
Saturnine Gout among Roman Aristocrats — Did Lead Poisoning Contribute to the Fall of the Empire?
nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM198303173081123
The deadly biology of lead exposure
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/deadly-biology-lead-exposure/
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Charged In Flint Water Crisis
npr.org/2021/01/13/956592508/new-charges-in-flint-water-crisis-including-former-michigan-gov-rick-snyder
Ancient Rome’s emperors did some pretty bizarre stuff—bursting into uncontrollable fits of laughter, appointing a horse as a priest, dressing in animal skins and attacking people… the list goes on. Why did they act this way? Possibly… lead poisoning. In this week’s episode, we unwrap the possibility that lead caused the Roman Empire’s collapse.
You might also like:
The Top 5 Strangest Poisons That Can Kill You
youtube.com/watch?v=4hQ0G0GaYR8
How Do Blacksmiths Make Swords?:
youtu.be/Y_43_u9u_Ag
The US Military Gave Out Shark Repellent For Years. . . So Why Did They Stop?
youtube.com/watch?v=4u54c7cRAog
Are We Breathing Caesar's Last Breath:
youtu.be/a4v5U4J373k
Credits:
Executive Producers:
George Zaidan
Hilary Hudson
Producers:
Andrew Sobey
Elaine Seward
Writer/Host:
Sam Jones, PhD
Scientific consultants:
Leila Duman, PhD
Christopher Holstege, MD
Brianne Raccor, PhD
Sean Scott, PhD
SOURCES
Why ancient Rome kept choosing bizarre and perverted emperors
vox.com/2015/5/7/8564895/crazy-roman-emperors
Neuronal Calcium Signaling
cell.com/neuron/comments/S0896-6273(00)80510-3
The cationic (calcium and lead) and enzyme conundrum
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30917763
Pb Neurotoxicity: Neuropsychological Effects of Lead Toxicity
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909981
Lead and Lead Poisoning from Antiquity to Modern Times
https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/23252/V088N3-078.pdf?sequence=1
The Exposure of Some Romano-British Populations to Lead
jstor.org/stable/26294986?seq=1
Lead in ancient human bones and its relevance to historical developments of social problems with lead
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0048969787903664
Enhanced methods for assessment of the trace element composition of Iron Age bone
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969708002350
The first artificial sweetener poisoned lots of Romans
gizmodo.com/the-first-artificial-sweetener-poisoned-lots-of-romans-5877587
Lead Chemistry
rsc.org/periodic-table/element/82/lead
Why lead is dangerous, and the damage it does
theconversation.com/why-lead-is-dangerous-and-the-damage-it-does-116506
Lead poisoning and health
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health
Tracking Roman lead sources using lead isotope analysis. A case study from the imperial rural estate at Vagnari (Puglia, Italy)
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X2100033X?via%3Dihub
Lead between the lines
nature.com/articles/nchem.1761
Lead in ancient Rome’s city waters
pnas.org/content/111/18/6594
Lead poisoning and the fall of Rome
washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/02/17/lead-poisoning-and-the-fall-of-rome
Deadly lead: how lead poisoning affected the Roman Empire
sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/lead-poisoning-roman-empire-research-italy-archaeology-1.740191
Londinium Romans’ blood lead levels so high they may have lowered birth rates
chemistryworld.com/news/londinium-romans-blood-lead-levels-so-high-they-may-have-lowered-birth-rates/4010808.article
Lead: Versatile Metal, Long Legacy
https://sites.dartmouth.edu/toxmetal/more-metals/lead-versatile-metal-long-legacy/
Ancient Roman Metal Used for Physics Experiments Ignites Science Feud
scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-roman-lead-physics-archaeology-controversy
ScienceShot: Did Lead Poisoning Bring Down Ancient Rome?
sciencemag.org/news/2014/04/scienceshot-did-lead-poisoning-bring-down-ancient-rome#:~:text=Some%20historians%20argue%20that%20lead,and%20hastened%20the%20empire's%20fall.&text=While%20the%20lead%20contamination%20was,major%20culprit%20in%20Rome's%20demise.
Elevated lead exposure in Roman occupants of Londinium: New evidence from the archaeological record
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/arcm.12513
Saturnine Gout among Roman Aristocrats — Did Lead Poisoning Contribute to the Fall of the Empire?
nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM198303173081123
The deadly biology of lead exposure
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/deadly-biology-lead-exposure/
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Charged In Flint Water Crisis
npr.org/2021/01/13/956592508/new-charges-in-flint-water-crisis-including-former-michigan-gov-rick-snyder
