Lead
Rome & Lead Connection
Did lead poison the Roman Empire?
Lead's discovery dates back to 3500 BC. Lead artifacts have
been found throughout the ancient world, and some researchers have suggested
that lead poisoning was a major factor in the downfall of the Roman Empire.
Well-to-do Romans painted their walls a rich Pompeian red, which owed its color to a salt of lead or mercury. Lead was used for water pipes, cups, toys, statues, cosmetics, coffins, and roofs, but the most significant source may have been the wine of the wealthy class.
S. Columba Gilfillan proposed a theory for Roman decay in 1965 that involved "poisons esteemed as delicious by the ancient well-to-do." Spoilage was a problem in ancient Rome, and vintners discovered that wine tasted better and lasted longer if it was mixed with a concentrated grape syrup called sapa. The best sapa was boiled in lead pots, allowing lead to leach into the syrup. When sapa was mixed with wine, it sweetened it and also poisoned the microorganisms that cause fermentation and souring. Sapa was also used in fruit and honey drinks, and as a food preservative.
Josef Eisinger estimated a Roman consuming a liter of wine a day would ingest about 20 mg of lead per day, which he said was more than enough to produce chronic lead poisoning.
A cultural shift at the height of the Roman Empire made it socially acceptable for wives to drink wine, to which Gilfillan attributed a declining birth rate and a low rate of surviving children among the wealthy. Today, the reproductive effects of lead are well established, as are the effects on childhood development and learning disabilities.
Gilfillan hypothesized that the diet of the poor was not so badly poisoned as that of the rich. Although they drank the same water, they lacked the luxuries of cosmetics, lead paint, wine, fruit and honey drinks, or preserved foods.
What role did lead play in decline of the Roman Empire? We may never know for certain, but the evidence is intriguing.
______________The information on this page was excerpted from "Environmental
Health News"
School of Public Health and Community Medicine - University of Washington
Spring - Summer, 2001
© 2000 ISSN Number 0029-7925
Department of Environmental Health,
University of Washington