Now here is an interesting question for a Monday morning: How did the ancient Romans rate as meteorologists?
The answer is: Not great! Despite their brilliance in so many spheres the ancient citizens of that noble city seem to have contributed relatively little to the science of meteorology.
Their main fear was that Jupiter, the chief God, who was also the God of thunder, would interfere with their activities. Indeed, dissatisfied on one occasion with the way the Roman state was being run, Jupiter showed his displeasure by destroying with lightning the golden statue of Romulus upon the Capitol Hill.
The laurel wreath, however, was a reliable preventive measure. Besides being a symbol of victory, it also served the purpose of protecting its wearer from lightning. Tiberius Caesar, who was terrified of thunderstorms, was reputed to wear his laurel wreath at every possible opportunity for precisely this reason.
Pliny the Elder was one of the few who had an interest in what we might call scientific meteorology. Pliny lived in the first century AD, and after a great deal of unoriginal research he came to the startling conclusion that stormy weather conformed to a regular pattern. The cycle, he maintained, was four years long, and began each leap year in July, at the rising of the Dog Star, Sirius.
Pliny, however, could provide even more accurate forecasts when required. Let me first explain that the ancient Romans had names for all the winds: the north wind, for example, was Septentrio; the south wind was Auster; the wind from the east was called Subsolanus, and that from the west Favonius.
"Spring," according to Pliny, "first opens up the sea to the sailor six days before the ides of February, when Favonius mitigates the severe weather of winter. Favonius also blows on February 22nd, and from the 28th of that month to March 8th. Subsolanus blows on May 10th, and Auster blows from July 11th onwards."
Some say the weather was instrumental in the famous decline and fall of that ancient empire. Historical climatologists have found that during the early vigorous days of the Roman Republic, and in any later periods when the empire was at a peak, rainfall was copious throughout the area. But by the second century AD the average rainfall had decreased, and was no longer able to maintain the swiftly flowing rivers of Italy; stagnant pools and marshes developed in the river beds, and brought epidemics of malaria, poor harvests, and frequent spells of famine.
"Sic transit gloria mundi."