winter travel could mean seasickness at best and shipwreck
at worst.
SICILY, SARDINIA, AND CORSICA
Sicily is a large island southwest of Calabria (the toe of the
Italian boot. It is separated from Italy by the Strait of Mes-
sina, which is not quite 2 miles wide. Th is strait has always
had rough waters; a natural whirlpool forms there and caused
many shipwrecks of ancient sailors attempting to sail be-
tween Sicily and Calabria. Th is whirlpool and its accompa-
nying rocks may have given rise to the legend of Scylla and
Charybdis, two nautical obstacles faced by the hero Odysseus
in Homer’s Odyssey. Despite the dangers of the Strait of Mes-
sina, however, Sicily has always been fairly accessible by sea.
It had several ports, notably the formerly Greek port of Syra-
cuse in the southeast.
Sicily’s location in the center of the Mediterranean made
it a popular target for kingdoms looking for good colonies.
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks all lived there before
the Romans took over the island in 242 b.c.e. Sicily has fertile
soil and warm, sunny weather, ideal for growing grain. As a
result Rome used it for centuries to supply grain to the city.
Th e warm climate also attracted rich landowners who built
sumptuous villas; one of the best preserved is the Villa Ro-
mana del Casale, built near Piazza Armerina in the fourth
century c.e. and known for its elaborate mosaics.
Sardinia is a large island due west of the Italian peninsula
across the Tyrrhenian Sea. Phoenicians traded with Sardin-
ians beginning around 1000 b.c.e., and the island became a
Carthaginian province around 500 b.c.e., but it was too re-
mote for Carthage to administer eff ectively. Rome took Sar-
dinia from Carthage in 238 b.c.e. Sardinia has a cooler climate
than Sicily but equally fertile soil, and it, too, was a source of
grain for Rome. Most of Sardinia’s interior is mountainous.
Th e mountains prevented Roman culture from spreading
effi ciently among the native people; Sardinians revolted fre-
quently, and the geographical restrictions of the island made
it impossible to entirely subdue them. Th e mountains contain
many deposits of iron, copper, lead, and silver, all of which
the Romans mined; mineral riches and agriculture made
some areas of Sardinia quite prosperous.
Corsica, an island north of Sardinia, is considerably
smaller than its southern neighbor. Etruscans and Carthag-
inians occupied it before Rome took it over around 231 b.c.e.
Corsica’s interior was mountainous and wild, and Rome never
exercised complete authority over the people who lived there.
Corsica’s climate and landscape were conducive to forestry
and shipbuilding but not to most forms of agriculture.
CLIMATE AND THE EMPIRE
Some historians believe that climate change was partly re-
sponsible for Rome’s expansion from Italy into Europe,
and then for the decline of the Western Roman Empire.
Rome began to grow powerful while Europe’s climate went
through a warm period, and it fell when the climate sudden-
ly grew colder several centuries later. Much of the empire’s
stability was due to Rome’s ability to grow crops throughout
its territory.
During the fourth century b.c.e. Italy was not especially
warm and Rome was not particularly powerful. Celts raided
Rome from the north in 390 b.c.e., marching straight down
the peninsula through the Apennines. It seemed that they
meant to settle in Italy. By 300 b.c.e., however, the Celts had
moved back north. Historians believe that this retreat was
necessitated by warmer weather that arrived in Europe dur-
ing the fourth century b.c.e. As temperatures rose, the Medi-
terranean climate zone moved north as far as Burgundy in
France. Celtic crops and living habits were based on a colder,
wetter European climate, so the Celts returned north to fi nd
more amenable conditions.
Th e Romans moved into southern Europe in the wake
of the Celts and established Roman-style farms growing
wheat, millet, grapes, and olives. By 200 b.c.e. Mediterranean
weather had reached southern France, and Rome had taken
over that land. Rome created its fi rst European provinces in
the regions that had suddenly acquired a Mediterranean cli-
mate, Gaul and Spain.
Cisalpine Gaul (“Gaul on this side of the Alps”) lay south
of the Alps and north of the Apennines, in today’s northern
Italy; it encompassed the fertile Po Valley. During the Repub-
lic, this region was not considered part of Italy. Th e Rubicon
River formed the border between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. It
was a symbolic as well as a physical border. To protect Rome
from coups by its own military, Roman generals were for-
bidden by law from crossing the river with a standing army.
When Julius Caesar took an army across the Rubicon in 49
b.c.e., all Romans knew that he had declared civil war.
Transalpine Gaul (“Gaul across the Alps”) occupied
the area that is now called France, from the Mediterranean
French coast to the Pyrenees, north and west to the Atlantic
and the English Channel, and east to the Rhine River. Its na-
tive inhabitants were Celts, many of them called Gauls. Be-
tween 300 b.c.e. and 300 c.e. Gaul had ample fertile soil for
crops and a pleasing climate, and Romans found it an ideal
location for agricultural villas.
Southwest of Transalpine Gaul lay Spain, which Rome
took f rom t he Ca r t hag i nia ns i n 206 b.c.e. Roma ns used Spa i n
to produce wheat, olive oil, wine, and metals. Th e hot, dry
Spanish climate resembled that of Italy and thus was ideal for
growing Roman crops. Th ere were two main routes between
Rome and Spain. Armies and merchants could walk along
the Mediterranean coastline of eastern Spain and the French
Riviera to northern Italy and vice versa; along the way, they
might stop in seaside towns esteemed for their seafood and
scenery. Faster, but riskier at certain times of year, was send-
ing men and goods by sea; the weather during the Mediter-
ranean winter made sailing dangerous. Most large shipments
of cargo traveled by boat simply because it was so much more
diffi cult to transport them along the rough terrain of the
coastline. Spain’s eastern coast had numerous port cities. Th eclimate and geography: Rome 263