Article

Lead and the Romans

Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
J. Chem. Educ., 2010, 87 (10), pp 1052–1055
DOI: 10.1021/ed100631y
Publication Date (Web): August 3, 2010
Copyright © 2010 The American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Abstract

Lead poisoning has been a problem since early history and continues into modern times. An appealing characteristic of lead is that many lead salts are sweet. In the absence of cane and beet sugars, early Romans used “sugar of lead” (lead acetate) to sweeten desserts, fruits, and sour wine. People most at risk would have been those who consumed the most wine, the aristocracy, although they appeared unaware of the neurological and reproductive damage to themselves and their children. This article focuses on lead use in the Roman Empire as an example and attempts to address some of the major concerns voiced by opponents of Nriagu’s 1983 article, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, on saturnine gout in the Roman Empire. Despite new theories formulated since 1983, current archeological evidence does not match the claims of widespread use of leaden vessels made by historical accounts. Although historical sources are consistent, more substantive archeological evidence is needed before convincing arguments can be made in favor of the role of lead poisoning in the downfall of the Roman Empire.

Keywords (Audience):

General Public;

Keywords (Pedagogy):

Misconceptions/Discrepant Events;

Keywords (Topic):

Food Science; Metals; Toxicology;

Keywords (descriptor):

CLIC;

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Published online 3 August 2010
Published in print 1 October 2010
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