Greek and Roman Environment
Looking at the environment today, one can easily say that the goodness of the environment is deteriorating due to the lack of concern and care. However, many don't realise that most of the environmental problems that we have today such as erosion and forest depletion is actually the after math of environmental disasters that happened years ago. When examining the environmental problems of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the statement “cause and effect”, plays a very significant role in explaining the relationship between humans of that time and the effects that had placed on the environment around them. In many cases, the effects of their cause were very threatening to the environment. By looking back and what the Greeks and Romans had done, we can understand some of the environmental problems of today. Nonetheless, it is also acceptable to understand that the ancient Greeks and Romans did not have enough knowledge to take and understand about their environment, hence therefore, problems had occurred.
Forests were a very vital resource for the ancient Greeks and Romans because wood had an extremely important material in their daily lifestyles. The Greeks and Romans used wood for many things such as building, heating, industry, agriculture and especially warfare. “Wood and its carbonized product charcoal were the primary ancient fuels in households, public facilities such as baths, and industries, producing both heat and light. Consumption of fuel constituted the most extensive use of wood by far, accounting perhaps 90 percent...[therefore] placing great pressures on forests” (Donald Hughes 74) Besides wood being extensively used for fuel, another area that used tremendous amounts of wood was for warfare. Warfare ships were built completely from wood, from kneel to mast, wood was also used for most military machinery. However, “deliberate destruction of forests, usually by fire, [became] a common tactic in warfare.” (Donald Hughes 75). Therefore it is quite
Forests were a very vital resource for the ancient Greeks and Romans because wood had an extremely important material in their daily lifestyles. The Greeks and Romans used wood for many things such as building, heating, industry, agriculture and especially warfare. “Wood and its carbonized product charcoal were the primary ancient fuels in households, public facilities such as baths, and industries, producing both heat and light. Consumption of fuel constituted the most extensive use of wood by far, accounting perhaps 90 percent...[therefore] placing great pressures on forests” (Donald Hughes 74) Besides wood being extensively used for fuel, another area that used tremendous amounts of wood was for warfare. Warfare ships were built completely from wood, from kneel to mast, wood was also used for most military machinery. However, “deliberate destruction of forests, usually by fire, [became] a common tactic in warfare.” (Donald Hughes 75). Therefore it is quite
Bibliography: Deforestation, Overgrazing and Erosion. J. Donald Hughes. Copyright 1994; Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Maryland.