Weather History and Climate (350 B.C. to 300 B.C.)

400 B.C. to 350 B.C. | 350 B.C. to 300 B.C. | 300 B.C. to 250 B.C.

CLIMATE (350-300 B.C.):

Notice on the climate curve how much cooler it is getting. Thirty out of the fifty years between 350 and 300 B.C. Were cold. This is because we are approaching the termination of a 100-year cycle. The warm phase that began at 415 B.C. did not end until 320, almost 100 years later. The cycle was a long one this time--120 years.

Compare the warm periods lying between the drops in temperature during this long warm phase with one another. It will be seen that there was a gradual tendency for them to become hotter and drier as time went on until the climax of the warm-dry phase (generally speaking, the last half of the warm period) was reached, beginning at 330 B.C. The hot drought lasted for 15 years, and was followed by the cold-wet phase. Now, in 1950 we are in the cold-wet phase of the 100-year cycle, and are headed toward the cold-dry phase. In the 1930's, we passed through a hot-drought phase that corresponds to the 320' s B.C.

HISTORY (350-300 B.C.):

The Greek City States had by now become economically bankrupt and the people morally bankrupt. Human nature had surrendered to immorality, graft, intrigue, and tyranny. Initiative had declined; loyalty had vanished; and the birth rate was down. It is estimated that the population of Athens at this time was only a small fraction of what it was 150 years previously. Wars had not killed off the people, nor had migrations removed them, yet no large armies could be put into the field.

Similar trends occurred in the 1920's and 1930's. Economic systems failed; vitality disappeared from art and literaature; modern civilization became morally bankrupt and degenerate; the birth rate was down; human vitality was down. In certain areas in the United States the birth rate sank very low. Unless migraations kept the population up, no one would be living there in a hundred years time. And so it was in Ancient Greece when Philip and Alexander came upon the scene. Both began their reigns during brief, high energy periods, 360 and 336 B.C.

Near the end of a short, cold period, Philip of Macedonia was assassinated. The empire passed to his son Alexander the Great, who carved out what was probably the largest empire the world has ever known. It stretched from western India across the Near East, through Egypt. He conquered this large area with a very small army made up mostly of mercenaries, and was aided immeasurably by the prevalence of fifth columnists. While it is no small feat to march the distances covered by Alexander, his exploits have been overrated. Recall how quickly France and Norway collapsed in World War II. The Macedonians were confronted with a very similar situation under similar weather trends. Finally, like Hitler, Alexander developed a Messiah complex. After the latter had conquered Egypt he set himself up as a god.

On the other hand, largely through the influence of his famous tutor, Aristotle, Alexander did much to further the advancement of knowledge. He encouraged naturalists and geographers to accompany him on his campaigns. While he was in Egypt, he founded Alexandria and established a library and museum which helped that city to become the center of world learning for several centuries.

Aristotle has often been declared the greatest mind of all antiquity. For the most part, he followed the organismic pattern. He wrote on innumerable subjects--philosophy, ethics, logic, biology, political science, geography, and physics, and founded the science of logic. Much thinking in science and philosophy today follows the path laid out by him.

Alexander's empire collapsed immediately after his premature death. His generals were soon quarreling among themselves over the division of the empire. Then bloody civil wars broke out; not only in Alexander's empire, but allover the known world for at 320 B.C. there began a worldwide cold phase in the 100-year cycle.

Information from Weather Science Foundation.