Weather History and Climate (450 B.C. to 400 B.C.)

500 B.C. to 450 B.C. | 450 B.C. to 400 B.C. | 400 B.C. to 350 B.C.

CLIMATE (450-400 B.C.):

In the early part of this 50-year period rainfall reached another one of the several major climaxes which occurred in rapid succession for nearly two hundred years. But as time went on it became drier, and we know that as it became drier it had to become warmer until a major cold phase set in. No major cold phase occurred between 450 and 400 B.C. There should not have been any long droughts during this time, and there isn't any evidence that there were. All of the evidence points to high rainfall during most of this period and only to a very short cold phase ending the 100-year cycle at 420 B.C.

HISTORY (450-400 B.C.):

The States and empires that formed over the world around 500 A.D. evidently continued to wax strong. Associated with the rise in temperature and rainfall after a cold wave at 460 B.C. , there occurred the expected outbreak of international wars. The Greeks and Persians were fighting again, and a long, drawn out war flared up between two groups of Greeks City States--the one led by Athens and the other by Sparta.

As it stayed warm, Athens under Pericles became more and more socialistic and reactionary. These were the days of great public works. The Acropolis with its beautiful temples and statues was restored. Famous dramatists, sculptors, painters, potters, scientists, historians, and philosophers abounded.

Throughout the entire Greek world, as in Athens, the political pattern was becoming more and more reactionary – Fascistic and oligarchial in some of the City States, socialistic in others. The family pattern was suffering: in Sparta boys were controlled by the State from the time they were seven years old. The individual male member lived almost exclusively for the State, as he was supposed to do under modern Nazi socialism and as he does in Russia today. The State controlled more and more of the manufacturing and commerce. Individual initiative was on the wane. All this happened also in our last warm phase in the 1930's.

Recall that there was a cold period that centered on 420 B.C. In spite of its short duration, very important efforts were made to reinstate democracy. During this cold period most of the provinces of the Persian Empire revolted, including Egypt, where the revolt was temporarily successful. The Greek City States that were under the control of Athens rebelled. In Rome, newly conquered areas tried to regain their freedom. In China, imperialistic power reached a low ebb. This is the pattern of behavior that prevailed during the cold periods all down through history.

It will be remembered that preceding these cold periods there is generally a hot-drought phase in the 100-year cycle. It is during this phase that Fascism, despotism, socialism, and communism reach their peaks of intensity. By inspecting the red items numbered in yellow it can be seen that there was a strong trend in this direction even in the absence of long, severe droughts. Associated with the temperature climax was the advocating of a Utopian socialistic scheme by Hippodamus, Greek architect and town planner. Atrocities occurred in the wars between the Greek City States that ordinarily would not have been perpetrated. During these wars Sparta finally won, which meant a defeat for the defenders of democracy.

The cold period was not long enough to restore democracy. It was long enough, however, to influence the general pattern of Greek thought. Around 420, there emerged the first atomic conception of the Universe. Accompanying this mechanistic movement, which was promoted by Democritus and Leucippus around 420-410 B.C., there was a trend toward materialism and skepticism. An impasse developed in Greek philosophy. The first philosophers had raised more problems than they had solved and had confused the Greek mind. Hence, there occurred a wave of skepticism in which there were many who even believed that there was no logical basis for the moral life. This was the period of the Sophists. The great teacher Socrates, attempted to stem the tide and restore faith in the new thought, but upon the return of the reactionaries to power, he was accused of polluting the minds of the Greek youth and was made to drink the poisoned hemlock.

Information from Weather Science Foundation.