Lead poisoning probably did not cause the downfall of the Roman Empire

Re:Lead poisoning probably did not cause the downfall of the... by comrh on Monday June 13, 2022 @04:40PM (#31731502)

I always thought favoring biological heirs was up there too. The Five Good Emperors were all adopted and some of the absolute worst leaders only got there through luck of birth.

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Re:Lead poisoning probably did not cause the downfall of the... by ricree on Monday June 13, 2022 @06:52PM (#31732756)

Probably true, but it was so baked into the system that it was hard to escape. Even the five good emperors chose their successors via adoption, so on paper it was still direct inheritance. For Marcus Aurelius to pass over his son would have been a huge break from tradition.

The best attempt to escape this was Diocletian's tetrarchy, but that just led to yet another civil war.

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