▶ Topic : RC Several scholars have proposed that lead poisoning contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD, and their theory rests upon the view that lead poisoning was extensive among the ruling elite, who became unfit to rule due to physical and mental deterioration. There are several reasons to believe that lead poisoning was indeed widespread among the Roman upper class. First, we know that cosmetics used by Romans at the time contained lead and were regularly used by many members of the upper class. The ancient Romans placed a great aesthetic value on pale skin, so people regularly painted their faces with cerussa, a white powder derived from lead carbonate. Although this product made Romans' skin attractive, it was also highly toxic. Second, water pipes in ancient Rome were made of lead, and there were thousands of these lead pipes throughout the city. Furthermore, lead pipes carried drinking water directly to the homes of the aristocracy. Since they got their drinking water through these pipes, it could have led to widespread lead poisoning among the Roman elite. Third, Romans of the upper class enjoyed mixing their wine with sapa, syrup made by boiling grape juice in lead pots. During boiling, lead acetate from the pots leached into the sapa, but due the mixture's sweetness, Romans remained undeterred by the taste of lead in their wine. Consequently, without knowing, the Romans slowly poisoned themselves drink by drink.
LC So there's this radical idea out there that extensive lead poisoning brought down the great Roman Empire. Well, there's one major problem with this theory. Um... which is that the evidence for widespread lead poisoning ancient Rome's ruling class is very easily refuted. First off, applying lead to the skin is unlikely to result in lead poisoning. Admittedly, it's not a healthy practice, but the main effects would be no more serious than flaking of the skin and some scarring. For lead poisoning to occur, the lead has to find its way into the bloodstream. In other words, it must be ingested. And I can assure you that the Romans didn't make a habit of ingesting their cosmetics. OK, uh, continuing on... I'm sure we'd agree that it can be risky to use lead pipes, but the Romans didn't have to worry about the water flowing through those pipes was high in calcium, which formed mineral deposits on the inside of the pipes, basically creating a protective coating between the pipes and the water. And the result? The water the Romans drank had very little directed contact with lead. Now on to that sugary stuff the Romans were so fond of. It's true; sapa was boiled in lead pots and had some led in it. But we should keep in mind that the sapa was heavily watered down when consumed. It was added to wine in very small quantities, so the total amount of lead being ingested was really trivial. It was certainly too small of a dosage to cause poisoning. |
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▶ Your Answer : In this given set of materials, there is some discrepancy between the views of the author and lecturer over the issue of the Roman Empire downfall. With three cogent explanations, the lecturer raises objections to the alleged reasons associated with the Roman high class presented in the passage. To start with, the lecturer debunks the author's conjecture since cosmetics did not necessarily result in lead poisoning of the Roman elite. To elaborate in detail, lead poisoning occurred when cosmetics were ingested into people. This view is in direct opposition to the author's claim that cosmetics which were used by the Roman upper class brought about lead poisoning of the high position Roman people. In addition, the lecturer also indicates dissent over the author's idea on the lead poisoning. The lecturer sounds convinced that the author is making a manifest error about water pipes presented in the Roman era. Besides, these water pipes' inner structure contained protective coatings that could have hindered the lead invasion. However, the author clarifies that water pipes were made of lead, so the lead component provoked the toxic poisoning at that time. Thirdly, the lecturer goes on to expound that the author's final point on sapa, syrup made by boiling grape juice is flawed. To corroborate this opinion, the lecturer mentions that although lead leached into sapa, the quantity of sapa was too trivial to poison the Roman upper class or novel people. However, this counters the author's theory that sapa mixed with wine led to the toxic posioning related to lead. Therefore, with these three convincing explanations the lecturer posits, the author's assumptions are all rendered invalid. |
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