Lead and the Romans

Abstract

Lead poisoning has been a problem since early history and continues into modern times. An appealing characteristic of lead is that many lead salts are sweet. In the absence of cane and beet sugars, early Romans used “sugar of lead” (lead acetate) to sweeten desserts, fruits, and sour wine. People most at risk would have been those who consumed the most wine, the aristocracy, although they appeared unaware of the neurological and reproductive damage to themselves and their children. This article focuses on lead use in the Roman Empire as an example and attempts to address some of the major concerns voiced by opponents of Nriagu’s 1983 article, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, on saturnine gout in the Roman Empire. Despite new theories formulated since 1983, current archeological evidence does not match the claims of widespread use of leaden vessels made by historical accounts. Although historical sources are consistent, more substantive archeological evidence is needed before convincing ar...