Silver fueled the rise of the Roman Empire. But the ancient process of mining and extracting silver was also making the air thick with lead, scientists found.

The new research adds context to a long-standing debate about the role lead pollution and poisoning may have played in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Some historians have argued that Roman elites and emperors who purportedly displayed odd,

Did lead poisoning contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire? It’s a question historians have long debated, since the Romans sweetened their wine with lead acetate and sipped tap water that flowed through lead pipes.

Atmospheric lead pollution likely caused cognitive decline among citizens of the Roman Empire, according to research published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers analyzed ice core records for an approximately thousand-year period corresponding roughly with the period from the Roman Republic through the decline of the empire,

New research finds that pollution from ancient silver and lead mining during the Roman Empire resulted in lowered intelligence across Europe.

Learn how researchers examined lead levels in ice cores dating back to the Roman Empire, and found concentrations high enough to affect IQs.

Ancient Romans' IQ was reduced by the lead in the air they breathed, a new study says. The thirst for silver needed to mint sesterces had deleterious consequences for the health of the citizens of the Roman Empire,

The mass production of silver coins in the Roman Empire had an unintended effect: spewing so much lead into the atmosphere that it may have lowered citizens’ IQs.