Alaskan Volcanoes and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire Scientists have recently concluded that an Alaskan volcano erupted and played in a contributing role in the fall of the Roman Republic. In the same vein, the rise of the Roman Empire. From 43-42 BC, most of Europe (and likely the rest of the Northern Hemisphere) experienced a cold wave. This brought temperatures down by as much as 17 degrees Fahrenheit on [...]