Plague Helped Bring Down Roman Empire

LiveScience ^ | May 10, 2013 | Charles Choi

[SunkenCiv]

...The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, has been linked with at least two of the most devastating pandemics in recorded history. One, the Great Plague, which lasted from the 14th to 17th centuries, included the infamous epidemic known as the Black Death, which may have killed nearly two-thirds of Europe in the mid-1300s. Another, the Modern Plague, struck around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries, beginning in China in the mid-1800s and spreading to Africa, the Americas, Australia, Europe and other parts of Asia.

Although past studies confirmed this germ was linked with both of these catastrophes, much controversy existed as to whether it also caused the Justinianic Plague of the sixth to eighth centuries. This pandemic, named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, killed more than 100 million people. Some historians have suggested it contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.

To help solve this mystery, scientists investigated ancient DNA from the teeth of 19 different sixth-century skeletons from a medieval graveyard in Bavaria, Germany, of people who apparently succumbed to the Justinianic Plague.

They unambiguously found the plague bacterium Y. pestis there...

The researchers said these findings confirm that the Justinianic Plague crossed the Alps, killing people in what is now Bavaria. Analysis of the DNA suggests that much like the later two pandemics of plague, this first pandemic originated in Asia...

The researchers now hope to reconstruct the whole genome sequence of the plague strain in these ancient teeth to learn more about the disease, Scholz said.

[rollo tomasi]

Did not help that European cultural superstitions included fear of felines which led rats running wild if left unchecked. Also, any city that took their public work projects for granted were fair game. Once the pandemic stage hit (fleas/ticks), then all bets were off.

[kabumpo]

I recommend ”Count Belisarius”, a novel by Robert Graves about that era.

[kabumpo]

I recommend the novel ”Count Belisarius” by Robert Graves - a fascinating account of that period, the religion and the politics.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

That’s like saying the 1918 Spanish flu help win the American Revolution

---

I blame Dr Who.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I was given to understand that based on forensics and historical data, that the extensive use of lead for carrying water and in eating/drinking utensils was a major contributor to the decline. Lead poisoning causes all sorts of nasty mental and physical problems.

[Verginius Rufus]

Justinian was from near Skopje in the present-day Republic of Macedonia--one of the last emperors who spoke Latin as his first tongue (although my guess is that Cicero would have cringed at what passed for Latin in the rural Balkans in the sixth century). The future pope Gregory the Great spent some time in Constantinople a little later and somehow managed not to learn Greek, so there must have been a critical mass of Latin-speakers even in Constantinople.

In the second half of the sixth century or first part of the seventh century much of the Balkans was overrun with Slavs (including some parts of Greece which were later re-hellenized). Although much of the territory was again under the control of Constantinople from time to time, that must have tipped the scales heavily in favor of the Greek language as opposed to Latin. Justinian's law code was in Latin but already a lot of the new laws were being issued in Greek.

[Verginius Rufus]

There was a proverb date obolum Belisario based on the legend that Belisarius later was a poor beggar in Constantinople--"give an obol to Belisarius" (an obol was one-sixth of a drachma). There is a cartoon thought to be by Benjamin Franklin from the era of the American Revolution which displays this proverb (but spells Belisarius' name with two L's).

[Aetius]

I wonder if the Romans would have tried to further exploit their victory against the Parthians in that war if that plague hadn’t broke out. It seems their territorial gains were minimal in light of the victory.

[kabumpo]

The Robert Graves novel covers that.

[KC Burke]

interesting accounts.

[GeronL]

rats or immigrants?

[gleeaikin]

The Romans did not have much luck fighting the Parthians. Crassus, the third member of the Roman triumvirate of which Pompey and Julius Caesar were the other two, wanted to make a name for himself before he got too old. He was about 54. Pompey had Spain and the west, Caesar had the center and he had the East. The march into Parthian territory became a military disaster. He and his son were both killed, and young Cassius managed to bring about 10,000 troops back to Syria to preserve the Roman hold there. Years later you may recall that Cassius was one of the ringleaders who killed Caesar because he was “too ambitious.” I always wondered what his ambition was, until I read this piece of history. Then I realized that Caesar’s ambition was to restore Roman honor by conquering Parthia. Dumb move, and also a dumb move 200 years later. And also a dumb move 10 years ago.

Regarding rats. The rat of the plague was the black rat, which was primarily a house and roof rat. It lived rather intimately with its victims, spreading fleas in the house. The Norway gray rat which replaced the Black rat is a sewer and cellar rat which has less contact with humans. We have endemic Bubonic plague in around 17 western states among the wild rodent population. However it seems the Hanta virus is more dangerous as you can get it from dust while sweeping mouse droppings, rather than the flea bites needed for plague.

[no-to-illegals]

gleenaikin, I can always count on you to cause me more research. LOL ...

[1010RD]

Yep and few people realize that domed churches are a Christian, not Moslem, invention.

[Bigg Red]

Informative read. Thanks for posting.

I second that.

***
Let me add my thanks, as well.

[Bigg Red]

Thanks. Very informative comments, as usual.

Please tell me we have the pharmacological armory in case of another onslaught of Y. pestis.

[BroJoeK]

quam1: "Ummmm, the Roman Empire ended in 479 and was well on it's way out, long before Justinian."

kabumpo: "Justinian was in Byzantium, the eastern part of the empire that lasted longer."

Verginius Rufus: "Justinian was from near Skopje in the present-day Republic of Macedonia--one of the last emperors who spoke Latin as his first tongue..."

Just to be clear, here is the old Roman Empire at its peak, 2nd Century AD:

And here is the new Eastern Roman Empire (possibly exaggerated?), at its peak under Justian, 6th century AD:

The Eastern Empire fell in 1453, and now, as the song says:

"So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks"

;-)

[muawiyah]

That's a really good question ~ they treat all detected cases with antibiotics that seem to work. But I don't believe they go out and track down the infected rats and other susceptible rodents!

So, it's out there poised to strike every time the conditions are right. We are currently coming out from under a lengthy drought ~ well over a decade West of the 100 degree line. The rains are aiding the recover and grass is all over the place, and by next year the pine nut trees will be blooming and bearing.

Next Fall could be a major year for plague!

[ZULU]

this first pandemic originated in Asia

The Second one was in the 600’s. It was called ISLAM and its still with us.

[muawiyah]

When Diocletian SPLIT the Roman Empire, he took the Eastern Half.

BTW, he built his retirement palace in SPLIT which is right there where he SPLIT the empire.

For unaccountable reasons the on-line dictionaries trace the word origin to 1500s Dutch.

I suspect it's far older than that ~