People, Plagues, and Prices in the Roman World: The Evidence from Egypt

Harper, Kyle

doi:10.1017/s0022050716000826

Cited by 78 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…They even threw them half dead into the roads and treated unburied corpses like refuse in hope of avoiding the plague of death, which, for all their efforts, was difficult to escape. (Maier, 1999, p. 240) Although it could be argued that Dionysius had a biased view of Christian charity, Harper (2016) makes the point that it would be difficult to exaggerate or fabricate an experience that his audience was experiencing first hand.…”

Section: Cases Of Prestige-driven Dynamics In Religious Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

By Reverence, Not Fear: Prestige, Religion, and Autonomic Regulation in the Evolution of Cooperation

Lenfesty

Morgan

2019

Front. Psychol.

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Recent evolutionary theories of religions emphasize their function as mechanisms for increasing prosociality. In particular, they claim that fear of supernatural punishment can be adaptive when it can compensate for humans' inability to monitor behavior and mete out punishment in large groups, as well when it can inhibit individuals' impulses for defection. Nonetheless, while fear of punishment may inhibit some antisocial behaviors like cheating, it is unlikely to motivate other prosocial behaviors, like helping. This is because human physiology has evolved separate neurological systems with differential behavioral correlates either for (1) processing fear and responding to threats or (2) facilitating social interactions in environments which are deemed safe. Almost all vertebrates possess autonomic pathways for processing threats and fear, which result in "fight," "flight," or "freeze" responses and so likely mediate interactions in dominance hierarchies. Mammals, however, possess an additional, phylogenetically newer, pathway dedicated to suppressing such defensive responses in the service of promoting social affiliation or engagement. Here, we argue that this mammalian physiology supports an alternative hierarchical system unique to humans: prestige. In contrast to dominance, which involves aversion, fear and shame, prestige hierarchies are characterized by physical proximity and eye-contact, as well as emotions like admiration and respect for leaders. Prestige also directs the flow of cultural information between individuals and has been argued to have evolved in order to help individuals acquire high quality information. Here, we argue that not only does the mammalian autonomic pathway support prestige hierarchies, but that coupled with prestige biased social learning, it opens up a means for prestigious figures, including deities, to support the spread of prosocial behaviors. Thus, in addition to theories that emphasizes religious fear as a motivating factor in the evolution of prosocial religions, we suggest that reverencewhich includes awe and respect for, deference to, admiration of, and a desire to please a deity or supernatural agent-is likely just as important. In support of this, we identify cases of religions that appear to be defined predominantly by prestige dynamics, and not fear of supernatural punishment.

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Section: Cases Of Prestige-driven Dynamics In Religious Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

By Reverence, Not Fear: Prestige, Religion, and Autonomic Regulation in the Evolution of Cooperation

Lenfesty

Morgan

2019

Front. Psychol.

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“…49 ; Elliott (2016). 50 Harper (2016a). 51 The pestilence in Edessa is also of particular importance potentially, since it provides strong observational evidence for epidemic smallpox in the 5th c. Medical sources from the 7th to 9th c.-from Alexandria to Iraq, Persia and Mortality estimates for the Antonine Plague have varied from as little as 2% of the population to as much as 25-30%, although I have argued for something in the realm of 10% of the empire's population as a whole.…”

Section: Ecology Environment Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invisible Environmental History: Infectious Disease in Late Antiquity

Harper

2019

Environment and Society in the Long Late Antiquity

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This study argues that the biological environment is properly a part of environmental history. The microorganismsbacteria, viruses, protozoa-that cause infectious disease were the principal cause of mortality in ancient societies, but the particular array of pathogens was both locally specific and unstable over time. Pathogenic microbes are ecologically sensitive, so the background of local climate, and the influence of climate variability and climate change, determined patterns of disease and mortality. The connections between climate variability and climate change, on the one hand, and the disease profile of a population, on the other, are complex, and this paper traces some of the main pathways of influence, with specific reference to a few of the best known diseases and epidemic events in the later Roman period.

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“…Now, Scheidel's Malthusian model is among the most serious and coherent presentations of the Roman economy in the recent literature, but it should be obvious even to non‐specialists that my conclusions depart from it. In rebuilding the wage, price, and rent data from the ground up, I found that the evidence indicates intensive growth in Roman Egypt down to the Antonine plague (Harper, ). In fact, the hypothesis of intensive growth in the Roman Empire is utterly central to the argument in The Fate of Rome and developed in opposition to the Malthusian paradigm, so these are not just finer points misunderstood by the group.…”

Section: What Can We Know About the Roman Pandemics?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, the hypothesis of intensive growth in the Roman Empire is utterly central to the argument in The Fate of Rome and developed in opposition to the Malthusian paradigm, so these are not just finer points misunderstood by the group. Moreover, the labor‐intensive project of reconstructing the rent data to calibrate for fallowing was undertaken precisely in order to answer the legitimate concerns of Bagnall (Harper, , p. 812). The confident accusations of the group stand in contrast to their incomplete grasp of the issues, and the Reply is likely to give a deeply misleading picture to readers unfamiliar with this period.…”

Section: What Can We Know About the Roman Pandemics?mentioning

confidence: 99%