The Justinianic Plague: an interdisciplinary review

Eisenberg, Merle; Mordechai, Lee

doi:10.1017/byz.2019.10

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…The outbreak of Justinianic plague in 541 CE immediately precedes or coincides with the period of decline in commercial-scale Negev viticulture. Although the demographic effects of the plague are a matter of debate ( 99 , 100 ), conservative demographic estimates suggest ∼20% population decline in the immediate aftermath of the first outbreak in Constantinople ( 101 – 103 ). Maximalist estimates reach 50% population decline for the period 541 to 700 CE ( 104 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rise and fall of viticulture in the Late Antique Negev Highlands reconstructed from archaeobotanical and ceramic data

Fuks

Bar-Oz

Tepper

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobotanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Mediterranean trade reaching what appears to be a commercial scale in the fourth to mid-sixth centuries. Following a mid-sixth century peak, decline of this system is evident in the mid- to late sixth century, nearly a century before the Islamic conquest. These findings closely correspond with other archaeological evidence for social, economic, and urban growth in the fourth century and decline centered on the mid-sixth century. Contracting markets were a likely proximate cause for the decline; possible triggers include climate change, plague, and wider sociopolitical developments. In long-term historical perspective, the unprecedented commercial florescence of the Late Antique Negev appears to have been unsustainable, reverting to an age-old pattern of smaller-scale settlement and survival–subsistence strategies within a time frame of about two centuries.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rise and fall of viticulture in the Late Antique Negev Highlands reconstructed from archaeobotanical and ceramic data

Fuks

Bar-Oz

Tepper

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries is the first known attack and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of the plague. The plague returned at intervals with varying virulence and mortality until the early 19th century (Eisenberg & Mordechai, 2019). After the Great Plague of 1738 (which hit Eastern Europe) and the Russian plague of 1789-1772, it seems to have gradually disappeared from Europe, although it lingered in Egypt and the Middle East (Green, 2014).…”

Section: The Plaguementioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis theorico-practica de viribus virus febriferi, pestiferi, atque serpentin

Delibegović

Matošević

2021

AMHA

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This review describes the first medical article written by an author from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The article was published by Fr. Franjo Gracić (1740-1799), in Latin, under the title: “Analysis theorico-practica de viribus virus febriferi, pestiferi, atque serpentin”, and printed in Padua in 1795, translated as: “A Theoretical and Practical Presentation of the Effects of Fevers, Infectious Diseases, and Snake Poison”. From today’s standpoint, it may be said that it was a review article about some of the most frequent diseases of that time. The paper is of exceptional importance for the history of medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina because it is the first documented medical article whose author was from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paper contains observations of the course of diseases and treatment, in line with the medical insights of the time. The author refers to the authorities of that time, such as Samuel Auguste André Tissot, the Swiss physicist and doctor, Georg Bauer, the German doctor, and Lodovico Antonio Muratori, the Italian scholar, which makes this article a link between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the knowledge of the Europe of that time. This paper represents the beginning of medical writing in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has a very important place in the history of medicine in this country.

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“…Algunos detractores de esta teoría, se basan en las observaciones de la pandemia de Glasgow en 1900 y la de Bombay a principios del siglo XX, en las que se observó un bajo número de ratas y una proporción muy baja de ratas infectadas y no infectadas. Los estudiosos de la Peste Negra han propuesto dos modelos alternativos, que podrían ajustarse a la Plaga de Justiniano, pero que, debido a la falta de evidencia de la antigüedad tardía, no es posible demostrar (16).…”

Section: Investigaciones Contemporáneas Vectoresunclassified

La plaga de Justiniano (541-542)

Ortíz

2020

Med.

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A lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, las epidemias, plagas o pandemias, han diezmado a las civilizaciones, y han sido causantes de grandes cambios políticos y socioeconómicos. De acuerdo con la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la Plaga de Justiniano (541-542) es la cuarta pandemia que más muertes ha causado (30-50 millones), después de la Peste Negra 1347-1351 (200 millones de muertos), la Viruela 1520 (56 millones de víctimas) y la Gripe Española 1918-1919 (40-50 millones de decesos). Hace cerca de quince siglos, el imperio Romano de Oriente (Bizantino) se vio azolado por una plaga que probablemente empezó en Asia, pero que, de acuerdo con los historiadores y escritores de la época, de quienes se conservan sus registros, empezó en África en el año 541, pasó a Constantinopla en el año 542, y se extendió posteriormente a toda Europa. La peste se presentó en oleadas, que ocurrieron en número de 20 durante los dos siglos siguientes. Se ha identificado a la bacteria Yersinia Pestis como el agente causal, probablemente transmitido por las pulgas a partir de las ratas, y se ha relacionado incluso con cambios climáticos documentados para la época. A partir de documentos históricos y de investigaciones contemporáneas en diferentes ámbitos, se presenta una revisión de “La Plaga de Justiniano”, y del comportamiento actual de la peste.

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The Justinianic Plague: an interdisciplinary review

Cited by 21 publications

References 71 publications

The rise and fall of viticulture in the Late Antique Negev Highlands reconstructed from archaeobotanical and ceramic data

The rise and fall of viticulture in the Late Antique Negev Highlands reconstructed from archaeobotanical and ceramic data

Analysis theorico-practica de viribus virus febriferi, pestiferi, atque serpentin

La plaga de Justiniano (541-542)

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