The Plague under Commodus as an Unintended Consequence of Roman Grain Market Regulation

Abstract

This paper begins with a review of Roman grain market policies. It is argued that policies such as forced sales and maximum prices made urban consumers hesitant to rely on the market for secure access to grain. Consequently, consumers hoarded grain in their homes. The hoarded grain formed a volatile fuel ready to be ignited by the arrival of the bubonic plague bacillus. This scenario fits events in the city of Rome under Commodus. Attested grain market interventions were followed by a severe epidemic, arguably bubonic plague, which decimated the city's population.

“If it looks like a duck…” – why humans need to focus on different approaches than insects if we are to become efficiently and effectively ultrasocial

“…Human catastrophe has resulted more typically from serendipity and lack of foresight for events ranging from natural disasters (Whyte 2008), problems with irrigation (see Stone 2006), food distribution and storage (Silver 2012), and disruption by intraspecies conflict (Turchin 2006).…”