Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Contributors......Page 9
Preface......Page 13
Plague and the End of Antiquity......Page 21
I INTRODUCTION......Page 23
1 Life and Afterlife of the First Plague Pandemic......Page 25
The three pandemics......Page 26
The evidence......Page 29
Modern scholarship......Page 37
The first two pandemics compared......Page 40
Effects......Page 43
Expiation and memory......Page 50
2 Historians and Epidemics: Simple Questions, Complex Answers......Page 55
In what ways have societies perceived epidemics, and how have societies responded to epidemics?......Page 56
What can be learned about the mortality and morbidity inflicted by epidemics? how many, and who, died, where and when?......Page 58
What effects have been traced to epidemics?......Page 59
In terms of modern biomedical understanding, what \"was\" the epidemic? and does that question matter for historical discussion......Page 64
Human Settlements and Movements......Page 68
Human Nutrition......Page 71
Have epidemics affected contemporary or later imaginations? have epidemics their own historiographies?......Page 74
II THE NEAR EAST......Page 79
3 ‘For Whom Does the Writer Write?’: The First Bubonic Plague Pandemic According to Syriac Sources......Page 81
4 Justinianic Plague in Syria and the Archaeological Evidence......Page 109
III THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE......Page 119
5 Crime and Punishment: The Plague in the Byzantine Empire, 541–749......Page 121
6 Bubonic Plague in Byzantium: The Evidence of Non-Literary Sources......Page 141
IV THE LATIN WEST......Page 155
7 Consilia humana, ops divina, superstitio: Seeking Succor and Solace in Times of Plague, with Particular Reference to Gaul in the Early Middle Ages......Page 157
Gods – ops divina......Page 158
Kings – between ops divinaand consilia humana......Page 164
Bishops – consilia humana......Page 167
Talismans – superstitio......Page 169
Appendix......Page 171
8 Plague in Spanish Late Antiquity......Page 172
A Sermon on the Catastrophe, to be Read on the First Day (Grégoire, Les homéliaires, 214–17)......Page 182
Likewise a Sermon on the Catastrophe, to be Read on the Second Day (Grégoire, Les homéliaires, 217–19)......Page 186
A Sermon on the Catastrophe, to be Read on the Third Day (Grégoire, Les homéliaires, 219–21)......Page 188
Likewise a Sermon on the Catastrophe (Grégoire, Les homéliaires, 222–23).......Page 191
9\rPlague in Seventh-Century England......Page 193
Course and mortality......Page 195
Bede as witness......Page 201
The identity of the disease......Page 204
Transmission and spread......Page 210
Plague in the countryside......Page 213
Aftermath and consequences......Page 227
Conclusion: plague and population......Page 234
10 The Plague and Its Consequences in Ireland......Page 237
The plague and its redress......Page 246
V THE CHALLENGE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY......Page 251
11 Ecology, Evolution, and Epidemiology of Plague......Page 253
Plague as described by ancient authors......Page 255
Evolution and the early history of plague......Page 267
Epidemiology of plague......Page 276
12 Toward a Molecular History of the Justinianic Pandemic......Page 312
Bibliography......Page 335
Index......Page 377