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jeremy 's review for:
The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire
by Kyle Harper
A narrative history of Imperial Rome that focuses primarily on the history of climate change and disease. It surveys a wealth of recent work understanding climate change and the evolution of pathogens. It's striking to note the way this recent scientific work aligns with the written record: In early Imperial times the Tiber flooded in the spring and high summer (48). Late in Justinian's reign the Danube froze "as usual... to a considerable depth" (271). Climate is not constant-- "on its own terms and tempo, nature alters the conditions within which human societies have sought to scratch out their livelihoods" (290).
The history of disease seems like it should be less surprising. We know that pre-modern medical practices did more harm than good, and we know that many more people died of disease in the past. The surprise here is how profound the impact of disease was, and how little this impact is discussed in history of the period. The Antonine Plague (c. 170 AD) was likely a smallpox epidemic that killed more than 10% of the population.
The later plague, definitely an outbreak of of Y. pestis, began in AD 541 and continued at irregular intervals until AD 749 (236). The initial outbreak in Constantinople killed 300,000 according to the estimates of John of Ephesus. The total population had been half a million. The death rate, then, was probably the same as the 50-60% estimated for the Black Death.
Concurrent with the plague, the Roman world faced the Late Antique Little Ice Age and the Year without Summer in AD 536, the latter caused by a volcanic eruption and followed in 539 or 540 by a second explosion that blocked the sun and left traces at both poles (253).
The book does an excellent job of explaining the physical world of the later Roman Empire and giving even greater appreciation that the empire "had subsisted so long."
The history of disease seems like it should be less surprising. We know that pre-modern medical practices did more harm than good, and we know that many more people died of disease in the past. The surprise here is how profound the impact of disease was, and how little this impact is discussed in history of the period. The Antonine Plague (c. 170 AD) was likely a smallpox epidemic that killed more than 10% of the population.
The later plague, definitely an outbreak of of Y. pestis, began in AD 541 and continued at irregular intervals until AD 749 (236). The initial outbreak in Constantinople killed 300,000 according to the estimates of John of Ephesus. The total population had been half a million. The death rate, then, was probably the same as the 50-60% estimated for the Black Death.
Concurrent with the plague, the Roman world faced the Late Antique Little Ice Age and the Year without Summer in AD 536, the latter caused by a volcanic eruption and followed in 539 or 540 by a second explosion that blocked the sun and left traces at both poles (253).
The book does an excellent job of explaining the physical world of the later Roman Empire and giving even greater appreciation that the empire "had subsisted so long."