Plague of Galen

  • The Plague of Galen (165-180 CE), also known as the Antonine Plague, was a devastating epidemic that affected Rome and the Roman Empire between 165-180 CE.

Origin of the Plague

  • It was known as the Plague of Galen because Galen described it as an Epidemic of Smallpox or Measles. He said it had been being brought into the Roman Empire by the Legions from the East.
  • Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 325-400 CE) stated that it started from the Siege of Seleucia on the Tigris in 165-6 CE and then spread to the Rhine Legions causing great loss.
  • The Plague was named after the Antonine Emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

Estimated Losses

  • In 174 CE, the Plague resurfaced, and Dio Cassius recorded that 2,000 people died every day in Rome.
  • Eutropius estimated the Roman Empire lost millions of persons, possibly up to five million altogether.

Plague of Cyprian (249-262 CE)

  • Between 249 – 262 CE, another Plague, the Plague of Cyprian swept the Roman Empire, under the reign of Decius.
  • It was named after St, Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, who described the Plague.
  • At its worst point, 5,000 people a day were dying of its effects in Rome.
  • A further outbreak of Plague in 270 CE is considered to have been part of the same epidemic.

Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 CE)

  • The Western Roman Empire never fully recovered from the effects of the Antonine Plague and the Plague of Cyprian.
  • The Germanic Tribes were encouraged to take advantage and commence a wave of invasions, at the same time as Provincial Governors would start a civil war, declare themselves Emperor and march on Rome.
  • The ‘Golden Age’ of Rome (29 BCE-180 CE) was over and historians refer to this period of anarchy as the Crisis of the Third Century.

 

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