Featured Post: Effect of Past Pandemics

As we ponder the consequences of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is interesting to look back at history, which is riddled with pandemics with staggering death tolls. I thought it would be worthwhile to compare the effects of historical pandemics with the current one for some perspective. While the effects of the current pandemic are certainly shocking, it was shocking to discover that other pandemics were even more devastating with some like the plague claiming tens of millions of lives. The infographic below offers a great visual representation of the death toll of past pandemics and helps provide a good perspective on how each pandemic compares with others and also to the pandemic we face today.

Death Toll of Various Pandemics. Image: Visual Capitalist

 

The tragic loss of human life is an obvious consequence of a pandemic, but there are also other fallouts that are less well known but equally important in the context of history. Looking at pandemics of the ancient world, I found fascinating (and frightening) facts about the long-term consequences of major pandemics- in many cases, the fall of entire civilizations!

Here's a look at major pandemics of the past, which I found at https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/pandemics-timeline, then dug deeper into other sources for details.

430 B.C.: Plague of Athens ➤ Fall of Classical Greece

One of the earliest pandemics in history, the Athenian Plague occurred during the great Peloponnesian War between Greece and the Spartans. Just when an Athenian victory seemed certain under the command of the great General Pericles, the plague arrived on their shores entering Athens through the port of Piraeus after sweeping across the Mediterranean. Killing an estimated 100,000 people (about 2/3rds of the Athenian population) including Pericles, the plague handed the Spartans an easy victory and brought an end to the golden age of Pericles, and of Classical Greece.

165 A.D.: Antonine Plague ➤ Decline of Roman Empire

The next major pandemic came almost 500 years later at the height of the Roman empire. The Antonine plague erupted in 165 A.D. during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Five Good Emperors. Originating in China (like covid-19!), the plague spread along the Silk Road, passing on to the Roman military, who then spread it throughout the Roman Empire. Lasting fifteen years, it claimed the life of Emperor Marcus Aurelius as well as his co-emperor, Lucius Verus. The Antonine Plague was a hundred times more devastating than the Plague of Athens, killing an estimated 10 million people, which was 1/4th- 1/3rd of the Roman population at the time. It also decimated the Roman military, allowing German tribes to cross into Roman territory and leaving the Roman Empire severely weakened.

250 A.D.: Plague of Cyprian ➤ Fall of Roman Empire
As a second plague hit the Roman Empire less than a century later, it wreaked havoc on the already weakened Roman military. Lasting nearly 20 years and claiming almost 5,000 people per day at its peak, it devastated the empire, killing two emperors and causing great upheaval in the political structure. The devastation was so widespread that St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, remarked that it appeared as if the world was at an end. Causing further damage to the already weakened Empire, it helped bring down the mighty Roman Empire.

541 A.D.: Justinian Plague ➤ Fall of Byzantine Empire and Rise of Christianity
The onset of the Justinian Plague in the Mediterranean region squelched the emergence of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. It is the first recorded appearance of the bubonic plague, which ravaged civilizations for years to come. It reached the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 541 A.D. through black rats on cargo ships from Africa and claimed up to 10,000 lives per day at its peak. Ultimately claiming 40-50% of the population of Europe, the Justinian pandemic contributed to the end of the Byzantine Empire and triggered widespread expansion of Christianity in Europe as people turned to religion to ease their suffering.

1350: Black Death ➤ End of the Mongol Empire, British Feudal System, and the Viking Era
A second outbreak of the bubonic plague in the middle ages was even more devastating. The Black Death or the Black Plague was also the most widespread and destructive in history. It devastated both Asia and Europe and wiped out a third of the world's population. It contributed to the fall of the mighty Mongol empire. The Black Death has another grim historical significance- it is the first recorded use of biological warfare in history. When the Mongol army reached the city of Kaffa, its troops were suffering from the plague, and they used this to their advantage by tossing plague-ridden bodies of soldiers as catapults inside the city walls of Kaffa to spread the disease. Elsewhere in Europe, economic ramifications from the Black Death led to the Peasants’ Revolt which led to the collapse of the British feudal system. The Black Death also ravaged the might of the Vikings and halted their exploration of the Americas. So this pandemic had far-reaching consequences across almost all of Europe and parts of Asia, within a short few years no less!

Spread of the Black Death plague. Image: NEH-Edsitement

1492: The Columbian Exchange ➤ Fall of the Native Americas
The arrival of the Spanish in the Caribbean brought several diseases such as smallpox, measles, and bubonic plague that the New World had never encountered. The lack of exposure to these diseases had a devastating effect on the indigenous population of the Americas, causing as many as 95% of the population to perish due to the new diseases. The diseases effectively ended the Native American civilizations and started the age of western colonization.

1520: Smallpox ➤ Fall of the Aztec Civilization
The Spaniards also brought smallpox to the Aztec Empire, when Hernán Cortés and his men sailed to Mexico. Again, lacking natural immunity to the foreign disease, the indigenous people were ravaged by the disease, causing the Aztec Empire to collapse within two years.

Aztec drawing of smallpox victims. Image: National Library of Medicine

History shows us that every major pandemic has the power to cause major cultural and political upheavals that can change the course of history. Luckily, the world recognizes the threat of the recent pandemic and has taken drastic steps to contain the disease before it can wreak havoc on world economies and politics the way it did in the past. Here’s hoping we win the war on the current pandemic quickly and restore the world order before it causes irreversible damage to present civilizations!

Bibliography
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/pandemics-timeline
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewgabriele/2018/08/08/black-death-viking-colony/#57fb48fd1fba
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/path-black-death
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/180.html