The Plague of Justinian
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the outbreak of plague in 541AD in Byzantium that was said, at the time, to have blighted the lives of all mankind.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the plague that broke out in Constantinople 541AD, in the reign of Emperor Justinian. According to the historian Procopius, writing in Byzantium at the time, this was a plague by which the whole human race came near to being destroyed, embracing the whole world, and blighting the lives of all mankind. The bacterium behind the Black Death has since been found on human remains from that time, and the symptoms described were the same, and evidence of this plague has since been traced around the Mediterranean and from Syria to Britain and Ireland. The question of how devastating it truly was, though, is yet to be resolved.
With
John Haldon
Professor of Byzantine History and Hellenic Studies Emeritus at Princeton University
Rebecca Flemming
Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge
And
Greg Woolf
Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Last on
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
READING LIST:
Robert Forster and Orest Ranum (eds.), Biology of Man in History (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975), especially 鈥楾he Plague in the Early Middle Ages鈥� by J.-N. Biraben and Jacques Le Goff
Kyle Harper,聽The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease and the End of an Empire聽(Princeton University Press, 2017)
Erik Hermans (ed.), A Companion to the Global Early Middle Ages (Arc Humanities Press, 2020), especially 鈥楥limate and Disease鈥� by Peter Sarris
Lester K. Little (ed.), Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750 (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Michael Maas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
Michael McCormick, 鈥楪regory of Tours on Sixth-Century Plague and other epidemics鈥� -聽Speculum 96 (2021), p38-96
Mischa Meier, 鈥楾he 鈥楯ustinianic Plague鈥�: An 鈥業nconsequential Pandemic鈥�? A Reply鈥� -聽Medizinhistorisches Journal 55 (2020), p172-199
Procopius (trans. H B Dewing), History of the Wars: Books I and II (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013)
William Rosen, Justinian鈥檚 Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe (Jonathan Cape, 2007)
RELATED LINKS:
Re Kyle Harper's book (listed above): J. Haldon et al., 鈥楶lagues, climate change, and the end of an empire: A response to Kyle Harper鈥檚 The Fate of Rome鈥�, History Compass (fall 2018) 鈥� a three part review
Broadcasts
- Thu 21 Jan 2021 09:00主播大秀 Radio 4
- Thu 21 Jan 2021 21:30主播大秀 Radio 4
Featured in...
![]()
Ancient Rome—In Our Time
Browse the Ancient Rome era within the In Our Time archive.
![]()
History—In Our Time
Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.
In Our Time podcasts
Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.
The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
If you鈥檙e new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.
Arts and Ideas podcast
Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.
Podcast
-
![]()
In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
