The plague of Justinian

"People may have experienced traumatic shock"

The Justinianic plague began in 541 and returned periodically until the middle of the eighth century. It is estimated to have wiped out as many as tens of millions of people, although due to the limited evidence it is difficult to know the true scale.

The disease was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, which is passed on by fleas and rodents. It is understood to have spread across central Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean. Recent genetic research into different strains of the bacterium that caused the plague has uncovered new evidence of it in sites across Britain, Germany, France and Spain.

Recent DNA analysis shows the first pandemic spread more widely than previously thought Sites of genetic evidence Documented outbreaks 541–750 Sample found near Cambridge Illyricum Southern Gaul Greece Samples also found in Germany, France and Spain Sites of genetic evidence Documented outbreaks 541–750 Sample found near Cambridge Samples also found in Germany, France and Spain Asia Minor & Bithynia Illyricum Thrace Spain Southern Gaul Greece Mesopotamia Palestine North Africa Egypt Source: M Keller and colleagues, 2019 (PNAS). Inland borders reflect Roman provinces.

Populations at the time are thought to have largely believed the plague was an act of God. Prof JN Hays, the author of Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impact on Human History, says people may have thought God had scourged regions and their atmospheres, and to counter this they tried to clear the air.

He refers to an example of widespread breaking of pottery in Syria in the seventh century: “There was a deliberate smashing of pots; people making a clamour. This may be an illustration of a population experiencing traumatic shock. It might have been done in panic but also might have been done to somehow disturb and clear the atmosphere.”