The Antonine Plague’s Symptoms and its History

The plague of Galen, also known as the Antonine plague, was an epidemic introduced to the Roman Empire by soldiers from the Mid-East between 165 and 180 AD. Many researchers considered the Antonine plague to be caused by measles or smallpox; nevertheless, the origin of the disease is uncertain. Lucius Verus, a co-regent of King Antoninus Marcus, whose family name was connected with this plague, may have died due to the epidemic. According to Dio Cassius, the disease revived nine years later, killing over 2,000 people daily in Rome. Over 5 million people died as a result of the Antonine plague.

History and Start: 

The Antonine Plague, originally started during Marcus Aurelius’ era in 165 AD and persisted during his son Commodus’ empire, played such an important impact on the Ancient Near East that the pathogenesis was transformed. The medical aspects of the pandemic are few and incomplete, with the Roman empire, which faced the disease, serving as the primary source. However, the excellent physician only gives us a quick overview of the condition, his goal being to provide treatment options rather than a precise explanation of the Antonine Plague symptoms. Even though some clinical signs handled by Galen led us to believe the Antonine epidemic was triggered by smallpox, palaeopathological evidence is insufficient. Some archaeological records from Italy (such as terracotta findings) may support this theory. Some features can be seen in these findings, indicating that the artist intended to depict the traditional smallpox pustules, which are common Antonine Plague symptoms.

The severity of the pandemic has been hotly contested. Still, most historians believe it significantly influenced military conscription, the agricultural and urban economies, and the state’s finances. The Antonine Plague impacted the old Roman empire’s customs and creative expression; there was a revival of piety and religiousness. These events allowed monotheistic religions like Mithraism and Christianity to flourish. This time, marked by health, social, and economic difficulties, allowed adjacent barbarian tribes to join the Roman Empire and for barbarian warriors to be recruited into the Roman army; these actions encouraged these communities’ cultural and political development. The Antonine Plague may have opened the way for the Roman Empire’s collapse and, eventually, its destruction in the Western in the fifth century AD.

Spread: 

The outbreak began in China before 155CE and travelled westward along the Silk Road. Several accounts show that the Romans were exposed to the epidemic during the siege of Seleucia-on-Tigris in late 165 CE and early 166 CE. The disease was spread northwards by the soldiers travelling from the east towards the legions along the Rhine and Gaul.

Galen, the Greek scholar and the physician, had been to Central Asia in 166 during the epidemic. In 168, Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius brought him back to Rome and presented him with the epidemic among the Roman empire soldiers deployed at Aquileia. In his work Methodus-Medendi, Galen examined the ill troops and described the epidemic. Galen described the Antonine plague symptoms as severe, citing pharyngitis, diarrhoea, and fever-like symptoms. On the 9th day of the disease, he noticed skin eruptions (sometimes pustular, occasionally dry) as Antonine plague symptoms. Galen’s definition does not indicate the actual illness, but many scholars have identified it as smallpox. 

Origin Of the Antonine Plague: 

Zhang Leifu believes the outbreaks that struck the Eastern-Han Dynasty were linked to the Antonine Plague in western Eurasia. According to Zhang Leifu, the attack coincided with the Roman embassy’s visit to the Han court in 166. According to Raoul MacLaughlin, the journey culminated at the beginning of the Roman Far-East trade. According to McLaughlin, the disease began in a small demographic group in Central Asia and spread widely to the Roman and Chinese civilisations.

Effect Of the Antonine Plague: 

Many villages and towns in the eastern provinces and the Italian peninsula, according to Paulus Orosius, lost all of their inhabitants. The pandemic spread along the Rhine and affected Gallic and Germanic communities outside the Roman Empire. The northern tribes had marched southward in pursuit of greater territory for several years. The Roman empire, however, could not force them back because the epidemic had reduced the number of Roman troops. From 167CE till his death, Marcus Aurelius led soldiers around the Danube River. Emperor Aurelius successfully prevented the Germanic people from crossing the river. Due to the lack of soldiers, the Romans had to delay the main offensive against the Germanic people until 169CE.

Facts:

During the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the sixth century CE, the first global plague outbreak was accurately reported. The pandemic started in Egypt. According to historian Procopius and others, the pandemic began in Egypt and spread through maritime trade routes until it reached Constantinople in 542. It killed tens of thousands of people in the area, and officials had problems disposing of the bodies because they fell so fast. 

Conclusion:

According to reports of the Antonine plague’s symptoms and mechanism of infection, all kinds of epidemics were most probably present. The pandemic expanded westward to Mediterranean port cities and eastward into Persia over the next half-century. The plague to God’s punishment on a horrible world. Still, current scholars believe it was transmitted by domestic rats that went on seagoing vessels and grew in the crowded, unsanitary cities of the period.