Episode 85: The Fate of Rome Part II-The Antonine Plague
/The Roman Empire during the Pax Romana was in many ways a golden age of ancient commerce, urbanization, and connectivity. But the same things that made the empire great also made the empire vulnerable to a new type of danger: the pandemic. The Antonine Plague ravaged through the empire from roughly 165 to 180, in waves of chaos and misery. The resilience of the empire was tested, but it ultimately endured...for now.
This is part two in a four part series on how climate and disease contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. It focuses on the causes and impacts of the Antonine Plague, and how the Roman state responded. This series is based in large part on Kyle Harper's recent book "The Fate of Roman: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire."
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