Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of EuropeA richly told story of the collision between nature’s smallest organism and history’s mightiest empire The Emperor Justinian reunified Rome’s fractured empire by defeating the Goths and Vandals who had separated Italy, Spain, and North Africa from imperial rule. In his capital at Constantinople he built the world’s most beautiful building, married its most powerful empress, and wrote its most enduring legal code, seemingly restoring Rome’s fortunes for the next five hundred years. Then, in the summer of 542, he encountered a flea. The ensuing outbreak of bubonic plague killed five thousand people a day in Constantinople and nearly killed Justinian himself. In Justinian’s Flea, William Rosen tells the story of history’s first pandemic—a plague seven centuries before the Black Death that killed tens of millions, devastated the empires of Persia and Rome, left a path of victims from Ireland to Iraq, and opened the way for the armies of Islam. Weaving together evolutionary microbiology, economics, military strategy, ecology, and ancient and modern medicine, Rosen offers a sweeping narrative of one of the great hinge moments in history, one that will appeal to readers of John Kelly’s The Great Mortality, John Barry’s The Great Influenza, and Jared Diamond’s Collapse. |
Contents
The Three ThousandBody Problem I | 1 |
Pelusium 540 | 9 |
Four Princes of the World 286470 | 15 |
We Do Not Love Anything Uncivilized 337518 | 37 |
Our Most Pious Consort 518530 | 64 |
Solomon I Have Outdone Thee 530537 | 91 |
Live Honorably Harm Nobody | 119 |
The Victories Granted Us by Heaven 533540 | 134 |
From So Simple a Beginning | 185 |
The Fury of the Wrath of God 540542 | 198 |
10 | 227 |
No Small Grace 545664 | 253 |
A Thread You Cannot Unravel 548558 | 269 |
Yarmuk 636 | 315 |
Acknowledgments | 327 |
Bibliographical Note | 347 |
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Common terms and phrases
Africa Agathias Alexandria Anastasius Anthemius Antioch Antonina Arab arch Arian army arrived bacteria bacterium barbarian battle Belisarius Belisarius's bishop bubonic plague built Byzantine called Cambridge capital cavalry century China Christian chronicle church city's command conquest Constantine Constantinople Ctesiphon Danube death defeated demon despite Diocletian disease dome dozens east eastern emperor empire's Europe European force Gaul Gelimer Ghassanids gold Gothic Goths Greek Hagia Sophia Hippodrome historian human hundred Huns Ibid imperial Italy John Justin Justinian and Theodora Justinian's Flea Khusro killed king known land late antiquity Later Roman Empire less Mediterranean Mesopotamia military modern Monophysite Narses Narses's Ostrogoths palace pandemic Persian pestis piers population Procopius Procopius's reign Roman Empire Rome Rome's rule ruler Sassanid siege silk sixth-century soldiers successor thousand throne tion Totila trans Tribonian troops turned University Press Vandals Visigoths Vitigis walls Wars western York