Overview

Plague was a key factor in the waning of Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. In this volume, the first on the subject, twelve scholars from a variety of disciplines - history, archaeology, epidemiology, and molecular biology - have produced a comprehensive account of the pandemic's origins, spread, and mortality, as well as its economic, social, political, and religious effects. The historians examine written sources in a range of languages, including Arabic, Syriac, Greek, Latin, and Old Irish. Archaeologists analyse burial pits, abandoned villages, and aborted building projects. The epidemiologists use the written sources to track the disease's means and speed of transmission, the mix of vulnerability and resistance it encountered, and the patterns of reappearance over time. Finally, molecular biologists, newcomers to this kind of investigation, have become pioneers of paleopathology, seeking ways to identify pathogens in human remains from the remote past.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lester K. Little (Smith College, Massachusetts)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)
ISBN:  

9780511812934

ISBN 10:   0511812930
Publication Date:   05 June 2012
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Undefined
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction: 1. Life and afterlife of the first plague pandemic Lester K. Little; 2. Historians and epidemics: simple questions, complex answers Jo N. Hays; Part II. The Near East: 3. For whom does the writer write?: the first bubonic plague pandemic according to Syriac sources Michael Morony; 4. Justinian plague in Syria and the archaeological evidence Hugh N. Kennedy; Part III. The Byzantine Empire: 5. Crime and punishment: the plague in the Byzantine empire 541–749 Dionysios Stathakopoulos; 6. Bubonic plague in Byzantium: the evidence of the non-literary sources Peter Sarris; Part IV. The Latin West: 7. Consilia humana, ops divina, superstitio (Livy 7,2): seeking succor and solace in times of plague, with particular reference to Gaul in the early middle ages Alain J. Stoclet; 8. Plague in Spanish late antiquity Michael Kulikowski; 9. Plague in seventh-century England John Maddicott; 10. The plague and its consequences in Ireland Ann Dooley; Part V. The Challenge of Epidemiology and Molecular Biology: 11. Ecology, evolution, and epidemiology of plague Robert Sallares; 12. Towards a molecular history of the Justiniac pandemic Michael McCormick.

Reviews

'... interesting and thought-provoking throughout. Each chapter has new ideas to provide the reader ... this book is an indication that this fascinating topic is finally receiving the scholarly attention it deserves.' BMCR 'No one interested in the history of epidemic diseases can afford to neglect what Sallares and McCormick have to say ...' Medical History 'A most readable and thought-provoking book, though not entirely for the faint-hearted.' Medieval Archaeology

'... interesting and thought-provoking throughout. Each chapter has new ideas to provide the reader ... this book is an indication that this fascinating topic is finally receiving the scholarly attention it deserves.' BMCR 'No one interested in the history of epidemic diseases can afford to neglect what Sallares and McCormick have to say ...' Medical History 'A most readable and thought-provoking book, though not entirely for the faint-hearted.' Medieval Archaeology ...this work escapes the fate of so many single-subject edited volumes, remaining interesting and thought-provoking throughout. Each chapter has new ideas to provide the reader, and Little does an admirable job of editing a comprehensive volume with a minimum of repetition. ....It is an excellent scholarly discussion and a base from which further research can occur. ...this book is an indication that this fascinating topic is finally receiving the scholarly attention it deserves. BMCR For those who want an indepth discussion of discrete topics, i wholeheartedly recommend Plague and the End of Antiquity. Raymond J. Dawttwyler, M.D. The New England Journal of Medicine is a fascinating collection of essays by specialists in history, archaeology, epidemiology, and molecular biology... --New York Review of Books Plaque and the End of Antiquity is a fascinating collection of essays by specialists in history, archeology, epidemiology, and molecular biology... Eamon Duffy, The New York Review of Books The authors' successful integration of insights from many fields provides a thorough account of the pandemic's origins, lethality, waxings, and wanings... Plague and the End of Antiquity ...provide[s] an ideal historic basis for dealing with the many facets of plague today and in the future. Science

Author Information

Lester K. Little is Dwight W. Morrow Professor Emeritus of History at Smith College and former Director of the American Academy in Rome. He is a past President both of the Medieval Academy of America and of the International Union of Institutes of Archaeology, Art History, and History in Rome. He is the author of Benedictine Maledictions: Liturgical Cursing in Romanesque France and Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe.

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