The Plague
Around the year 542 AD a great plague came to Constantinople that so gripped the city and eventually the rest of Europe that it has altered the course of history completely. The plague reached Constantinople, the capital of Rome, during the reign of Emperor Justinian, 15 years after he took power. While we will never know the total number of people who perished from the plague it is estimated that at its height the daily death count reached 10,000 people or more.Most of the information that we have today about the Plague and its origins was written by a man named Procopius who was a legal advisor to a General named Belisarius. Procopius journeyed with Belisarius throught the Mediterranean area around the time the plague exploded. Procopius recorded his observations on how the disease effected the people, and how it ran its course, and because of his accounts, the whole of Europe eventually awakened to the reality and impending doom of the disease spreading everywhere. From the records we have today we are able to see that the first place the plague was really noticed was the Egyptian harbor town of Pelusium. The town, as most towns throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area, had a large problem with rats. Unknown to the peop
Mass graves quickly filled up, and eventually bodies were left to rot and let nature take its course as they were placed on roofs, or in water, or burned in the open. Lymph glands were commonly called buboes in that age and this is how the plague gained one of its names, The Bubonic Plague. The symptoms of the plague were all similar in nature in each of its victims. " We know that soon after the fever, many people suffered from swelling of the abdomen, armpits, thighs and/or ears. The more lucky victims of the plague died in a coma or while asleep, but others had to suffer a more excruciating fate as the disease consumed their bodies while they remained awake and fully conscious of its effects. After the initial symptoms set in the plague would normally take its course thereafter quite quickly in its victims. It was through this manner that hundreds of thousands of people were infected. The plague fled the scene as quickly as it initially came. They had no idea how a person got infected, or how to prevent communion of the disease. The plague was named this after the color it turned its victims skin as blood vessels burst inside them, and turned their skin to black. The lymph system including lymph glands was also attacked by the disease. " His perception of events was that the plague was "so overwhelming that the human race appeared close to annihilation. Some people would suddenly cease to live, and others while alive, came into a state of delirium that was often extremely violent. The plague was caused by bacteria and parasites that lived in rats as their hosts.
Common topics in this essay:
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Emperor Justinian,
Palestine Procopius,
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Belisarius Procopius,
Europe Mediterranean,
,
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left rot,
throughout europe,
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lymph glands,
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