“During these times there was a pestilence, by which the whole human race came near to being annihilated.”

–Byzantine historian Procopius (500-554) describing the Plague of Justinian — a pandemic that ravaged Constantinople between 541and 542.

SCIENTISTS in London announced in a 2014 issue of The Lancet that they had analyzed the teeth of two plague victims from sixth-century Germany and found tiny bits of DNA from the bacterium Yersinia pestis — the same pathogen responsible for the Black Death pandemic of 1348-1350. (click thumbnail for the full article from the Lancet)

BEFORE THE BLACK DEATH: THE JUSTINIANIC PLAGUE (541-542)

Short Documentary:

The Plague of Justinian

PROCOPIUS describes the the symptoms of the plague — including desperate thirst, coma, delirium, and the horribly painful swellings that appeared in the bodies of the victims, and of course, rapid death. The doctors of the era were helpless, Procopius explains, in the face of the fast-moving illness. (click thumbnail for the full text of Procopius’ account of the plague)