1. Ending the Ancient Era
The Plague of Justinian hit Europe hard: an estimated 40% to 50% of the population perished. However, the mortality was not spread evenly. The pandemic followed the established trade routes, so ports and cities were hit especially hard. The countryside and the parts of Europe that lay off the established trade routes got off relatively lightly.
That lopsided death toll, heavy in the cities and relatively light in the countryside, marked a transitional point for Europe. It ended what was left of the Ancient Era’s Classical Age, and ushered in the Feudal Era. The Classical Age had been marked by a significant urban culture. The Plague of Justinian – on top of Justinian’s many wars – wrecked that, devastating the cities and an economy built around sustaining urban life. The center of power shifted from the cities to the countryside, and rural strong men emerged as the founders of feudalism. One era and way of life died, and another one was born.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Ancient History Encyclopedia – Justinian’s Plague (541-542 CE)
Ancient History Encyclopedia – Semiramis
Encyclopedia Britannica – Cassius Dio
Catholic Answers – It Is Better to Be Herod’s Pig Than Son
Classical Wisdom – The Cult of Pythagoras
Diogenes Laertius – Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
Encyclopedia Britannica – Semiramis
Encyclopedia Britannica – Valeria Messalina
Encyclopedia Britannica – Zeuxis, Greek Artist
Gizmodo – Was Pythagoras Really a Murderer?
Gloria Romanorum – Constantine’s Execution of Crispus and Fausta
History Collection – 10 Unlikely Simultaneous Historical Events
Guardian, The, January 11th, 2010 – Great Pyramid Tombs Unearth Proof Workers Were Not Slaves
Harvard Magazine, July-August 2003 – Who Built the Pyramids?
Houston Chronicle – Historical Events You Had No Idea Happened at Around the Same Time
Listverse – 10 Scary Facts About the Justinian Plague
Listverse – 10 Strange Facts About Pythagoras: Mathematician and Cult Leader
Live Science – Mummified Kitten Served as Egyptian Offering
History Collection – 18 Overlapping Events Completely Change Historic Perceptions
Medievalists Net – Yersinia Pestis and the Plague of Justinian 541-543 AD: A Genomic Analysis
National Geographic – Doggerland, The Europe That Was
World Atlas – Did Woolly Mammoths Still Roam Parts of the Earth When the Great Pyramids Were Built?
