165-180CE

Antonine Plague, brought to the Roman Empire by Emperor Lucius Verrus’ army returning from the Eastern border, where soldiers contracted it during the siege of Mesopotamian city of Seleucia in the winter of 165-166. The plague of smallpox and possibly measles decimated the Empire, killing between 7-10% of the Empire’s 75 million people; in the army and densely populated cities, death rate may have reached 13-15%. The plague is also known as “Galen’s Plague,” as Galen, who was present in Rome when the plague arrived and also during an outbreak among troops stationed at Aquilea in the winter of 168/9, described it briefly in the treatise Methodus Medendi ("Method of Treatment") and elsewhere. It is Galen’s description of signs and symptoms that makes the case for smallpox very strong, with a high incidence of hemorrhagic smallpox during the outbreak (Yeomans; R.J. Littman & M.L. Littman; Hayes, ch 3).