We’re talking plagues hitting populations with little understanding of medical hygiene, epidemiology, or public health, it’s as serious as it gets. To give some examples:
- The Antonine Plague (also known as the Plague of Galen because he witnessed and recorded its effects), which rocked the Roman world between 165 and 180 killed about 5 million people or a third of the population, and made it from Han China to Rome in less than a year. (Incidentally, the plague may have caused serious long-term damage to Roman trade in the Indian Ocean, decreasing world trade between Europe and China for some time).
- The Plague of Justinian, which hit Europe in 541-2, killed 25-50 million people or 40% of the population. Many historians blame the plague (which was established in 2013 to be Yersinia Pestis or bubonic plague) for the decline of the Byzantine Empire from its heights under Justinian, as the population loss prevented the Byzantines from holding onto Belisarius’ conquests in North Africa, Italy, and Spain.
- And of course, the undisputed heavyweight champion: the Black Death. One of the worst pandemics ever, the Black Death killed anywhere between 75-200 million people, or 30-60% of the population of Europe. It was so severe that world populations did not recover until the 17th century. Once again working thorugh Yersinia Pestis, the Black Death moved incredibly quickly, as you can see below:
(Credit to Andrei nacu over at Wikipedia)
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