Plague of Justinian

Examples of Plague of Justinian in the following topics:

• Plague

  • All three forms are widely believed to have been responsible for a number of high-mortality epidemics throughout human history, including the Plague of Justinian in 542, and the Black Death that accounted for the death of at least one-third of the European population between 1347 and 1353.
  • Thousands of cases of the plague are still reported every year; with proper treatment, the prognosis for victims is now much improved.
  • The incubation period of bubonic plague is from 2-6 days, while the bacteria actively replicate.
  • Symptoms include a lack of energy, fever, headache and chills, and swelling of lymph nodes resulting in buboes, the classic sign of bubonic plague.
  • Scanning electron micrograph depicting a mass of Yersinia pestis bacteria (the cause of bubonic plague) in the foregut of the flea vector.

• History of Bacterial Diseases

  • The source of the plague may have been identified recently when researchers from the University of Athens were able to use DNA from teeth recovered from a mass grave.
  • From 541 to 750 C.E.., an outbreak of what was likely a bubonic plague (the Plague of Justinian), eliminated one-quarter to one-half of the human population in the eastern Mediterranean region.
  • In modern times, approximately 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague arise globally each year.
  • Although contracting bubonic plague before antibiotics meant almost certain death, the bacterium responds to several types of modern antibiotics; mortality rates from plague are now very low.
  • The (a) Great Plague of London killed an estimated 200,000 people, or about twenty percent of the city's population.

• Kingdom of Aksum

  • The Kingdom of Aksum was a trading nation in the area of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea that existed from approximately 100 to 940 CE.
  • By 350, Aksum conquered the Kingdom of Kush.
  • It is also possible that Ethiopia was affected by the Plague of Justinian around this time, a disease thought to be the first recorded instance of bubonic plague.
  • During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the Kingdom of Aksum continued to expand their control of the southern Red Sea basin.
  • The Stelae have most of their mass out of the ground, but are stabilized by massive underground counter-weights.

• Justinian and Theodora

  • By 540 CE, most of Italy was in Justinian's hands.
  • Theodora was empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I.
  • A terrible plague swept through the empire, killing Theodora and almost killing him.
  • The plague wiped out huge numbers of the empire's population, leaving villages empty and crops unharvested.
  • Byzantine Emperor Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna.

• The Justinian Code

  • Justinian I achieved lasting fame through his judicial reforms, particularly through the complete revision of all Roman law that was compiled in what is known today as the Corpus juris civilis.
  • The total of Justinian's legislature is known today as the Corpus juris civilis.
  • Nonetheless, Justinian found himself having to enact further laws and today these are counted as a fourth part of the Corpus, the Novellae Constitutiones.
  • The work was directed by Tribonian, an official in Justinian's court.
  • A later copy of Justinian's Digesta: Digestorum, seu Pandectarum libri quinquaginta.

• Architecture in the Early Byzantine Empire

  • Justinian I devoted much of his reign (527-565 CE) to reconquering Italy, North Africa, and Spain.
  • One notable structure for which Justinian was responsible was the Hagia Sophia, or Church of Holy Wisdom, built by Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, both of whom would oversee most building projects that Justinian ordered within Constantinople.
  • After the restoration of his title, Justinian commissioned Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles to construct the church as a gesture of thanksgiving.
  • Emperor Justinian ordered the construction of Hagia Sophia in 532 CE.
  • Byzantine Emperor Justinian forcefully pushed for the spread of Christianity along with the expansion of his empire.

• The Black Death

  • The Black Death was an infamous pandemic of bubonic plague and one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.
  • In the autumn of 1346, plague broke out among the besiegers and then penetrated into the town.
  • The thought the only way to be rid of the plague was to be forgiven by God.
  • The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history.
  • Plague brought an eventual end of serfdom in Western Europe.

• Ravenna

  • The church is of extreme importance in Byzantine art, as it is the only major church from the period of the Emperor Justinian I to survive virtually intact to the present day .
  • Justinian himself stands in the middle, with soldiers on his right and clergy on his left, emphasizing that Justinian is the leader of both church and state of his empire.
  • The gold background of the mosaic shows that Justinian and his entourage are inside the church.
  • Justinian is placed in the front middle to show his importance.
  • The mosaic of Emperor Justinian and his entourage of bishops and officials of state.

• Ivory Carving in the Early Byzantine Empire

  • The emperor depicted, however, is usually identified as Justinian, or possibly Anastasius I or Zeno.
  • Its missing half might have depicted Justinian I, to whom the archangel would be offering the insignia.
  • With the Barberini Diptych, it is one of two important surviving sixth-century Byzantine ivories attributed to the imperial workshops of Constantinople under Justinian.
  • The archangel's feet are at the top of a staircase that recedes from the base of the columns, but his arms and wings are in front of the columns.
  • The top of the ivory bears a Greek inscription that translates as, "Receive this suppliant, despite his sinfulness," possibly an expression of humility on the part of Justinian.

• Arthropods as Vectors

  • The chewing action produces a well which promotes the formation of a small pool of blood from which they feed.
  • In the case of black flies, responsible for Onchocerciasis, the parasites are forced out of the insects head into the pool of blood.
  • The human flea, Pulex irritans, and the Oriental rat flea , Xenopsylla cheopis, are responsible for the transmission of the bubonic plague, murine typhus, and tapeworms.
  • The oriental rat flea is an example of an arthropod vector as it is the primary vector of plague.
  • This vector has been the cause of large plague epidemics in Asia, Africa, and South America.