Plague and the End of Antiquity

摘要

This edited volume contains chapters written by a dozen of chiefly historians with an interest in epidemiology, ecology and archaeology. It tries to link major historical developments transforming the heritage of the Roman Empire into the multicultural pattern of modern Europe, West Asia and North Africa to the impact of a long-lasting pandemic of plague that occurred in sporadic outbursts between the mid-sixth century of the Common Era and mid-eighth century. During those 200 years Islam began and helped the rapid spread of Arabs, the Byzantine Empire was shaped as an entity distinct from the earlier Roman Empire, while in Western Europe the Carolingian dynasty arose with the Roman papacy becoming prominent. The centuries of the plague ushered Middle Age into history.