As the Athenian historian Thucydides first pointed out in his account of the great plague of Athens during the late 5th century BCE, the social effects of epidemics can be at least as important as their biological impact. There have certainly been many plagues throughout recorded human history, but perhaps none arrived at such a pivotal moment in the affairs of a centre of western civilisation. Yet only recently have we been able to assess the true effect of the plague that first struck Athens in 430 BCE and continued intermittently for several years. New evidence from archaeology, modern medicine, historiography, theatre history, and literary criticism are all part of the story of how this plague, which arrived almost simultaneously with the onset of Athens' long war with her rival Sparta, altered the cradle of democracy.
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