The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of
Different Pathogens

k 2021

The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of Different Pathogens

KARASARIDIS, Anestis

Basic information

Original name

The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of Different Pathogens

Authors

KARASARIDIS, Anestis

Edition

Wellbeing, Harm, and Religion Conference, Brno, Czech Republic, September 9-11, 2021, 2021

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Presentations at conferences

Field of Study

60304 Religious studies

Country of publisher

Czech Republic

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

References:

URL

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords (in Czech)

Antoninovský mor; simulace; matematický model; výpočetní historiografie; epidemiologie; demografie Římské říše

Keywords in English

Antonine Plague; Simulation; Mathematical Model; Computational Historiography; Epidemiology; Demography of the Roman Empire

Abstract

In the original language

The Antonine Plague and the Plague of Cyprian are considered by some scholars to have been major disease outbreaks in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, causing a significant population decline in the Roman Empire. Several authors have argued that the outbreaks led to the ideal conditions for Christianity to become a dominant religion in the Roman Empire. The magnitude of these pandemics was nevertheless questioned by other scholars. One way to advance the discussions surrounding the impact of the pandemics might be to inspect the currently available sources by novel methods and assess whether such an interpretation of the growth of Christianity is realistic at all. Recent adoption of the methods of mathematical and computational modelling by the humanities allows to demonstrate some phenomena related to the Antonine Plague and the Cyprianic Plague. Focusing on the Antonine Plague (ca. 165–189 CE), however, no molecular evidence of its causative agent is available. This makes it difficult to estimate the impact of the Antonine Plague on the population of the Roman Empire, let alone its Christian sub-population. Fortunately, the literary evidence (primarily the writings of Galen and Cassius Dio) indicates features of the disease and the extent of its impact on Roman society. The aim of this paper is to propose a way how to create a compartmental model of the Antonine Plague in the city of Rome between 165 and 189 CE, and compare its output with historical evidence to identify the most plausible cause of this disease outbreak.

Links

MUNI/IGA/1335/2020, interní kód MU

Name: The Antonine Plague in Rome: Comparative Modeling of Different Pathogens

Investor: Masaryk University

Cite

KARASARIDIS, Anestis. The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of Different Pathogens. In Wellbeing, Harm, and Religion Conference, Brno, Czech Republic, September 9-11, 2021. 2021.

@proceedings{1813518,
   author = {Karasaridis, Anestis},
   booktitle = {Wellbeing, Harm, and Religion Conference, Brno, Czech Republic, September 9-11, 2021},
   keywords = {Antonine Plague; Simulation; Mathematical Model; Computational Historiography; Epidemiology; Demography of the Roman Empire},
   language = {eng},
   title = {The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of Different Pathogens},
   url = {https://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/where2021/program},
   year = {2021}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1813518
AU  - Karasaridis, Anestis
PY  - 2021
TI  - The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of Different Pathogens
KW  - Antonine Plague
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Mathematical Model
KW  - Computational Historiography
KW  - Epidemiology
KW  - Demography of the Roman Empire
UR  - https://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/where2021/program
N2  - The Antonine Plague and the Plague of Cyprian are considered by some scholars to have been major disease outbreaks in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, causing a significant population decline in the Roman Empire. Several authors have argued that the outbreaks led to the ideal conditions for Christianity to become a dominant religion in the Roman Empire. The magnitude of these pandemics was nevertheless questioned by other scholars. One way to advance the discussions surrounding the impact of the pandemics might be to inspect the currently available sources by novel methods and assess whether such an interpretation of the growth of Christianity is realistic at all. Recent adoption of the methods of mathematical and computational modelling by the humanities allows to demonstrate some phenomena related to the Antonine Plague and the Cyprianic Plague. Focusing on the Antonine Plague (ca. 165–189 CE), however, no molecular evidence of its causative agent is available. This makes it difficult to estimate the impact of the Antonine Plague on the population of the Roman Empire, let alone its Christian sub-population. Fortunately, the literary evidence (primarily the writings of Galen and Cassius Dio) indicates features of the disease and the extent of its impact on Roman society. The aim of this paper is to propose a way how to create a compartmental model of the Antonine Plague in the city of Rome between 165 and 189 CE, and compare its output with historical evidence to identify the most plausible cause of this disease outbreak.
ER  -

KARASARIDIS, Anestis. The Antonine Plague in Rome : Designing a Comparative Model of Different Pathogens. In \textit{Wellbeing, Harm, and Religion Conference, Brno, Czech Republic, September 9-11, 2021}. 2021.

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