NoII.
Account of the Great Plague in the time ofJustinian:—ByProcopius.
THISwas a plague which almost consumed mankind; of which Procopius concludes there was no other cause than the immediate hand of God himself. For it neither came upon one part of the world alone, nor in one season of the year; whence subtile wits (as he saith) might make pretensions. It afflicted the whole world, and all conditions of men, though of never so contrary a nature and disposition; sparing no constitution nor age. The difference of men as to their places of dwelling, diet, complexions, inclinations, &c. did no good in this disease. Some it took in summer, some in winter, and others in other seasons. It began among the Egyptians in Pelusium, and spread to Alexandria, with the rest of Egypt, one way, and the other to those parts of Palestine which border upon Egypt. From thence it travelled to the utmost bounds of the world, as by set journies and stages, making destruction its only business, and sparing neither island, cave, nor top of mountain, where mankind inhabited; for, if it leaped over a country, returning afterwards, it left it no cause to rejoice above its fellows. It began still at the sea coast, and thence went to the inland parts. In the second year of its progress it arrived at Constantinople, about the middle of the spring, where it was the fortune of Procopius then to reside. Apparitions of spirits, in all shapes human, were seen by many, who thought the man they met struck them in some part of the body; and so soon as they saw the spirit they were seized with the disease. At first when they met them they repeated divine names, and fled into churches, to no purpose. Afterwards they were afraid to hear their friends call them, locking themselves up in their chambers, and stopping their ears. Some dreamed they saw such sights; others that they heard a voice tell them they were enrolled among the number of those appointed to die.But most, without warning, became feverish suddenly: their bodies changed not colour, nor were hot; the fever being so remiss till evening, that neither the patient nor physician, by his pulse, could apprehend any danger. Yet to some the same day, to others the next, or many days after, arose a bubo, either in the groin, the armpit, under the ear, or in other parts. These were the general symptoms which happened alike to all the visited persons.
There were others different; whether made so by the diversity of bodies, or by the will and pleasure of him that sent the distemper, our author cannot say. Some were seized with drowsiness and slumbering, others with a sharp distraction. The slumberers forgot all things: if they were looked to, some would eat; some, that were neglected, starved to death. Those who were distracted were vexed with apparitions; crying there were men to kill them; and running away; being so troublesome and unruly that their keepers were pitied as much as they themselves. No physician or other caught the disease by touching sick or dead bodies; many strangely continuing free, though they tended and buried infected persons, and many catching it they knew not how, and dying instantly. Many leapt into the water, though not from thirst; and some into the sea. Some, without slumbering or madness, had their bubo gangrened, and died with extreme pain; which doubtless also happened to those who had the phrensy, though, being not themselves, they understood it not. Some physicians hereupon, conceiving the venom and head of the disease to lie in those plague sores, opened the dead bodies, and, searching the sores, found an huge carbuncle growing inward. Such whose bodies were spotted with black pimples, the bigness of a lentile, lived not a day. Many died vomiting blood. Some that were given over by the most eminent physicians unexpectedly recovered; others, of whose recovery they thought themselves perfectly secure, suddenly perished. No cause of this sickness could be reached by man’s reason. Some received benefit by bathing, others it hurt. Many died for want of relief, others escaped without it. In a word, no way could there be found of preservation, either by preventing the sickness, or of mastering the disease, no cause appearing either of their falling sick or recovery. Women with child, who were visited, certainly died; some miscarrying, some fairly delivered, and perishing with their children. Three women only were safely brought to bed and recovered, their children dying; and one died whose child had the hap to live. Such as had their sores great, and running plentifully, escaped; the violence of the carbuncles being thereby assuaged; and this was the most certain sign of health. Such whose sores staid as they first arose, underwent the miserable accident formerly mentioned. Some had their thighs withered, when the sores rose upon them and did not run. Some escaped with diminished tongues, and lived stammering, or uttering sounds without distinction, all their days. In Constantinople the pestilence lasted four months; raging three months with all extremity. In the beginning few died more than usual. Then, growing hotter and hotter, it came to five, and at last to ten thousand every day. At first they buried their dead carefully; but at length all came to confusion, and many lay long unburied; servants were without masters; rich men had none to attend them. In the afflicted city little was to be seen but empty houses, no trade going, or shops open.