All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

Bacteria caused Justinian Plague

Justinian Plague probably caused by a bacteria - unknown how it appeared

Print

Justinian was one of the most powerful emperors of Byzantine. His goal was to restore the power of the Roman Empire and for that reason started a series of military campaigns to reclaim land that was once part of the glorious Roman Empire.

However once he started his campaigns a deadly disease appeared in the middle of the sixth century AD. It is suggested that the disease was brought through rats from Egypt and spread to the Mediterranean countries. When it reached Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, it is said that it killed almost half the citizens of the city population. Almost 50 years after the beginning of the plague the casualties of the pandemic numbered between 25 and 100 million in Europe and Asia.

A historian of that Era, Gregory of Tours, wrote that when the Plague started, a number of unusual events took place during the years of the plague. Brilliant lights appeared in the sky and other celestial phenomena. It was so intense that they believed that it was a punishment of God and was identified with the apocalypse.

We are not sure if extra-terrestrial beings were responsible for the Plague, but scientists recently believe that they have identified the bacteria responsible for the Plague and is called Yersinia pestis. The same bacteria is also connected to other pandemics in the history of humanity such as the Black Death who was responsible to have killed more than 60% of Europe’s population in the 13 th century. The research took place by investigating the DNA of 6 th century skeletons that were found in Germany where the bacteria was identified.

The question though remains, if the specific bacteria was responsible for such large devastations, and since strange celestial events took place during all of those Plagues, is it possible for the specific bacterial strain to have been brought to Earth either through extra-terrestrial intelligence or through meteors? The meteor hypothesis theoretically is possible and can explain how the Plagues appeared simultaneously in many different countries and isolated areas. William Bramley in his book the ‘Gods of Eden’ refers to texts mentioning bright flying objects spraying gas which was the ‘mist’ that caused the Black Death.

By John Black

 
johnblack's picture

John Black

Dr John (Ioannis) Syrigos initially began writing on Ancient Origins under the pen name John Black. He is both a co-owner and co-founder of Ancient Origins.

John is a computer & electrical engineer with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, a... Read More

Next article