Measles and Ancient Plagues
A Note on New Scientific Evidence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9675878 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer Manley (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 393-397 |
| Publication date | 2014-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Classical World (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-8418 • E-ISSN: 1558-9234 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/clw.2014.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W2055313434 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 9 |
A number of diseases are frequently cited as possible causes for the plagues of antiquity. Amongst these, measles is often mentioned. However, recent scientific advances based on studies of the molecular clock of the virus have shown that measles is too “young” in evolutionary terms to have been the cause of either the Athenian Plague or the Antonine Plague. This paper draws scholars’ attention to the implications of this discovery and its broader consequences for our approach to diagnosing ancient plagues
Ancient history · Biology · Epistemology · Genealogy · Measles · Measles virus · Plague (disease) · Scientific evidence · Vaccination · Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research · Classics · History · Philosophy · Virology · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research · Zoonotic diseases and public health
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian
Diagnosis as Narrative in Ancient Literature
The impact of the Antonine plague
A model of demographic and economic change in Roman Egypt after the Antonine plague
A Commentary on Thucydides, Vol. 3
The Justinianic plague
Women, Writing and Medicine in the Classical World
Thucydides and the Plague of Athens
The Great Plague of Athens
| Citations per year | 0.36 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2020 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |