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Galen was hardly the self-sacrificing physician. He first abandoned the city at the onset of the plague. He was coerced to return to the city on the request of the emperor. Although I agree that the Antonine plague probably represents smallpox, I can't be so dogmatic. First, an exanthem is just a widespread rash. Although is it usually infectious, it can be drug-induced, also. It is certainly not specific for smallpox. Second, I would have been more persuaded if the ancient sources had mentioned the horrible vesicles (blisters) associated with smallpox. (Think the worst case of chickenpox.) These vesicles quickly pustulate (to form "pus blisters"). The feature of widespread blisters is an unforgettable characteristic of smallpox, however. guy also known as gaius

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I really enjoyed this controversial article by Israeli scholar Nachman Ben-Yehuda about the Masada siege. The article challenged some of my long held beliefs. The subject has not been solved. It may never be solved, but it is a good example of the historical record and archaeologic evidence being used to better understand the past. http://www.deportati.it/static/upl/be/benyehuda,themasadamyth.pdf https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/sites/bibleinterp.arizona.edu/files/images/ZiasJuly3 revised9.pdf

Just a heads up: One of my favorite courses by the Teaching Company is on sale ($99.95) till September 27 (2007). It is Kenneth Harl's " Rome and the Barbarians." This is not an introductory course. It deals with the interaction of Rome with her "barbarian" neighbors. (Check their web site for details.) Great course and I recommend it highly. Remember, only buy these courses when they are on sale. (Fortunately, they go on sale several times a year.)

Sales usually last at least a month. Fortunately, the courses are on sale several times a year. Only buy the courses on sale, however.

I admit I've bought many of these lectures. (My wife insists too many!) And I've liked most all of them. **Only buy them on sale, however. They go on sale several times a year, fortunately. I would gladly participate in any thread discussing a course or answer questions concerning a specific course.

Yes, but what a great opening scene it was! Despite the many obvious historical inaccuracies (where are the pila when you need them?), the opening battle scene was very powerful. I even enjoyed the ridiculous and unlikely musings of Marcus Aurelius about returning the power to the Senate. I've watched the opening scenes dozens of times. I don't think I've ever watched the entire movie beyond Aurelius's death, however.

Any explanation for the "fall of the Roman Empire" must answer these two simple questions: 1) Why did the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire continue for nearly a thousand years after the Western Roman Empire collapsed? 2) Why didn't the Roman Empire collapse two hundred years earlier during the "crisis of the third century"? Lead poisoning played little, if any, role in the "fall of the Roman Empire". It makes for a seductively simple, but obviously incomplete explanation for a multifactorial event.

On the subject of courtesans, I enjoy the relationship between the Athenian ruler Pericles and his mistress Aspasia. (Don

I admire the logic, rationalism, and the humanism of Ancient Greece. I acknowledge that much of Ancient Roman culture is derivative of its Ancient Greek and Hellenistic predecessors. I can

There are some interesting discussions on the internet about the authenticity of Josephus's writings. This is plagarized from Peter Kirby who has an interesting internet site Early Christian Writings. This is one of Josephus's passages he critiques: Antiquities 18.3.3. "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day." Opinion on the authenticity of this passage is varied. Louis H. Feldman surveyed the relevant literature from 1937 to 1980 in Josephus and Modern Scholarship. Feldman noted that 4 scholars regarded the Testimonium Flavianum as entirely genuine, 6 as mostly genuine, 20 accept it with some interpolations, 9 with several interpolations, and 13 regard it as being totally an interpolation

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Despite the brutality and cruelty that pervaded Ancient Roman Society, there was also a glowing humanity that still shines through the mists of time. In ancient Roman history, there were many acts of friendship, self-sacrifice, loyalty, and love that are known to us today.

This plague you describe was known as the Antonine or Galen's plague (164-180). As you mentioned, this plague was probably brought back by from the Eastern frontier by Verus, serving as co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius. Galen, the Greek physician from Pergamum, initially fled the plague, but was called back by the co-emperors to help control the plague. Most people (myself included) think it was a variant of small pox. Galen described a skin eruption occuring on the ninth day: sometimes dry and sometimes pustular. This does not sound like typhus or boubonic plague. A couple thousand people a day in Rome would die of this plague. Verus (and less likely, Aurelius) probably died from this plague. Fortunately, we no longer suffer from smallpox. But it was the scourge of more recent history, too. I feel that the impact of disease in the Ancient world has always been underestimated. This type of plague would have had a devastating impact on society. (Think about the impact of the Black Plague in Europe during the Middle Ages, for example. That plague killed at least a third of Europe's population. No one would write a serious history of the Middle Ages without at least a mention of the impact of the plague. Somehow, Ancient Roman history is frequently written without the slightest mention of the diseases that were so much a tragic part of everyday life in Ancient Rome.) Plagues such as this would have caused immense depopulation and disruption in society. The Antonine plague and the later plague of Cyprian, also known as the Aurelian plague, (that lasted from 251 to 266 and killed Emperor Claudius Gothicus) could have resulted in the pressure for the Roman armies to recruit increasingly more barbarians into their diminishing ranks. These plagues would haved caused food shortages due to the disruption of the food supply from the abandonment of farms to the breakdown of the means of transport. Undernourishment would only have made a population more vulnerable to the ravages of disease. The plagues were excellent propaganda tools for the ruling elites. In Pagan Rome, the plagues could be seen as a result of the disruption of the Pax Deorum by the Christians. Later, in Chrisitan Rome, they could be seen as the result of the "wrath of a Christian [?] God." In answer to your question, since Roman medicine did not adequately understand the cause (etiology) of these plagues, I doubt anything was done to prevent their spread except for isolation. (Remember, the simple concept such as handwashing in maternity wards wasn't widely accepted by Western medicine until the 19th century.) At best, treatment would have been to reduce discomfort (palliative measures only)--narcotics and wine for pain, pleny of fluids, and blankets. At worst, use of bloodletting or cathartics would have hastened the poor victim's demise. Prayers and offerings would have had dubious benefits. guy known as gaius

For me, the "Third Century Crisis" is the most interesting period of Roman history. This was a period when the Empire was on the brink of total collapse. The empire faced devastating external invasions, incessant internal conflict, plague, and a collapsing economic system. If it weren't for the efforts of several great (but forgotten!) Roman Emperors (Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian, Probus, etc.), the Empire would have collapsed or split into at least three distinct smaller empires (the central core empire based in Italy, the Gallo-Roman empire of the west, and the Palmyran empire of the east). I love to read Michael Grant's book, "The Climax of Rome," or Pat Southern's "The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine," both dealing with this period of increased turmoil and instability. It was in this period that these Roman Emperors were able to reverse the defeats from the barbarian invasions, reunify and reconsolidate the empire, and create a more stable society. Somehow the Western Roman Empire survived for another two centuries (and the Eastern Byzantine Empire for another thousand years beyond that!). This is a poorly documented, mostly overlooked, but crucial time for Roman history.

I bought the map last year and had it dry mounted. I keep it in my office and it looks great. I showed a visiting university professor of the the Classics and he was really impressed. He asked where I got it. I told him UNRV, which, at that time, I thought stood for University of Nevada at Reno-Vegas. Sorry. My bad. Great map, however.