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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.