Justinianic Plague and late antique demographic change

Record summary

The Justinianic Plague began in the eastern Roman Empire in the sixth century and recurred across parts of the Mediterranean and Near East. Written accounts, ancient DNA from human remains and environmental studies have been used to investigate Yersinia pestis, transmission and demographic consequences. The lead matters for comparing epidemic evidence with urban contraction, military change and migration. Major uncertainties involve the scale of mortality, regional variation, the reliability of literary descriptions and whether plague was the principal cause of broader late antique transformation.