Ancient Athens was the economic, cultural, and technological center of the Mediterranean and was extremely powerful. However, the Spartan warriors failed to conquer this city-state, which collapsed due to a great plague.
A deadly plague befalls Athens
In the second half of the 5th century B.C., the two city-states of Athens and Sparta launched the Peloponnesian War for hegemony over the Greek world.
In the second year of the war (430 B.C.), when the Spartan army approached Athens, they suddenly found countless new graves outside the city. It turned out that a deadly plague was spreading in Athens. Taken by surprise, the Spartan king hurriedly ordered his troops to withdraw. Athens was isolated, and neither the enemies nor allies of Athens dared to approach this plague city again.
In Piraeus, a port near Athens, it was found that three people simultaneously succumbed to a strange disease. Initially, they developed a high fever with severe throat inflammation, which then led to diarrhea and their final collapse at death.
Soon, in the same area, 11 more people died of the disease. Their limbs developed gangrene, where the flesh turned from a deep red to black and rotted while emitting a foul odor. The whole body was in a state of decay. While the heart was still beating, the patient watched himself gradually rot to death.
Another symptom of the disease was that the patients didn’t show any external signs of a high fever, but internally, they constantly suffered from a burning heat. Their bodies couldn’t tolerate being covered by any clothing. The lightest and most breathable linen sheets were unbearable to the body, so they preferred to expose their bodies.
They also experienced being in a constant state of insatiable thirst, always wanting to soak themselves in cold water. If the caregivers were negligent, these thirsty patients would instinctively jump into a pool and greedily swallow the cold water. Irrespective of how much they drank, they failed to quench their thirst. At the same time, they were further tortured by their inability to rest and sleep.
People were afraid to care for the sick, even if they were their relatives and friends. Consequently, many sick people died alone because no one cared for them. Even those who were well cared for also died in the end. Many families in Athens were wiped out.
Daily, people died like flocks of sheep, and the dead bodies piled up. Half-dead people rolled around in the streets or gathered around the pool to grab water to quench their thirst. Refugees from rural Athens were forced to stay overnight at the temple, and soon, the dead, mixed with the dying, filled the temple.
Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, as no one could bury them. There was no traditional mourning ceremony. Birds and animals ate the corpses and soon fell to the ground and died. Consequently, even the birds and animals stayed away from the corpses. For a long time, no carnivorous birds were left in the city. The city was abandoned, the fields were barren, and millions of dead bodies covered every corner of Athens.
Despite the many philosophers, scholars, poets, and artists in Athens, all their human knowledge, skills, and clever strategies were useless in the face of the plague. All kinds of medicines prescribed by doctors, whether oral or topical, were futile. Finally, the doctors themselves were infected and fell.
Approximately one-third of the population died
In the temples where people sought refuge, those not steadfast in their faith began to turn away from God. The theocracy and secular laws were no longer binding on these citizens. To protect themselves, people violated human nature and committed crimes openly without scruples; theft, murder, and robbery were rampant in the city.
In the face of this plague, the rich and the poor died without distinction. The poor plundered the property of the rich, but this wealth was meaningless. Despite the abundance of gold, no one could take it away since no one knew if they would become the next corpse lying on the ground the following day.
Panic and despair made instant gratification a trend. The living decided to spend money quickly and frantically pursued sensual pleasures that could numb their fear and escape the horrid reality. As a result, a terrifying scene appeared in the civilized city-state: On one side were dead bodies, and on the other side were living people indulging in sensual pleasures and living a life of drunkenness.
Death destroyed the last psychological defenses of the Athenians. A plague destroyed the great city-state that the Spartan warriors failed to conquer. The city of Athens collapsed on its own. Historians later estimated that about one-third of the people in the Athenian city-state died at that time. According to Wikipedia, the death toll at that time was about 5 million.
Philosopher Socrates experienced the plague personally, but successfully resisted it with a moderate life and healthy living habits. This catastrophe drove Socrates to explore his morality and the pursuit of truth based on the dictum “I know that I know nothing.”
The 25-year-old Thucydides was infected with the plague, but with superhuman perseverance, he recorded in detail what he heard, saw, thought, and felt. As a result, the Great Plague of Athens became the most detailed recorded catastrophic event in history. It has provided first-hand information about the plague for future generations.
The plague was selective and disappeared suddenly
As the plague was raging, its contagion seemed to be selective. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians captured many Peloponnesians and took them to Athens. According to Thucydides’ records, none of the Peloponnesians were infected. The plague spread only in Athens and its larger states.
Even stranger, at the end of 426 B.C., the Great Plague, which had been raging for several years, suddenly disappeared from Athens.
According to Thucydides, the Athenian plague originated in some parts of Ethiopia and later spread to Egypt, Libya, and most of the Persian kingdom. Although there are various theories among medical scientists and historians today, the mystery remains about how the plague began and why it ended abruptly.
The ancient Greeks, who worshipped gods, attributed the outcome of wars to the gods’ will. They believed that the plague was the gods’ punishment for the world’s sins or mistakes, and the end of the plague meant the gods’ forgiveness.
Ancient Greece originally advocated a pure and noble spiritual life. However, before the plague, many wealthy and developed Athenians were addicted to material enjoyment; incest and homosexuality were regarded as normal trends. Violence and killing were prevalent in society. When people’s morals were corrupted, it completely violated the will of God. Athens brought about its own demise.
After the plague ended, Athens persisted in fighting Sparta. As a result, in the winter of 427-426 B.C., another wave of the plague reappeared in Athens. The successive heavy blows caused by the plague saw the deaths of many national, religious, and military leaders. This caused Athens’ most basic political order to become unsustainable, weakened its political power, and caused the morale of the army and its citizens to hit rock bottom.
In 404 B.C., the Spartan Alliance surrounded Athens from land and sea, causing its complete defeat. After that, Sparta gained hegemony over Greece.
Prophecy of the Athenian prophet
The ancient Greeks believed in oracles, which were divine messages spoken through human mouths and were prophetic.
An Athenian prophet had warned the Athenians before the plague: “War with the Spartans will come and bring a great plague.” However, the Athenians did not believe in it at that time.
Before the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans also went to the Temple of Delphi to seek the oracle. The Spartans asked whether they could go to war with the Athenians. The oracle answered in the affirmative, saying: “The Gods would bless the Spartans and that the Spartans would win the final victory.” This was circulated among the Spartans during the war.
Athens and Sparta were evenly matched. Due to the plague, Athens, which considered itself powerful and invincible, was defeated by Sparta. The prophecy came true, so it could be said: “The development of history cannot escape God’s arrangement.”
Translated by Chua BC and edited by Maria
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