Épidémies antiques en Méditerranée et au-delà

This book gathers articles dedicated to ancient epidemics in Europe and the Mediterranean. Written by an international group of researchers, they illustrate the various disciplines currently involved in the history of infectious diseases, at the interface between human and social sciences (history and archaeology) and biology. The volume firstly highlights the essential contribution of archaeology in reconstructing the ancient history of pestilential diseases and their social and cultural repercussions, as well as reviewing certain aspects of palaeopathology and palaeobiochemical analyses concerning pathogen detection. Several studies also lay the foundations for a historical corpus of ancient epidemic crises, through a wide variety of evidence (literary texts, medical and legal writings, papyri, etc.) allowing an outline of their chronology.

Finally, some of the contributions offer specific studies that allow us to assess our knowledge and explore the perception, conception and narration of ancient epidemics in all their diversity. Besides the major epidemics (those of Antoninus, Cyprian and Justinian), particular attention has been paid on lesser known events in historical literature, scholarly works, poetry and philosophy. This book is a result of a programme funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, entitled ‘Pests and human societies: emergence, evolution and bio-cultural transformations (PSCHEET)’.