,transcriber's ,notes3 ,underscores 80 before and after a word or phrase indicate italics in the original text4 ,small capitals have been converted to ,,solid capitals4 ,illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs4 ,old or antiquated spellings have been preserved4 ,typographical errors have been silently corrected ,,plague ,,and ,,pestilence ,,in ,,literature ,,and ,,art ,,oxford ,,university ,,press ,,london ,,edinburgh ,,glasgow ,,new ,,york ,,toronto ,,melbourne ,,bombay ,,humphrey ,,milford ,m4,a4 ,,publisher ,,to ,,the ,,university ,illustration3 ,,frontispiece ,s4 ,,sebastian4 ,,by ,,sodoma ,,plague ,,and ,,pestilence ,,in ,,literature ,,and ,,art ,,by ,,raymond ,,crawfurd ,m4,a41 ,m4,d4 ,,oxon41 ,f4,r4,c4,p4 ,,fellow ,,of ,,king',s ,,college1 ,,london ,,oxford ,,at ,,the ,,clarendon ,,press #aiad ,,preface ,this volume represents substantially the ,fitz,patrick ,lectures which ,i had the privilege of delivering at the ,royal ,college of ,physicians in #aiab4 ,originally ,i intended to do no more than gather together into a succinct record the various memorials and reminders of ,pestilence that ,i had met with in my wanderings at home and abroad and in my casual incursions into general literature4 ,insensibly the desire to understand supplanted the desire merely to record1 and the desire to explain superseded the endeavour to understand4 ,i have turned my attention1 as far as practicable1 only to the literary and artistic associations of ,pestilence1 but these have inevitably overlapped the confines of history and of medical science4 ,the latter territory has been invaded only so far as was necessary to ensure a correct orientation to the inquiry4 ,i have thought it wise to let the curtain fall at the end of the eighteenth century1 leaving it to my readers to decide what vestiges of the mentality of distant centuries have survived into this twentieth4 ,a little reflection on this will afford a most salutary lesson to all of us4 ,january #aiad4 ,,list ,,of ,,plates ,s4 ,sebastian4 ,by ,sodoma ,frontispiece ,,plate ,i3 ,apollo with ,bow and ,mouse4 ,bronze coin of ,alexandria ,troas4 c4 #bej ,b4,c4 #b4 ,asclepius with ,serpent4 ,bronze coin of ,pergamon4 ,time of ,antoninus ,pius4 #b4 ,serpent and ,galley4 ,medallion4 ,time of ,antoninus ,pius4 ,pest-,thaler1 struck at ,wittenberg1 ,a4,d4 #aebh4 ,christ on the ,cross4 ,the ,brazen ,serpent ,to face p4 #d ,,plate ,,ii4 ,plague of ,ashdod4 ,by ,n4 ,poussin ,to face p4 #ah ,,plate ,,iii4 ,plague of ,david4 ,by ,p4 ,mignard ,to face p4 #ai ,,plate ,,iv4 ,gregory and the ,angel ,to face p4 #ic ,,plate ,v4 ,fresco in ,s4 ,pietro in ,vincoli1 ,rome ,to face p4 #ie ,,plate ,,vi4 ,la ,peste ,rome4 ,by ,delaunay ,to face p4 #if ,,plate ,,vii4 ,sebastian as ,protector against ,pestilence4 ,by ,benozzo ,gozzoli ,to face p4 #ii ,,plate ,,viii4 ,sodoma's ,sebastian ,plague ,banner 7,reverse74 ,,ss4 ,roch and ,sigismund1 and ,brethren of ,compagnia di ,s4 ,sebastiano ,to face p4 #ajj ,,plate ,,ix4 ,,ss4 ,mark1 ,sebastian1 ,roch1 ,cosmas1 and ,damian4 ,by ,titian ,to face p4 #ajb ,,plate ,x4 ,s4 ,roch4 ,by ,ambrogio ,borgognone ,to face p4 #ajh ,,plate ,,xi4 ,s4 ,roch tended by an ,angel4 ,by ,niklaus ,manuel4 ,intercessory plague picture ,to face p4 #aji ,,plate ,,xii4 ,madonna and ,child1 ,s4 ,anna and ,saints4 ,by ,g4 ,francesco ,caroto ,to face p4 #aaj ,,plate ,,xiii4 ,dance of ,death1 at ,basle ,to face p4 #ace ,,plate ,,xiv4 ,madonna della ,misericordia4 ,by ,bonfigli ,to face p4 #ach ,,plate ,,xv4 ,madonna del ,soccorso4 ,by ,sinibaldo ,ibi ,to face p4 #ach ,,plate ,,xvi4 ,plague ,banner4 ,christ and ,saints4 ,by ,bonfigli ,to face p4 #aci ,,plate ,,xvii4 ,pest-,bltter3 #a4 ,the ,almighty with ,,ss4 ,sebastian and ,roch4 #b4 ,the ,almighty1 ,madonna and ,suppliants4 ,the ,virgin and ,child1 ,s4 ,anna and ,suppliants ,to face p4 #adb ,,plate ,,xviii4 ,the ,impruneta ,virgin ,to face p4 #adf ,,plate ,,xix4 ,s4 ,tecla liberates ,este from ,plague4 ,by ,giovanni ,battista ,tiepolo ,to face p4 #adg ,,plate ,,xx4 ,plague4 ,a drawing by ,raphael ,to face p4 #adh ,,plate ,,xxi4 ,procession to ,s4 ,maria della ,salute1 ,venice4 ,from a seventeenth century engraving ,to face p4 #agb ,,plate ,,xxii4 ,carlo ,borromeo4 ,by ,annibale ,carracci ,to face p4 #agc ,,plate ,,xxiii4 ,borromeo leading a ,plague ,procession4 ,by ,pietro da ,cortona ,to face p4 #agd ,,plate ,,xxiv4 ,borromeo interceding for the ,plague-stricken4 ,by ,p4 ,puget4 ,a marble bas-relief ,to face p4 #age ,,plate ,,xxv4 ,torture and ,execution of the ,anointers ,to face p4 #agi ,,plate ,,xxvi4 ,plague of ,naples1 #afef4 ,by ,micco ,spadara ,to face p4 #ahd ,,plate ,,xxvii4 ,plague ,scenes in ,rome1 #afef4 ,from an old engraving ,to face p4 #ahf ,,plate ,,xxviii3 #a4 ,dress of a ,marseilles ,doctor1 #agbj4 #b4 ,german ,caricature of the same ,to face p4 #bjj ,,plate ,,xxix4 ,peste de ,marseille4 ,by ,franois ,grard ,to face p4 #bjf ,,plate ,,xxx4 ,la ,peste dans la ,ville de ,marseille en #agbj4 ,by ,j4 ,f4 de ,troy ,to face p4 #bjg ,,plate ,,xxxi4 ,les ,pestifrs de ,jaffa4 ,by ,baron ,gros ,to face p4 #bjh ,,chapter ,i ,the scattered records of literature afford a valuable1 but neglected1 contribution to the study of epidemic pestilence4 ,they show us pestilence as an affair of the mind1 as medical literature has shown it as an affair of the body4 ,they teach us too the humiliating lesson that1 in spite of the progress of civilization1 in spite of the apparent growth of humanity1 in spite of the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge1 human nature has again and again reverted to the primitive instincts of savagery in face of the crushing calamity of epidemic pestilence4 ,the superficial student of psychology may find it difficult to believe that1 so late as #afcj in ,milan1 so late as #afef in ,naples1 so late as #agga in ,moscow1 the blood-lust of a maddened populace sought and found a sedative in an orgy of human sacrifice4 ,but so it was4 ,and in this homing instinct of the human mind is to be found the clue to much in the records of literature and art that else is wholly meaningless4 ,it is a grim chapter of history that lies before us1 but maybe we shall find here and there some spiritual ,bethel reared out of the hard stones on which suffering humanity has lain its weary head4 ,the mind of primitive man conceives no power over nature higher than his own3 so is his attitude conditioned to disease4 ,he sees in disease only some evil magic1 exercised by man on man4 ,the ,australian native believes that the assailant transmits disease by pointing some object at his victim1 who in turn looks to magic to free him from the disease4 ,in the ,new ,hebrides the idea still persists that the aggressor shoots some charmed material at the victim by means of bow and arrow4 ,medicine has not yet emerged from magic4 ,the human mind1 as it passes to higher stages of enlightenment1 does not wholly discard its primitive beliefs3 of this we find abundant testimony in early records of pestilence4 ,in ,pharaoh's plagues mark the importance of the manual acts1 the stretching out of the rod1 the smiting of the dust1 the sprinkling of ashes4 ,again1 when the ,philistines of ,ashdod ask for deliverance from plague1 the diviners enjoin them to make images of their emerods1 or swellings4 ,this is crude magic--imitative magic--the essence of which is that any effect may be produced by imitating it4 ,it is the spirit in which a savage sprinkles water when he wishes rain to fall4 ,as his own impotence is borne in on man1 he comes to look beyond himself alike for the cause and cure of his disease2 but human agency still bounds his whole horizon4 ,he looks to those likest himself in nature1 the imperishable spirits of his own departed dead4 ,endued with bodily form1 their ghosts need offerings of food and drink1 and humble homage of prayer4 ,neglect of these is recompensed by the sending of sickness and death4 ,this cult prevailed in the religion of young ,rome and in the ,greek worship of beings of the underworld 771 and may be found to-day in ,oceania4 ,such a deified spirit of the dead might exert his influence in dreams to those who slept over his abode4 ,such is the germ of the incubation ritual of the demigod ,asclepius1 who revealed remedies for sickness1 and was invoked for deliverance from pestilence4 ,strabo says that ,tricca in ,thessaly was the oldest sanctuary of ,asclepius1 who was the deified ancestor of the ,phlegyae and ,minyae1 the ruling family of ,tricca4 ,with the emergence of the idea of a separable soul came the belief in its assumption after death of animal forms1 and chief of these the mysterious earth-dwelling serpent1 darting pestilence from his barbed tongue4 ,the association of the serpent with disease and pestilence is wellnigh world-wide4 ,the ,vedas teem with it3 classical and ,christian literature and art are full of it4 ,we find it in ,ovid1#a in ,gregory of ,tours1#b in ,paul the ,deacon1#c and in many other writers4 ,the ,book of ,numbers too 7xxi4 #f seq47 retains this imagery of pestilence3 #8,and the ,lord sent fiery serpents among the people1 and they bit the people2 and much people of ,israel died4 ,therefore the people came to ,moses1 and said1 ,we have sinned1 for we have spoken against the ,lord1 and against thee2 pray unto the ,lord1 that he take away the serpents from us4 ,and ,moses prayed for the people4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,moses1 ,make thee a fiery serpent1 and set it upon a pole3 and it shall come to pass1 that every one that is bitten1 when he looketh upon it1 shall live4 ,and ,moses made a serpent of brass1 and put it upon a pole1 and it came to pass1 that if a serpent had bitten any man1 when he beheld the serpent of brass1 he lived4' ,imitative magic--the healing of like by like--is still the weapon with which ,moses counters the pestilence4 ,in ,fernando ,po1#d when an epidemic breaks out among children1 it is customary to set up a serpent's skin on a pole in the middle of the public square1 and the mothers bring their infants to touch it4 ,in ,madagascar1 ,sibree#e found that ,ramahavaly1 the god of healing1 was also the patron of serpents1 and was able to employ them as agents of his anger4 ,in many parts of ,india also it is customary to make a serpent of clay or metal1 and offer sacrifices to it on behalf of the sufferer4#f ,apollonius of ,tyana also is said to have freed ,antioch from scorpions by making a bronze image of a scorpion and burying it under a small pillar in the middle of the city4 ,so the serpent has power not only to excite pestilence1 but also to avert it4 ,from these spirits of the nether world1 human or animal in form1 it is a short passage to the conception of supernatural beings above the earth1 but still in human shape and still with human attributes4 ,such are ,apollo1 ,asclepius1 and ,rudra4 ,traces of the evolution of these deities are usually to be found in the attributes with which they are endowed in later literature and art4 ,the usual symbol of ,asclepius is a serpent coiled round a staff4 ,sacred snakes were kept in his temples1#g and applicants for healing fed them with cakes4#h ,cures were frequently effected in the sanctuaries of ,asclepius by serpents stealing out and licking the wounds of patients4 ,the god-man finally supersedes the serpent1 but conservative religious sentiment retains the older object of worship as the symbol and associate of the new4 ,in ,greek legend it is the serpent from which ,asclepius learns the art of healing3 true1 ,homer makes ,chiron his teacher4 ,numerous other legends of the serpent origin of medicine survive4 ,polyindus the seer is said to have learnt the herbs that can restore men to life by observing how the serpents raised their dead to life4 ,in ,cashmere#i the descendants of the ,naga 7serpent7 tribes attribute their special skill in healing to knowledge bestowed on their ancestors by serpents3 and the ,celts acquired their medical lore from drinking serpent broth4 ,as with ,asclepius1 so also we shall see with ,apollo4 ,apollo in very truth slays the man-killing ,python1 and himself becomes also the sender of pestilence4 ,he not only smites with disease the doer of evil1 but wards it off from the upright4 ,his are the arrows that scatter plague3 but he is also the best of physicians4 ,such is the ,apollo of the ,iliad4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,i 7,face ,page #d7 ,apollo with ,bow and ,mouse ,asclepius with ,serpent ,serpent and ,galley ,christ on the ,cross ,the ,brazen ,serpent ,homer's#aj aged priest ,chryses1 when he calls upon ,apollo to avenge the ravishing of his daughter1 invokes him as ,god of the ,silver ,bow 774 ,apollo hears his prayer1 and ,down from ,olympus' heights he passed1 his heart ,burning with wrath3 behind his shoulders hung ,his bow and ample quiver3 at his back ,rattled the fateful arrows as he moved3 ,like the night-cloud he passed3 and from afar ,he bent against the ships and sped the bolt3 ,and fierce and deadly twanged the silver bow3 ,first on the mules and dogs1 on man the last1 ,was poured the arrowy storm2 and through the camp ,constant and numerous blazed the funeral fires4 ,nine days the heavenly ,archer on the troops ,hurled his dread shafts4#aa ,homer's picture of the ,archer ,apollo has inspired one at least of the masterpieces of ,graeco-,roman sculpture4 ,apollo the ,avenger sends the pestilence in punishment of sin4 ,homer sets it as a signal evidence of divine displeasure in the forefront of his epic1 as does ,sophocles after him in the greatest of his tragedies4 ,apollo is pictured as the god who spreads the plague by arrows shot from his bow4 ,he swoops down with impetuous onset1 like the sudden fall of night in ,mediterranean lands1 as the #8pestilence that walketh in darkness' and #8the arrow that flieth by day'4 ,the plague is first epizootic1 falling on mules and dogs1 then epidemic among the ,greek host4 ,a council is called1 and ,achilles advises that some prophet or priest be summoned to say what propitiatory sacrifices have been neglected3 ,if for neglected hecatombs or prayers ,he blames us3 or if fat of lambs and goats ,may soothe his anger and the plague assuage4 ,the seer ,calchas shows them that it is sent rather as a punishment for flagrant sin1 the sin of ,agamemnon in carrying off ,chryseis4 ,it is for no neglect of honorific sacrifices nor for neglected prayers that pestilence has come upon them4 ,chryseis must be sent back1 and expiation be made to ,apollo with sacrifices1 after the whole host has been purified in the doubly cleansing water of the sea4 ,so ,chryseis is sent back and ,next proclamation through the camp was made ,to purify the host2 and in the sea1 ,obedient to the word1 they purified3 ,then to ,apollo solemn rites performed ,with faultless hecatombs of bulls and goats1 ,upon the margin of the watery waste3 ,and wreathed in smoke the savour rose to heaven4 ,thus they offer the sacrifice of atonement for sin1 with the ablutions meet for a solemn lustration of the people4 ,then when the plague is stayed1 and not till then1 may they join in the glad eucharistic feast of meat-offerings and libations of red wine1 the whole assemblage taking it in company with the god1 crowning the cups with flowers and chanting hymns of praise4 ,the ,apollo of the ,iliad1 like the serpent of old1 is not only the sender but also the averter of pestilence4 ,homer's plague marks a stage at which prayer and sacrifice have displaced magic in the struggle with pestilence4 ,from this time on the study of pestilence is inextricably blended with that of the evolution of religion4 ,prayer and sacrifice follow inevitably from the conception of the majestic man-god4 ,he must be approached on bended knee with request for help3 his is by right the homage of prayer4 ,his worshipper approaches him as he would an earthly potentate3 he cleanses himself1 he begs for grace in humble posture1 he gives him of his best4 ,hence arise purification1 prayer1 and sacrifice4 ,at first1 as in ,homer1 it is the body that is purified3 the offering of a clean heart and a right spirit is of later growth4 ,so long as the god is humanly conceived1 food and drink will be the meet offerings of sacrifice4 ,later with the conception of a god dwelling aloft1 as in the ,homeric verse1 the sweet savour of the sacrifice1 or of the scented smoke of incense rising to heaven1 will find peculiar favour in his sight4 ,primitive sacrifice is essentially social3 it is a banquet in which the worshippers join in communion with the god3 it is the true parent of the lectisternium4 ,early religion has no doubts of the god's good-will1 if duly solicited3 hence the joyousness of dance and song attendant on the eucharistic feast1 the worshippers being convinced that the sacrifice has restored them to the favour of the god4 ,the stern god1 the ,god of the ,old ,testament1 slow to forgive1 has no place in primitive theology4 ,hymns1 such as the ,greek warriors sang in jubilant unison to ,apollo1 are the first dim gropings of language into the domains of literature4 ,paeans of this kind were chanted in the sanctuaries of ,asclepius after successful acts of healing4 ,in early ,indian myth ,rudra is the god who lets fly the arrows of pestilence4 ,read this prayer to ,rudra from the ,atharvaveda#ab3 there are many like it in the older ,rig-,veda1 which reached near its present form as early as #aejj ,b4,c4 ,prayer to ,bhava#ac and ,sava#ad for protection from dangers4 #a4 ,o ,bhava and ,sava1 be merciful1 do not attack us3 ye lords of beings1 lords of cattle1 reverence be to you twain6 ,discharge not your arrow even after it has been laid 7on the bow7 and has been drawn6 ,destroy not our bipeds and our quadrupeds4 99 99 99 99 99 #g4 ,may we not conflict with ,rudra1 the archer with the dark crest1 the thousand-eyed powerful one1 the slayer of ,ardhaka6 99 99 99 99 99 #ab4 ,thou1 ,o crested god1 earnest in 7thy hand7 that smites thousands1 a yellow golden bow that slays hundreds3 ,rudra's arrow1 the missile of the gods1 flies abroad3 reverence be to it1 in whatever direction from here 7it flies74 99 99 99 99 99 #ai4 ,do not hurl at us thy club1 thy divine bolt3 be not incensed at us1 ,o lord of cattle6 ,shake over some other than us the celestial branch6 99 99 99 99 99 #bf4 ,do not1 ,o ,rudra1 contaminate us with fever1 or with poison1 or with heavenly fire3 cause this lightning to descend elsewhere than upon us6 ,other gods than ,rudra can stem the pestilence4 #8,vayu the wind shall bend the points of the enemies' bows1 ,indra shall break their arms1 so that they shall be unable to lay on their arrows3 ,aditya the sun shall send their missiles astray1 and ,krandramas the moon shall bar the way of the enemy that has not started4'#ae ,like the ,madonna of the ,christian ,church ,aditya staves off the arrows of pestilence4 ,the ,aryan warrior certainly1 the primitive ,greek probably1 used poisoned arrows4 ,the language of the #iast ,psalm reveals the same imagery as do the ,homeric epic and the ,vedic hymns4 #8,i will say unto the ,lord1 ,thou art my hope1 and my stronghold3 my ,god1 in him will ,i trust4 ,for he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter3 and from the noisome pestilence4 ,he shall defend thee under his wings1 and thou shalt be safe under his feathers3 his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler4 ,thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night3 nor for the arrow that flieth by day3 ,for the pestilence that walketh in darkness3 nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noonday4 ,a thousand shall fall beside thee1 and ten thousand at thy right hand3 but it shall not come nigh thee4' ,the arrows of pestilence have sunk deep into the tissue of many languages4 ,practically all the ,hebrew words for plague 7,maggefah1 ,negef1 ,naga1 ,makkah7 indicate a blow4 ,our ,english #8plague' is derived through the ,latin plaga from the ,greek 1 a blow3 so too the ,german plage4 ,the ,french flau--a flail or a plague--embodies the same idea of a blow1 and is derived from the ,latin flagellum and the ,greek 4 ,to-day even physicians must needs call the poisons of pestilence #8toxines'1 as though they were arrow-poisons discharged from a bow 7 from ,i hit74 ,the ,arabians speak of being #8stung' or #8pricked' with plague1 recalling respectively the serpents and the arrows of pestilence4 ,passing allusion has been made above to the plagues of ,pharaoh3 it remains only to be said that there is now pretty general agreement that these ten plagues represent merely the seasonal variations1 to which ,egypt is peculiarly liable1 magnified in ,jewish oral tradition4 ,perhaps the last plague1 the death of the first-born1 at the ,april of the exodus 7circa #abbj ,b4,c47 may have been a true pestis puerorum1 falling with chief severity on those who lacked the immunity afforded by a previous epidemic4 ,it was the incursion of ,libyans and of the nations of the ,greek seas into ,egypt1 at least as much as the ,biblical plagues1 that enabled the ,israelitish serfs to make good their escape4 ,during the period of wandering in the wilderness ,korah1 ,dathan1 and ,abiram revolted against the ascendancy of ,moses and ,aaron1 and ,god caused them to be swallowed up with all their households by an earthquake4 ,some of the children of ,israel murmured against their fate4 ,those that did so were visited with a plague1 that carried off #ad1gjj persons4 ,the plague was stayed by ,aaron offering incense as an atonement on the altar--sacrifice still1 but the sacrifice only of a sweet savour to a ,god dwelling in heaven4 ,the juxtaposition1 if it be not permissible to say the association1 of earthquake and pestilence in this narrative is noteworthy1 in view of the widespread belief in their causal relationship1 in later times4 ,all through the ,old ,testament plague is regarded1 as here1 as a direct consequence of ,god's anger4 ,in the ,new ,testament it figures but little1 and then rather as corrective than punitive4 ,the ,god of the ,old ,testament is a ,god of vengeance3 only in the later ,prophets do we find even a foreshadowing of the ,god of love and forgiveness1 the ,god of the ,new ,testament4 ,in portraying pestilence ,art has retained this conception of ,god as a stern punisher of wrongdoing1 but in the personality of ,christ1 approached through the mediation of the ,madonna and ,saints1 has recognized the ,new ,testament conception of ,god4 ,the entrance into ,canaan was the beginning to the ,israelites of a long period of warfare with surrounding tribes4 ,at last1 in the pitched battle of ,eben-ezer1 the ,philistines crushed the army of ,israel1 captured the ark of the covenant1 and carried it off to ,ashdod1 where they placed it in the temple of their own national god1 ,dagon4 ,on two successive nights the image of ,dagon was mysteriously thrown down from its pedestal4 #8,the hand of the ,lord was heavy upon them of ,ashdod1 and he destroyed them1 and smote them with emerods1 even ,ashdod and the coasts thereof4' ,the men of ,ashdod made haste to send away the ark to ,gath1 another ,philistine city1 but here1 too1 ,god #8smote the men of the city1 both small and great1 and they had emerods in their secret parts'4 ,from ,gath it was sent to ,ekron with like result3 #8for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city2 the hand of ,god was very heavy there4 ,and the men that died not were smitten with the emerods3 and the cry of the city went up to heaven4' ,after seven months of pestilence1 the ,philistines called for the priests and diviners1 to inquire in what way they should send back the ark4 ,these told them that1 if they wished for deliverance from the plague1 the ark must on no account be sent back empty1 but with a trespass-offering of five golden emerods and five golden mice1 #8images of your emerods1 and images of your mice that mar the land4' ,the ark was to be sent in a new cart1 drawn by two milch kine1 while their calves were kept at home4 ,if the kine took the straight way by the coast to ,beth-shemesh1 they would know that it was ,god that had smitten them1 #8but if not1 then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us3 it was a chance that happened to us4 ,and the men did so3 and took two milch kine1 and tied them to the cart1 and shut up their calves at home3 ,and they laid the ark of the ,lord upon the cart1 and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods4 ,and the kine took the straight way to the way of ,beth-shemesh1 and went along the highway1 lowing as they went1 and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left2 and the lords of the ,philistines went after them unto the border of ,beth-shemesh4 ,and they of ,beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley3 and they lifted up their eyes1 and saw the ark1 and rejoiced to see it4 ,and the cart came into the field of ,joshua1 a ,beth-shemite1 and stood there1 where there was a great stone3 and they clave the wood of the cart1 and offered the kine a burnt-offering unto the ,lord4 ,and the ,levites took down the ark of the ,lord1 and the coffer that was with it1 wherein the jewels of gold were1 and put them on the great stone3 and the men of ,beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the ,lord 4441 which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of ,joshua1 the ,beth-shemite4' ,fifty thousand and seventy of the people of ,beth-shemesh were smitten with the plague1 #8because they had looked into the ark of the ,lord4' ,in its essential features the narrative of this plague of ,ashdod is a mere replica of the ,homeric plague4 ,the manifest cause is ,god's displeasure1 but when it falls on ,israelites1 ,god's chosen people1 as well as on ,philistines1 it is perplexing1 for knowledge of contagion or communicability is as yet unborn4 ,but an explanation is ready to hand--the ,israelites also have offended ,god by looking into the ark4 ,the sin-offerings are to be representations in gold of the disease1 akin to the votive offerings of diseased parts dedicated in the sanctuaries of ,asclepius1 and representations of mice1 which then and after were generally associated with pestilence--imitative magic again in its simplest form4 ,the sacrificial stone is left as a commemorative altar for all time4 ,religion has now appeared to reinforce magic4 ,the ,philistine diviners do indeed hazard the thought that the plague may have been a mere #8chance that happened to us'1 and so faintly foreshadow a belief in the natural causation of epidemic disease4 ,have we sufficient data to establish the identity of this contagious pestilence8 ,it broke out on the sea-coast among a race of maritime traders1 and spread from the coast to other inland towns4 ,it lasted more than seven months4 ,it took on two forms1 a severe type with early death1 and a less fatal type1 in which swellings 7so-called emerods7 developed in the secret parts1 a comprehensive term which habitually included the whole area adjacent to the genitals1 and therein the groins4 ,on these data alone it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it was true oriental plague1 with a proportion of bubonic cases1 a disease that throughout its recorded history has hugged this corner of the ,levant4 ,votive offerings for the healing of disease generally portrayed the part diseased1 rather than the actual disease1 the latter so often defying plastic representation4 ,but1 in the case of a simple swelling1 it is natural that the disease itself should be modelled4 ,it is tempting to assert with confidence a direct causal connexion between the morbid swellings and the mice1 for rats and mice were ill distinguished from each other until recent times4 ,the matter is further complicated by the fact that there is considerable doubt as to the authenticity of parts1 at least1 of the narrative4 ,the composition of the ,books of ,samuel ranged over some seven centuries1 from #ijj-bjj ,b4,c41 and the mouse story is believed to be a late interpolation1 of which it is impossible to fix the date4 ,but in the text1 as it stands1 the mice are designated #8mice that mar the land'1 and ancient literature abounds in records of appalling devastation of crops by the agency of field-mice4 ,aelian1#af ,aristotle1#ag ,strabo1#ah ,theophrastus1 ,pliny1 and others testify to this4 ,loeffler#ai gives an account of a ,thessalian corn-harvest destroyed by a horde of field-voles1 a field being completely devastated in a single night4 ,mice were1 in fact1 one prominent cause of the famine-plagues#bj of history4 ,viewed in this light1 it helps us to understand another ,biblical pestilence1 that fell on the army of ,sennacherib1 in #gja ,b4,c41 at ,pelusium4 ,this campaign of ,sennacherib was undertaken to quell a general revolt of the western states against ,assyrian supremacy and the payment of tribute to the ,assyrian king4 ,the revolt was fomented1 seemingly1 by ,merodach-,baladan1 whom ,sargon had ousted from the kingship of ,babylon1 and who now drew ,hezekiah into the revolt4 ,he sent an embassy with gifts to ,hezekiah1 nominally to congratulate him on his recovery from a severe illness1 which the ,bible narrative terms #8a boil'4 ,this may perhaps indicate true pustular plague1 but forms of boil 7e4 g4 ,baghdad boil71 quite distinct from plague1 are familiar occurrences in several regions of the ,east4 ,sennacherib first crushed ,merodach-,baladan1 and then advanced against ,hezekiah1 who at once called on ,tirhaquah1 the ,ethiopian viceroy of ,egypt1 for help4 ,at the pitched battle of ,altaku ,sennacherib defeated ,tirhaquah1 and shut up ,hezekiah in ,jerusalem1 to which he proceeded to lay siege4 ,meantime ,tirhaquah rallied his army and again advanced to the aid of ,hezekiah1 so that ,sennacherib was compelled to march south against him4 ,at ,pelusium1 on the border of ,egypt1 ,sennacherib's army was suddenly destroyed by a pestilence1 that compelled him to withdraw the remnant at once to ,assyria4 #8,and it came to pass that night1 that the angel of the ,lord went out1 and smote in the camp of the ,assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand3 and when they arose early in the morning1 behold1 they were all dead corpses4'#ba ,isaiah confirms in detail the narrative of the ,book of ,kings1 and the ,chaldaean chronicler1 ,berosus1 in a fragment preserved by ,josephus1 states also that ,sennacherib was driven back by pestilence4 ,the prism inscriptions of ,sennacherib are characteristically silent on the subject3 they tell only how he shut up ,hezekiah in ,jerusalem1 like a bird in a cage4 ,pelusium has an evil reputation in the annals of pestilence4 ,procopius cites it as the starting-point of ,justinian's plague4 ,there1 too1 one of the ,crusading expeditions developed plague2 and again1 in ,a4,d4 #agii1 the army of ,napoleon was infected there and carried the disease into ,syria4 ,the explanation is not far to seek4 ,the eastern and southern coasts of the ,mediterranean1 and more particularly ,syria1 ,egypt1 and ,libya1 were the points to which the merchants of the ,east brought their merchandise for exchange with that of the ,west4 ,from time immemorial ,arab caravans and camels had traversed well-worn trade routes from the ,east abutting on the ,mediterranean at ,tyre1 ,sidon1 and ,pelusium1 and later at ,alexandria4 ,in these meeting-places of ,east and ,west1 as also at ,constantinople1 plague would most readily1 and actually did1 find a footing4 ,possibly the eastern ,delta may have been an endemic centre1 but more likely1 as was believed in the late ,chinese plague1 a distributing centre was an original source4 ,byron in his lines in the ,hebrew ,melodies on the #8,destruction of ,sennacherib' has caught the passionate note of fervid patriotism1 on which the chosen race celebrated their deliverance from the heathen enemy by the might of their own ,god1 and has retained the imagery and simple diction of the ,bible story3 ,for the ,angel of ,death spread his wings on the blast1 ,and breathed on the face of the foe as he passed3 ,and the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill1 ,and their hearts but once heaved1 and for ever grew still4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and the might of the ,gentile1 unsmote by the sword1 ,hath melted like snow in the glance of the ,lord4 ,herodotus#bb relates that the tradition of this wonderful deliverance lived on in ,egypt also4 ,his cicerone in the temple of ,ptah at ,memphis told him the following tale4 #8,the next king was a priest of ,vulcan1 called ,sethos4 ,this monarch despised and neglected the warrior class of the ,egyptians1 as though he did not need their services4 ,among other indignities which he offered them1 he took from them the lands which they possessed under all the previous kings1 consisting of twelve acres of choice land for each warrior4 ,afterwards1 therefore1 when ,sennacherib1 king of the ,arabians and ,assyrians1 marched his vast army into ,egypt1 the warriors one and all refused to come to his aid4 ,on this the monarch1 greatly distressed1 entered into the inner sanctuary1 and before the image of the god bewailed the fate that impended over him4 ,as he wept he fell asleep1 and dreamed that the god came and stood at his side1 bidding him be of good cheer1 and go boldly forth to meet the ,arabian host1 which would do him no hurt1 as he himself would send those who should help him4 ,sethos then1 relying on the dream1 collected such of the ,egyptians as were willing to follow him1 who were none of them warriors1 but traders1 artisans1 and market people1 and with these marched to ,pelusium1 which commands the entrance into ,egypt1 and there pitched his camp4 ,as the two armies lay here opposite one another1 there came in the night a multitude of field-mice1 which devoured all the quivers and bow-strings of the enemy and ate the thongs by which they managed their shields4 ,next morning they commenced their flight1 and great multitudes fell1 as they had no arms with which to defend themselves4 ,there stands to this day in the temple of ,vulcan a stone statue of ,sethos1 with a mouse in his hand1 and an inscription to this effect3 8,look on me and learn to reverence the gods40' ,strabo#bc has a story of mice eating up the bow-strings1 and a variant of it appears also in ,chinese annals1#bd so that it may be regarded as merely a figurative expression for some providential deliverance from an enemy1 and in the case of ,sennacherib the medium of deliverance was pestilence4 ,it is impossible to say whose was the statue ,herodotus ascribes to ,sethos1 for no king ,sethos is known in ,egyptian history4 ,perhaps it was a statue of ,horus1 the ,egyptian equivalent of ,apollo1 or not impossibly of ,apollo himself1 for we have abundant evidence of the association of the mouse with ,apollo4 ,in the pestilence of the ,iliad1#be ,chryses addresses him as ,mouse-,god 774 ,strabo says that the statue of ,apollo ,smintheus in ,chrysa1 a town of the ,troad1 had a mouse beneath his foot3 so also has a bronze coin now in the ,british ,museum4 ,de ,witte#bf has figured coins of ,alexandria1 the more ancient ,hamaxitus1 in the ,troad1 in which ,apollo ,smintheus is represented with his bow1 and a mouse on his hand4 ,aelian#bg says that an effigy of the mouse stood beside the tripod of ,apollo4 ,an ancient bas-relief1 of uncertain date1 illustrating the ,homeric plague and the offerings of the ,greeks to ,apollo ,smintheus1 also shows a mouse on a tripod4 ,another shows ,apollo with a mouse beneath his chin3 so1 too1 does a coin of ,tenedos4 ,white mice were actually kept beneath the altar in the temple of ,apollo ,smintheus at ,hamaxitus1 and were fed at the public expense4 ,strabo#bh says that the worship of ,apollo ,smintheus extended to the whole coast of ,asia ,minor and to the neighbouring islands4 ,many votive offerings in the form of mice have been found1 at ,alexandria ,troas1#bi in ,palestine1#cj and elsewhere1 and ,strabo suggests that the worship of mice originated in a desire to propitiate mice1 so as to induce them not to ravage the cornfields4 ,the propitiation of animals1#ca and particularly of those that infest the crops1 is common in the worship of primitive men4 ,the ,philistines are said to have made images of the mice that marred their land1 and sent them out of their country1 so as to induce the real mice to depart also4 ,in a later stage of worship1 when a god has supplanted the animal1 the god is propitiated instead of the pest itself3 hence ,mouse ,apollo1#cb ,locust ,apollo1#cc ,wolf ,apollo1#cd and ,zeus ,averter of ,flies4#ce ,even lowlier pests are absorbed into the godhead1 so that we have ,apollo ,erythibius#cf 7 mildew71 and the ,romans personified it and worshipped it as ,robigus#cg 7robigo mildew74 ,the ,chams of ,indo-,china offer sacrifices to a rude pillar-idol1 called ,yang-tikuh 7god-rat71 when swarms of rats infest the fields4#ch ,thus ,apollo seems to stand in the same relation to the mouse1 as ,asclepius to the serpent4 ,he not only sends pestilence1 but also wards it off both from man and from crops4 ,and viewing all the facts we may conclude with some certainty that the association of mice with famine-pestilence was well recognized1 but of any knowledge at this time of the association of rats with plague there is little evidence4 ,plutarch#ci asserts that the ,persian ,magi killed all their mice and rats1 because they and the gods they worshipped entertained a natural antipathy to them1 a feeling which1 he says1 they shared with the ,arabians and ,ethiopians4 ,one is curious to know what may have been the real ground of this antipathy1 for which ,plutarch advances the current explanation4 ,more than likely it was that experience had taught these nations the relation of these animals to famine and perhaps to pestilence as well4 ,nicholas ,poussin 7#aeic-affe7 painted a picture1 now in the ,louvre1 of the plague of ,ashdod4 ,an inferior replica hangs in the ,national ,gallery1 and yet another in the ,academy at ,lisbon4 ,horror is the dominant note of a composition that is full of movement4 ,high up between the columns of a temple stands the ark of ,god4 ,beside it the body of ,dagon lies prostrate on its pedestal1 with head and hands lying below4 ,a priest points out with his hand the mutilated image to a group of awe-stricken men1 who from their air of authority seem to be elders of the people4 ,a swarm of rats has invaded the town4 ,the streets are strewn with dead and dying of each sex and of every age1 and bearers carry away the corpses4 ,broken columns1 lying here and there among the plague-stricken1 heighten the sense of death and destruction4 ,in the centre of the foreground is a group that ,poussin has borrowed from ,raphael4 ,a woman with bared breasts lies dead between her two infants3 one is dead1 the other is approaching the dead mother's breast4 ,the father stoops down with hand stretched out to hold it back3 with his other he muffles his mouth and nose to shut out infection4 ,to the right another man holds back an older child who is coming towards the dead woman4 ,one man is huddled up in a dying convulsion1 another lies exhausted on a broken pillar4 ,on the steps a sick man implores assistance from one who hurries past him to avoid infection4 ,to the left a man with pity depicted on his face regards another writhing in agony4 ,the whole scene is set in the centre of the town in an open space surrounded by massive buildings in the classical style that ,poussin acquired among the ruined monuments of ,rome4 ,none of the bodies show any distinctive signs of plague1 the disease clearly indicated by the presence of swarms of rats4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii ,,plague ,,of ,,ashdod4 ,,by ,n4 ,,poussin ,photograph by ,giraudon1 ,paris 7,face ,page #ah7 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii ,,plague ,,of ,,david4 ,,by ,p4 ,,mignard 7,face ,page #ai7 ,one other ,biblical#dj pestilence1 the plague of ,david1 presents to us another and more enduring image of pestilence1 and represents also a stage at which religion has superseded magic4 ,david1 in punishment for his presumption in numbering the people1 is given the choice of seven years of famine1 three months of fleeing before his enemies1 or three days of pestilence4 ,he chose the last1 and seventy thousand of his people perished4 #8,and ,david lifted up his eyes1 and saw the ,angel of the ,lord stand between the earth and the heaven1 having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over ,jerusalem4' #8,and when the angel stretched out his hand upon ,jerusalem to destroy it1' ,god checked him by the threshing-floor of ,araunah the ,jebusite4 #8,and the ,lord commanded the angel2 and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof4' ,then the prophet ,gad told ,david to set up an altar in the threshing-floor of ,araunah4 ,so ,david bought it and set up an altar and offered sacrifice to ,god1 and the plague was stayed3 on the site of this altar ,solomon built the ,temple4 ,here again pestilence figures as a signal evidence of ,god's displeasure4 ,an angel is the agent by which ,he spreads the plague1 and the drawn sword1 ,israel's favourite weapon1 replaces the bow and arrow4 ,the sheathing of the sword is the sign that the pestilence is ended4 ,this imagery appears again and again in ,christian literature and art1 and seems to have its origin here4 ,angels are a beautiful fancy of all religions of the ,east4 ,so vivid is the primitive conception of pestilence1 that we find it personified from earliest times3 now as an archer-god3 now as one walking in darkness3 now as an angel with drawn sword4 ,david offers the same expiatory sacrifice and rears a commemorative altar1 as was done in the plague of ,ashdod4 ,pierre ,mignard 7#afaj-ie7 has painted the plague of ,david4 ,the original is lost1 but an engraving by ,audran is to be had at the ,chalcographie of the ,louvre4 ,as with ,poussin1 the scene is set with a background of classical architecture1 but the rendering of the figures shows little trace of classical feeling4 ,the central theme is the idea of devotion in the presence of suffering4 ,an angel in the sky is pouring forth sulphurous fumes from two vessels1 as brimstone and fire were rained down upon ,sodom and ,gomorrah4 ,on the peristyle of a temple ,king ,david offers sacrifices of atonement to stay the plague1 while the people prostrate themselves in attitudes of supplication around the steps of the temple4 ,in the background is a cascade of water falling into a basin1 beside which one man lies dying1 while others endeavour to slake their thirst4 ,two men hasten forward to drive them from the basin1 before they pollute its water4 ,this incident is derived with some licence of interpretation from the narrative of ,thucydides4 ,in the centre of the picture1 reminiscent of ,raphael1 a young woman lies dying in her husband's arms1 her dead child still stretched across her knees4 ,in the foreground is a charcoal brazier giving off purifying fumes4 ,near it a doctor1 who has just incised a bubo in a woman's armpit1 falls back in a state of collapse1 dropping his bistoury and bowl1 while his assistant1 who is still holding the woman's arm away from her side1 grasps at his master to prevent him falling4 ,a bystander makes off in horrified dismay4 ,compassion and cowardice are here ranged side by side4 ,to the right two men are distributing food and medicine to the sick4 ,an attendant kneels to offer a stricken man a cup of water1 while a torch-bearer follows with a lighted torch to disinfect the air4 ,close beside them lies a dog dead4 ,to the left one young woman is giving some remedy in a spoon to another stretched on the ground1 while behind them stand a woman and child1 both in tears4 ,detached incidents fill in the picture4 ,a woman grasps a delirious man as he escapes from his house4 ,a man carries off a girl in his arms4 ,a woman tears her hair over the dead body of her child4 ,a woman draws up food to her window with basket and cord4 ,with the exception of the plague of ,ashdod1 it is difficult to hazard a guess at the nature of these ,biblical plagues4 ,all through the ,old ,testament1 sword1 famine1 and pestilence are habitually linked together4 ,as plague has followed the flag of commerce1 so famine and typhus have followed the flag of war4 ,during the ,thirty ,years' ,war the whole of ,central ,europe was devastated by famine and typhus4 ,they were rampant in the wake of ,napoleon's armies1 and thousands perished of typhus during the retreat from ,moscow4 ,in the ,crimea typhus decimated the ill-fed army of the ,french1 and only to-day1 as it were1 have we learnt that the body-louse stands as the connecting link between famine and typhus4 ,the eighteenth century in ,ireland1 even when war was absent1 was an almost unbroken record of famine and typhus1 and ,ireland was quit of epidemic typhus only when she had so widened her area of supplies as to ensure immunity from famine4 ,for her deliverance from typhus ,ireland is beholden to her potatoes1 not to her physicians4 ,in the light then of the evidence of modern history1 typhus may well have figured prominently in the list of ,biblical plagues4 ,still there are not wanting many instances in which true plague has followed hard on the heels of famine2 and in ,india cholera and dysentery only too often appear1 to complete the work that famine has but half done4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,metamorphoses1 vii4 #ebj4 #b ,hist4 ,francorum1 x4 #a4 #c ,de ,gestis ,langobardorum1 iii4 #bd4 #d ,a4 ,bastian1 ,ein ,besuch in ,san ,salvador1 p4 #cah2 and ,frazer1 ,commentary on ,pausanias1 ii4 #aj4 #c4 #e ,the ,great ,african ,island1 p4 #bfh4 #f ,gordon ,cumming1 ,in the ,hebrides1 pp4 #ec seq4 #g ,aristophanes1 ,plutus1 #gcc4 #h ,frazer1 ,pausanias1 ii4 #b4 #h4 #i ,gordon ,cumming1 loc4 cit4 #aj ,iliad1 i4 #dd seq4 #aa ,derby1 ,homer's ,iliad4 #ab ,,vii4 xi4 #b1 tr4 ,bloomfield4 #ac ,synonym for ,rudra4 #ad ,synonym for ,rudra4 #ae ,atharvaveda1 ,v4 xi4 #aj4 #af xvii4 #da4 #ag ,hist4 ,anim4 vi4 #cg4 #ehj ,b4 #ah ,geographica1 xiii4 #a4 #dh1 and iii4 #ajd4 #ai ,zoologist1 ,september #ahib4 #bj ,strabo1 ,geographica1 iii4 #ajd4 #ba #b ,kings xix4 #ce4 #bb ii4 #ada2 and ,rawlinson's ,herodotus1 ed4 #ahhj1 vol4 ii4 #bai-bj4 #bc ,geographica1 xiii4 #fd4 #bd ,journal ,asiatique1 #ast series1 iii4 #cjg4 #be i4 #ci4 #bf ,revue ,numismatique1 ,n4,s4 iii4 #bg ,nat4 ,anim4 xii4 #e4 #bh ,geographica1 xiii4 #a4 #fd4 #bi ,newton1 ,travels and ,discoveries in the ,levant1 i4 #acj4 #cj ,thomas1 ,two ,years in ,palestine1 p4 #f4 #ca ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough1 ed4 #aijj1 ii4 #dbc4 #cb ,iliad1 i4 #ci4 #cc ,strabo1 loc4 cit4 #cd ,aeschylus1 ,theb4 #ade4 #ce ,pausanias1 v4 #ad4 #a4 #cf ,strabo1 loc4 cit4 #cg ,varro1 ,rerum rusticarum i4 #a4 #f4 #ch ,aymonier1 ,revue de l'histoire des religions1 xxiv 7#ahia7 #bcf4 #ci ,morals3 ,essay on ,envy and ,hatred4 #dj #b ,samuel xxiv2 and #a ,chronicles xxi4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,the conception of pestilence as a punishment for sin is as prominent in ,greek as in ,hebrew literature4 ,we have seen it in the ,homeric story1 and we see it again1 where we should less expect it1 in ,sophocles4 ,pestilence still centres round the personality of ,apollo1 but whereas in ,homer ,apollo stays the plague1 in ,sophocles he is appealed to only for knowledge1 whereby to stay it4 ,homer endows him with special power1 ,sophocles only with special knowledge4 ,in ,homer he is the god of the bright light 771 that dispels the darkness of pestilence3 in ,sophocles his is the light that illumines the dark places of mind4 ,the ,oedipus ,tyrannus seems to have been first publicly performed between #dbi-dbj ,b4,c41 possibly therefore before the plague of ,athens had finally died out4 ,sophocles is certainly not describing the plague of ,athens in the guise of a ,theban plague1 but it must needs have coloured his thoughts as well as those of his audience4 ,his description of the pestilence blighting the crops1 and causing murrain among cattle and disease and death among men1 suggests one of the famine plagues common in ancient history4 ,hesiod#da was not unaware of them 7 74 ,sophocles is the first writer to attempt even in outline a description of pestilence1 and in doing so he has drawn the picture of pestilence sent by the gods for the punishment of sin4 ,the way of atonement is sought for at ,delphi1 and pending this knowledge supplication is made to ,athena1 ,artemis1 and ,apollo1 the deities who control pestilence and have the plague-stricken city in their special keeping4 ,here is the invocation to ,apollo1 the ,delian ,healer3 ,shower from the golden string ,thine arrows1 ,lycian ,king4 ,o ,phoebe1 let thy fiery lances fly ,resistless1 as they rove ,through ,xanthus' mountain-grove6 ,o ,theban ,bacchus of the lustrous eye1 ,with torch and trooping ,maenads and bright crown1 ,blaze on the god whom all in ,heaven disown4#db ,set in this archaic atmosphere the ,oedipus ,tyrannus reads strange beside the realistic record of ,thucydides1 published only a few years later4 ,but ,sophocles has given only in outline what ,thucydides has given in arresting detail4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to the historian1 the physician1 and the man of letters1 the account given by ,thucydides of the plague of ,athens1 in the course of the ,peloponnesian ,war1 must stand for all time as one of the most remarkable documents in the whole annals of pestilence4 ,in view of the much greater strength of the ,lacedaemonian land-force1 it was the unwavering policy of ,pericles to keep the ,athenians within their walls1 allowing the ,lacedaemonians to exhaust themselves in devastating ,attic territory1 while retaliating on the coasts of ,peloponnesus by the ,athenian fleet4 ,each year1 at the approach of the ,lacedaemonian army1 the inhabitants of ,attica flocked within the walls of ,athens1 bringing with them all their movable property1 after sending their sheep and cattle to ,euboea and the neighbouring islands1 so that the added horror of a great epizootic was averted4 ,the greater number encamped in the vacant spaces of the city and ,piraeus1 and in and around the numerous temples4 ,some housed their families in the towers and recesses of the city walls1 or in sheds1 cabins1 tents1 or even tubs1 disposed throughout the course of the long walls4 ,this was the overcrowded state of beleaguered ,athens1 when pestilence broke out in the second year of the ,peloponnesian ,war 7#dcj ,b4,c471 putting the policy of ,pericles to a crucial test4 ,after ravaging the plain1 the ,peloponnesians devastated the coastlands of ,attica1 first on the south coast1 and then on the north4 ,pericles forthwith equipped an ,athenian naval squadron1 and launched his counterstroke against the ,peloponnese4 ,this fleet carried #d1jjj hoplites and #cjj cavalry1 who ravaged the district round ,epidaurus1 and other towns on the adjacent coast4 ,it seems1 however1 despite the rumour to the contrary1 which ,thucydides faithfully records1 that neither the pestilence nor the operations of this expeditionary force actually accelerated the departure of the ,lacedaemonians1 for they stayed #dj days1 which was longer than any other stay4 ,pestilence broke out in this expeditionary force1 and is doubtless the reason that it returned without accomplishing more4 ,plutarch indeed says that the ,athenians would have captured ,epidaurus1 but for this outbreak of sickness4 ,the ,athenians also sent another fleet this same summer against ,potidaea in ,thrace1 which was already undergoing a siege at the hands of an ,athenian army4 ,pestilence worked fearful havoc in this supplementary force and spread from it to the troops who were already there1 involving a mortality of #a1jej out of a total of #d1jjj hoplites1 so that the expedition was compelled to return and leave the siege to the troops that were there before them4 ,in their despair the ,athenians vented their angry feelings on ,pericles1 just as persons in a delirium1 says ,plutarch1#dc turn on their physician or their father4 ,they urged that the pestilence was due to cooping up in the city in stifling huts a rural population accustomed to an open-air existence1 so that they conveyed infection to one another4 ,but popular resentment subsided as quickly as it arose4 ,in a noble speech1 which ,thucydides reproduces at length1 ,pericles weaned them to a better mind4 ,his own domestic sufferings may have stirred their sympathy4 ,he lost of the pestilence his only two legitimate sons1 ,xanthippus and ,paralus1 his sister1 and many relatives and friends4 ,the death of his favourite son1 ,paralus1 left him with no legitimate heir to maintain the family and the hereditary sacred rites4 #8,that blow'1 says ,plutarch1#dd #8crushed him to earth4 ,he struggled indeed to preserve his wonted impassiveness and to maintain his serene composure4 ,but1 as he laid a wreath upon the body and looked upon his dead1 the anguish of it all overwhelmed him1 and he burst out wailing and sobbing bitterly--a thing which in all his life he had never before done4' ,the spectacle of this proud1 reserved man1 this man who had stood firm as a rock amid the rising tide of popular resentment1 humbled before ,god1 humiliated before man1 as the iron seared his innermost soul1 is one of the most moving pictures in all history and literature4 ,my ,god has bowed me down to what ,i am1 ,my solitude and grief have brought me low4 #8,shortly after this1 it appears1 the pestilence laid hold on ,pericles4 ,the attack was not1 as in other cases1 sharp and severe4 ,it took the form of an ailment1 slight but protracted through a variety of phases1 which slowly wasted his strength and undermined the vigour of his mind4' ,but if we may judge by the accounts of his death-bed given by ,plutarch himself1 and by ,theophrastus in his ,ethics1 his mind was free from any taint of insanity4 ,the first outbreak of pestilence lasted for two years1 from the spring of #dcj ,b4,c4 to that of #dbh ,b4,c41 then came a partial1 but not complete1 abatement for one and a half years1 followed by another outbreak in #dbg ,b4,c4 which lasted a year4 #8,to the power of ,athens'1 says ,thucydides1 #8certainly nothing was more ruinous4 ,not less than #d1djj ,athenian hoplites1 who were on the roll1 died1 and also #cjj horsemen1 and an incalculable number of the common people'1 estimated by ,diodorus ,siculus#de at #aj1jjj freemen and slaves4 ,bury#df puts the total number of ,athenian burghers 7of both sexes and all ages7 at the commencement of the ,peloponnesian ,war at #ajj1jjj1 and this total was reduced by the pestilence to some #hj1jjj or less4 ,the metic class and the slaves he estimates roundly at #cj1jjj and #ajj1jjj respectively1 but beyond the unreliable statement of ,diodorus ,siculus1 we have no index of their reduction4 ,in accepting the verdict of ,thucydides on the disastrous effects of the pestilence on the power of ,athens1 we must not forget that there were other influences at work1 conspiring to this same result1 the consequences of which ,pericles had pointed out clearly in his speech before the war4 ,had it not been for these1 ,athens would beyond doubt have rallied quickly from the blow1 as we shall see that other cities have habitually done in like case with hers4 ,the circumstances under which the epidemic broke out a second time in ,athens cannot have differed greatly from those prevailing at its first onset1 for though it was winter and the ,lacedaemonian army was not in the field1 the surrounding country had been devastated1 and most of the peasantry must still have been cooped up1 in a state of overcrowding1 within the walls4 ,as the pestilence lingered on in ,athens1 superstition laid fast hold on the populace1 under the stress of their protracted sufferings4 ,on the advice of the oracle1 they decided to purify the island of ,delos1 which formerly had been dedicated to ,apollo1 but latterly had been used as a burial-ground4 ,all the dead were transferred to a neighbouring island ,rhene1 and a law was passed forbidding henceforth the burial of a corpse or the birth of a child in ,delos4 ,the neglected panegyric festival of ,apollo was also revived in the island4 ,no stone was left unturned to appease the god1 who1 the ,athenians now were persuaded1 had sent them the distemper4 ,earthquakes and inundations lasted1 as did the pestilence1 throughout the summer of #dbf ,b4,c4 ,diodorus ,siculus seems to suggest that the earthquakes were sent by ,apollo1 who had been duly propitiated1 to divert the ,lacedaemonians from the invasion of ,attica4 ,actually they did effect this1 for ,agis1 ,king of ,sparta1 though already arrived at the isthmus1 accepted the omen and led his army back4 ,neither ,thucydides nor ,diodorus ,siculus asserts any direct causal relation between the earthquakes and the pestilence--a belief1 which if now vaguely foreshadowed1 took definite form only at a later date4 ,the following is the full narrative#dg of the pestilence1 as given by ,thucydides3 #8,as soon as summer returned1 the ,peloponnesian army1 comprising as before two-thirds of the force of each confederate state1 under the command of the ,lacedaemonian king ,archidamus1 the son of ,zeuxidamus1 invaded ,attica1 where they established themselves and ravaged the country4 ,they had not been there many days when the plague broke out at ,athens for the first time4 ,it is said to have previously smitten many places1 particularly ,lemnos1 but there is no record of so great a pestilence occurring elsewhere1 or of such a destruction of human life4 ,for a while physicians1 in ignorance of the nature of the disease1 sought to apply remedies2 but it was in vain1 and they themselves were among the first victims1 because they oftenest came into contact with it4 ,no human art was of any avail1 and as to supplications in temples1 enquiries of oracles1 and the like1 they were utterly useless1 and at last men were overpowered by the calamity and gave them all up4 ,the disease is said to have begun south of ,egypt in ,ethiopia3 thence it descended into ,egypt and ,libya1 and after spreading over the greater part of the ,persian empire1 suddenly fell upon ,athens4 ,it first attacked the inhabitants of the ,piraeus1 and it was supposed that the ,peloponnesians had poisoned the cisterns1 no conduits having as yet been made there4 ,it afterwards reached the upper city1 and then the mortality became far greater4 ,as to its probable origin or the causes which might or could have produced such a disturbance of nature1 every man1 whether a physician or not1 will give his own opinion4 ,but ,i shall describe its actual character1 and the symptoms by which any one who knows them beforehand may recognize the disorder1 should it ever reappear4 ,for ,i was myself attacked1 and witnessed the sufferings of others4 ,the season was admitted to have been remarkably free from ordinary sickness2 and if anybody was already ill of any other disease1 it was absorbed in this4 ,many who were in perfect health1 all in a moment1 and without any apparent reason1 were seized with violent heats in the head and with redness and inflammation of the eyes4 ,internally the throat and the tongue were quickly suffused with blood1 and the breath became unnatural and fetid4 ,there followed sneezing and hoarseness2 in a short time the disorder1 accompanied by a violent cough1 reached the chest2 then fastening lower down1 it would move the stomach and bring on all the vomits of bile to which physicians have ever given names2 and they were very distressing4 ,an ineffectual retching producing violent straining attacked most of the sufferers2 some as soon as the previous symptoms had abated1 others not until long afterwards4 ,the body externally was not so very hot to the touch1 nor yet pale3 it was of a livid colour inclining to red1 and breaking out in pustules and ulcers4 ,but the internal fever was intense3 the sufferers could not bear to have on them even the finest linen garment4 ,they insisted on being naked1 and there was nothing which they longed for more eagerly than to throw themselves into cold water4 ,and many of those who had no one to look after them actually plunged into the cisterns1 for they were tormented by unceasing thirst1 which was not in the least assuaged whether they drank little or much4 ,they could not sleep3 a restlessness which was intolerable never left them4 ,while the disease was at its height the body1 instead of wasting away1 held out amid these sufferings in a marvellous manner1 and either they died on the seventh or ninth day1 not of weakness1 for their strength was not exhausted1 but of internal fever1 which was the end of most2 or1 if they survived1 then the disease descended into the bowels and there produced violent ulceration2 severe diarrhoea at the same time set in1 and at a later stage caused exhaustion1 which finally with few exceptions carried them off4 ,for the disorder which had originally settled in the head passed gradually through the whole body1 and1 if a person got over the worst1 would often seize the extremities and leave its mark1 attacking the privy parts and the fingers and the toes2 and some escaped with the loss of these1 some with the loss of their eyes4 ,some again had no sooner recovered than they were seized with a forgetfulness of all things and knew neither themselves nor their friends4 ,the malady took a form beyond description1 and the fury with which it fastened upon each sufferer was too much for human nature to endure4 ,there was one circumstance in particular which distinguished it from ordinary diseases4 ,the birds and animals which feed on human flesh1 although so many bodies were lying unburied1 either never came near them1 or died if they touched them4 ,this was proved by a remarkable disappearance of the birds of prey1 who were not to be seen either about the bodies or anywhere else3 while in the case of the dogs the fact was even more obvious1 because they live with man4 ,such was the general nature of the disease3 ,i omit many strange peculiarities which characterized individual cases4 ,none of the ordinary sicknesses attacked any one while it lasted1 or if they did1 they ended in the plague4 ,some of the sufferers died from want of care1 others equally who were receiving the greatest attention4 ,no single remedy could be deemed a specific3 for that which did good to one did harm to another4 ,no constitution was of itself strong enough to resist or weak enough to escape the attacks3 the disease carried off all alike and defied every mode of treatment4 ,most appalling was the despondency which seized upon any one who felt himself sickening3 for he instantly abandoned his mind to despair and1 instead of holding out1 absolutely threw away his chance of life4 ,appalling too was the rapidity with which men caught the infection3 dying like sheep if they attended on one another3 and this was the principal cause of mortality4 ,when they were afraid to visit one another1 the sufferers died in their solitude1 so that many houses were empty because there had been no one left to take care of the sick2 or if they ventured they perished1 especially those who aspired to heroism4 ,for they went to see their friends without thought of themselves and were ashamed to leave them1 even at a time when the very relations of the dying were at last growing weary and ceased to make lamentations1 overwhelmed by the vastness of the calamity4 ,but whatever instances there may have been of such devotion1 more often the sick and the dying were tended by the pitying care of those who had recovered1 because they knew the course of the disease and were themselves free from apprehension4 ,for no one was ever attacked a second time1 or with a fatal result4 ,all men congratulated them1 and they themselves1 in the excess of their joy at the moment1 had an innocent fancy that they could not die of any other sickness4 ,the crowding of the people out of the country into the city aggravated the misery2 and the newly-arrived suffered most4 ,for1 having no houses of their own1 but inhabiting in the height of summer stifling huts1 the mortality among them was dreadful1 and they perished in wild disorder4 ,the dead lay as they had died1 one upon another1 while others hardly alive wallowed in the streets and crawled about every fountain craving for water4 ,the temples in which they lodged were full of the corpses of those who died in them3 for the violence of the calamity was such that men1 not knowing where to turn1 grew reckless of all law1 human and divine4 ,the customs which had hitherto been observed at funerals were universally violated1 and they buried their dead each one as best he could4 ,many1 having no proper appliances1 because the deaths in their household had been so frequent1 made no scruple of using the burial-place of others4 ,when one man had raised a funeral pile1 others would come1 and throwing on their dead first1 set fire to it2 or when some other corpse was already burning1 before they could be stopped would throw their own dead upon it and depart4 ,there were other and worse forms of lawlessness which the plague introduced at ,athens4 ,men who had hitherto concealed their indulgence in pleasure now grew bolder4 ,for seeing the sudden change--how the rich died in a moment1 and those who had nothing immediately inherited their property--they reflected that life and riches were alike transitory1 and they resolved to enjoy themselves while they could1 and to think only of pleasure4 ,who would be willing to sacrifice himself to the law of honour when he knew not whether he would ever live to be held in honour8 ,the pleasure of the moment and any sort of thing which conduced to it took the place both of honour and of expediency4 ,no fear of ,god or law of man deterred a criminal4 ,those1 who saw all perishing alike1 thought that the worship or neglect of the ,gods made no difference4 ,for offences against human law no punishment was to be feared3 no one would live long enough to be called to account4 ,already a far heavier sentence had been passed and was hanging over a man's head3 before that fell1 why should he not take a little pleasure8 ,such was the grievous calamity which now afflicted the ,athenians3 within the walls their people were dying1 and without1 their country was being ravaged4 ,in their troubles they naturally called to mind a verse which the elder men among them declared to have been current long ago3 ,a ,dorian war will come and a plague with it4 ,there was a dispute about the precise expression3 some saying that limos1 a famine1 and not loimos1 a plague1 was the original word4 ,nevertheless1 as might have been expected1 for men's memories reflected their sufferings1 the argument in favour of loimos prevailed at the time4 ,but if ever in future years another ,dorian war arises which happens to be accompanied by a famine1 they will probably repeat the verse in the other form4 ,the answer of the oracle to the ,lacedaemonians when the ,god was asked 8whether they should go to war or not01 and he replied 8that if they fought with all their might1 they would conquer1 and that he himself would take their part01 was not forgotten by those who had heard of it1 and they quite imagined that they were witnessing the fulfilment of his words4 ,the disease certainly did set in immediately after the invasion of the ,peloponnesians1 and did not spread to the ,peloponnesus in any degree worth speaking of1 while ,athens felt its ravages most severely1 and next to ,athens the places which were most populous4 ,such was the history of the plague4' ,a careful study1 line upon line and word by word1 of the description which ,thucydides has given of the clinical features of the ,athenian pestilence1 viewing it on the one hand in the light of the medical knowledge of the time1 and on the other in the light of the revelations of modern pathology1 can hardly fail to bring home to an unbiased judgement the conviction that we have to do with typhus fever4 ,it is true that it bears a close resemblance to ,oriental plague1 but whereas the objections to this diagnosis seem to us to be insuperable1 we shall hope to show that those which hitherto have appeared obstacles to the diagnosis of typhus fever1 are either artificial or based upon an incorrect interpretation of the text4 ,the confusion of typhus fever and ,oriental plague prevailed down to comparatively modern times even among medical writers2 not only is there a striking resemblance in the clinical picture of the two diseases1 but they have been constantly commingled in one and the same epidemic4 ,this is no matter for surprise1 when we remember that the flea is the chief agent in the propagation of one disease1 and the body-louse of the other4 ,there is scarcely a single writer of the sixteenth1 seventeenth1 or eighteenth centuries on the subject of fevers1 who has not commented on the concurrence of malignant fevers with epidemics of ,oriental plague4 ,it is true that they do not all identify the malignant fevers as typhus1 simply because typhus1 though distinguished as a morbid entity by ,fracastorius as early as #aedf1 did not become generally recognized throughout ,europe until the eighteenth century1 and even then its identity was obscured under a multiplicity of synonyms4 ,ambroise ,par1 in #aefh1 described a pestilential fever as prevailing in ,france along with true plague1 in which the skin was marked with spots1 like the bites of fleas or bugs4 ,vilalba says that on several occasions during the sixteenth century a spotted fever called ,tabardiglio1 which is now known to have been typhus1 was rife in ,spain at the same time as plague1 and was much confused with it4 ,according to ,lotz a malignant spotted fever was present in ,london in #afbd1 which turned to plague in #afbe1 and back again to spotted fever in #afbf4 ,similarly ,sydenham states that the ,great ,plague of ,london was preceded and followed by a pestilent fever1 which from his description was clearly typhus1 and he remarks that it differed from the plague only in the milder character of its symptoms4 ,according to ,diemerbroeck spotted fever 7typhus7 preceded plague in ,holland in #afcf1 and its malignity increased progressively1 until finally it became converted into true plague4 ,the same is true of the plague of ,marseilles in #agbj1 of the plague of ,aleppo in #agfj1 and of the plague of ,moscow in #agga4 ,hancock1 in #ahba1 asserted that nearly all the most remarkable plagues of the last two centuries had been preceded by typhus4 ,so much for the confusion of these two diseases1 due to their concurrence4 ,murchison1 whose treatise on typhus stands out as a monument of acute and accurate observation1 traces out in detail the resemblance of the two diseases4 ,it is no matter only of a general clinical resemblance1 such as is common to most acute infectious fevers1 though that is striking enough1 but beyond this there is a remarkable similarity in particular symptoms1 in clinical course1 and in complications4 ,there is a tendency to regard buboes as a distinctive feature of plague1 but these are found in a small moiety of cases of typhus fever4 ,on the other side of the picture1 the petechial eruptions of typhus1 its most distinctive feature1 are common enough in plague4 ,it is tempting to shirk the difficulty of a differential diagnosis by assuming that in ,athens1 as so often elsewhere1 there was a simultaneous outbreak of typhus and plague1 but the whole evidence points strongly to the presence of typhus1 and typhus only4 ,we will endeavour to present the evidence fairly and simply1 so that every reader may form his own conclusion1 by reference to the appended narrative of ,thucydides4 ,starting in ,ethiopia rumour had it that the disease spread northwards to ,egypt and ,libya1 and thence over the greater part of the ,persian ,empire1 which at that time included almost all of ,western ,asia1 then suddenly it swooped down upon ,athens4 ,the same disease was said to have previously attacked ,lemnos and many other places1 but with much less severity4 ,with ,lemnos ,thucydides will have had close acquaintance1 for it lay in the direct route to ,thrace1 where he owned property4 ,he is careful to say that he gives this information as well as that of its starting-point and lines of extension only on hearsay evidence4 ,if it were really part of one vast pandemic1 it is surprising that he should have no more certain knowledge of its incidence4 ,true1 pestilence was raging this self-same year in ,rome1 but it must not be assumed that it was necessarily of the same character as that at ,athens4 ,all through the fifth century ,rome was seldom without pestilence1 and ,livy and ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus record a succession of epidemics1 some of several years' duration1 following hard one upon another4 ,if the origin in ,ethiopia and the subsequent lines of advance are to be accepted1 this would certainly constitute a weighty argument in favour of ,oriental plague4 ,of late years an endemic focus of plague has been located in ,central ,africa1 and in its spread the disease was following established routes of commerce1 as has habitually been the case4 ,pandemicity too is an inherent tendency of plague4 ,typhus has followed for the most part the march of armies1 and in the wake of famine1 and has shown but little tendency to adhere to the beaten routes of commerce4 ,typhus has in some instances extended at one and the same time over a wide region1 but for the most part it has been over contiguous tracts of land4 ,thus ,hildebrand recorded an epidemic spreading to the whole of ,germany1 ,galicia1 ,hungary and the ,austrian crown-lands4 ,thucydides has laid it down that the plague of ,athens was an unknown disease4 ,now there is a good deal of evidence to suggest that bubonic plague was recognized1 in its sporadic form1 as a clinical entity at the time of ,thucydides4 ,the language of a passage in the #bnd ,book of the ,epidemics1 a treatise of the ,hippocratic school1 seems hardly susceptible of any other interpretation3 1 1 7#8fever supervening on buboes is a bad sign1 except they be ephemeral3 but buboes supervening on fever still worse'74 ,the allusions also to buboes in ,aristophanes are so numerous as almost to preclude any other conclusion3 and it cannot be argued that these were an aftermath of the epidemic1 for ,thucydides#dh implicitly asserts the complete disappearance of the disease4 ,the outbreak of the pestilence first in the ,piraeus suggests importation by sea4 ,sea-carriage is far more characteristic of plague than of typhus1 though typhus has been imported often enough from ,ireland into ,england1 and was also brought back to ,england by the troops from ,corunna1 and to ,france by the ,french troops from the ,crimea4 ,on the other hand1 it was in ,piraeus chiefly that the displaced peasantry were crowded together promiscuously in small stifling habitations1 affording just those conditions in which typhus has habitually arisen and become epidemic4 ,among those epidemic diseases1 that in past times have devastated beleaguered cities1 typhus unquestionably holds pride of place4 ,granada in #adhi1 ,metz in #aeeb1 ,montpellier in #afbc1 ,reading in #afdc1 ,genoa in #agii1 ,saragossa in #ahjh1 ,dantzig and ,wilna in #ahac1 and ,torgau in #ahad all tell the same tale4 ,with our lately acquired knowledge of the transmission of typhus fever by the agency of body-lice1 it is easy to understand the prevalence of the disease in epidemic virulence among a beleaguered and overcrowded garrison4 ,murchison1 whose knowledge and experience of typhus were unequalled1 unhesitatingly identified the plague of ,athens as typhus1 both because of this special circumstance of its occurrence and because of the clinical picture as a whole4 ,the passing remarks of ,thucydides on the causation of the pestilence show him not only superior to the superstitious credulity of some of his fellow countrymen1 but far in advance of the most enlightened medical opinion of his day4 ,there were still some in ,athens1 who put their faith in supplications in temples and inquiries of oracles3 but these measures were now weighed in the balance and found wanting4 ,the stern probation of the ,persian wars had taught the lesson1 that victory was the reward of the strong1 not the recompense of the devout2 and with this knowledge perished the whole fabric of ,greek polytheism4 ,so now most of the populace ascribed the pestilence to natural causation3 the ,lacedaemonians surely had poisoned the wells4 ,from this day onwards1 right down to modern times1 this phantom of poison dogs the footsteps of pestilence4 ,thucydides leaves no doubt whatever as to his own views3 he has done for good and all with supernatural causation1 though he confesses his inability to identify the precise cause1 leaving that for others to speculate about4 ,he states and accepts without reserve contagion from man to man4 ,in this his great contemporary1 ,hippocrates1 lags far behind him4 ,the mind of the ,father of ,medicine was still in bondage to the early ,greek physicists4 ,conceiving disease to be caused in man by bodily disturbance1 referable either to the character of the air inspired or of the food and drink ingested1 it was inevitable that1 in the causation of epidemic disease1 ,hippocrates should assign chief importance to changes in the atmosphere1 to which all alike would be equally exposed4 ,he does indeed recognize the possibility of its contamination with alien putrid effluvia1 but for all that it is the mere physical changes in its constitution1 which in his view are of paramount importance4 ,of contagion from man to man he had not the vaguest conception1 and to him1 as well as to ,galen1 and even to our own ,sydenham1 the sole criterion of epidemicity was the incidence of disease on a large number of persons at the same time4 ,to the student of the history of medicine it will be no matter for surprise that ,thucydides should have seen with undimmed vision1 what ,hippocrates saw as yet only through a glass darkly4 ,medicine in every age has been the bond-servant of plausible preconceptions1 and it is humiliating to professional self-complacency to scan the long array of lay writers from ,thucydides onwards1 who accepted contagion as a proven fact1 before the scales fell from the eyes of obscurantist ,science4 ,out of many we may enumerate ,aristotle1 ,lucretius1 ,diodorus ,siculus1 ,vergil1 ,ovid1 ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus1 ,livy1 ,seneca1 ,silius ,italicus1 the elder ,pliny1 and ,plutarch3 while not till ,aretaeus of ,cappadocia1 in the second century after ,christ1 do we meet clear and unequivocal acceptance in any medical author4 ,science1 untempered by letters1 is apt to induce a mental myopia1 and we men of medicine would do well to reflect on the story of ,archimedes1 who1 while drawing mathematical figures in the sand1 overlooked to the cost of his life the fact1 that the city had fallen into the hands of the enemy4 ,though ,thucydides was the first of extant writers to enunciate clearly the doctrine of contagion1 there is reason to think that ,oriental medicine had already grasped the idea4 ,the ,levitical ordinances seem to recognize it in the case of leprosy4 ,it is true that these had not reached their final recension till after the time of ,thucydides1 but at the same time they represent a body of much older tradition4 ,thucydides is careful to state that the season was not a sickly one1 for ,hippocrates himself attributed pestilence to heat and south winds distempering the atmosphere1 and following the example of ,acron and ,empedocles of ,agrigentum1 essayed to alter the constitution of the atmosphere1 in a season of pestilence1 by kindling large fires4 ,acron aimed only at reducing its humidity1 but ,hippocrates may have sought to destroy by fumigation putrid effluvia1 engendered by the heat in the air4 ,his example was scrupulously followed in the ,plague of ,london in #afff1 and in that of ,marseilles in #agbj4 ,a comparison of ,thucydides with ,diodorus ,siculus redounds but little to the credit of the latter4 ,diodorus submits three distinct agencies as producing the plague of ,athens by their concerted action4 ,first1 that so much rain had fallen in the preceding winter1 that the soil had become saturated and waterlogged3 following upon this an unusually hot summer led to the exhalation from the soil of putrid effluvia1 that contaminated the air4 ,in fact pestilence was a product of the marsh miasma4 ,empedocles of ,agrigentum was reputed to have delivered ,selinus from a pestilence1 in the fifth century ,b4,c41 by draining its marshes1 and an extant coin commemorates the event3 and ,hippocrates clearly recognized the association of periodic 7i4 e4 malarial7 fevers with marshes4 ,secondly1 he cites lack of good food as a contributory cause1 for the rain had also damaged the grain4 ,this was not an unreasonable proposition1 for the prevalence of the ergot fungus in rye grain after a wet season has given rise to many and widespread epidemics of ergotism4 ,thirdly1 the ,etesian winds did not blow1 so that the air became superheated1 inflaming men's bodies with all sorts of burning distempers4 ,it is enough for ,diodorus that ,hippocrates1 ,lucretius1 and others had postulated these causes of pestilence1 to secure for them acceptance in the sober record of his history4 ,thucydides declines even to discuss such vague hypotheses1 and chooses for himself the better part of describing the actual symptoms of the disease1 as he had experienced them in his own person1 and witnessed them in the sufferings of others1 so that any one familiar with them might be able to recognize the disorder at once1 in the event of its reappearance4 ,to ,thucydides then is due the credit not only of the first detailed description of an actual visitation of pestilence1 but of a description that breathes in every line the true spirit of history1 the recording of past events as a medium for the surer forecasting of the future--the spirit that animates him in all his historical writing to give #8a true picture of the events which have happened1 and of the like events which may be expected to happen hereafter in the order of human things'--the whole duty of the historian1 which not even ,herodotus had recognized to the full before him4 ,so anxious is he that his readers shall see things as he saw them1 and learn the same lessons from them as he has learnt1 that he is willing on occasion to manipulate his narrative1 as when he brings forward the great ,funeral ,speech of ,pericles into immediate juxtaposition to the narrative of the pestilence1 assuredly so as to heighten the dramatic effect4 ,so vivid and so forcible is his picture of the plague1 that it is difficult to believe that some ten years had elapsed before he set pen to paper1 and some thirty or more before the whole attained its present form4 ,it is no matter for surprise that ,lucretius1 ,procopius1 ,boccaccio1 and ,froissart should have paid the homage of conscious imitation to this virile narrative4 7,see ,appendix47#di ,thucydides was the first to draw a picture of the demoralization of society in the presence of pestilence--a theme that became a commonplace with later historians of plague4 ,the futility of the physicians1 the merciless march of the pestilence1 the sufferings of the sick1 the neglect of the dead1 the pollution of temples1 the sacrilegious funeral rites1 these scenes and the like throng the kaleidoscope of human misery4 ,the sacred ties of kinship yielded under the cruel emotion of fear4 ,lawlessness prevailed everywhere1 for men seeing the uncertainty of life and riches resolved to enjoy themselves1 while they could4 ,those who saw all perishing alike thought that worship or neglect of the gods made no difference4 ,it is difficult to determine what traces of the pestilence are to be found in contemporary ,greek art and architecture4 ,by some the statue of ,health ,athena1 set up by the ,athenians just outside the eastern portico of the ,propylaea1 is believed to have commemorated the passing of the plague of ,athens4 ,her cult was much older than this1 and perhaps derives from some primitive conception of an ,earth ,mother1 the great protectress of all her children1 as in ,christian hagiology the ,madonna of ,health shelters them from plague and pestilence4 ,pausanias#ej regards the romantic temple of ,apollo at ,bassae as a memorial of the deliverance of ,phigalia from an offset of this plague of #dcj ,b4,c4 ,he seems to infer this from the dedication of the temple to ,apollo1 under his surname the ,helper 774 ,on the other hand1 we know from ,thucydides#ea that the plague scarcely touched ,peloponnesus4 ,it is unlikely also that an ,athenian architect1 ,ictinus1 who as ,pausanias says built it1 would have worked for the ,peloponnesians during the war with ,athens4 ,the same doubt attaches to the attribution of the temple of ,apollo the ,helper at ,elis1 and that of ,pan the ,deliverer in ,troezen1 and the tradition appears in each case to be referable to the surname of the god1 coupled with the dates at which they were erected4 ,pausanias#eb says that a statue of ,apollo1 ,averter of ,evil 771 by ,calamis1 was erected in ,athens as a memorial of deliverance from the plague1 but this cannot be the case1 as ,calamis was dead before the plague commenced4 ,such dedications were1 however1 common enough4 ,when ,epimenides freed ,athens from pestilence he cleansed the city and set up a shrine to the ,eumenides1 and the people of ,tanagra#ec similarly showed their gratitude to ,hermes the ,ram-bearer 77 by entrusting to ,calamis the erection of a statue in his honour4 ,poussin painted a #8,plague of ,athens'1 a much cherished picture now in the gallery of ,sir ,frederick ,cook at ,richmond4 ,it is a dull wooden composition1 and compares most unfavourably with his #8,plague of ,ashdod'1 in spite of the close similarity of incident and episode that it depicts4 ,,footnotes3 #da ,works1 #bdc4 #db ,tr4 ,l4 ,campbell4 #dc ,life of ,pericles4 #dd ,tr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,frazer4 #de xii4 #eh4 #df ,history of ,greece4 #dg ,jowett's ,thucydides4 ,we have ventured to introduce one or two slight modifications into ,professor ,jowett's translation1 indicating them by italics4 ,in medicine it makes a world of difference1 whether a disease is the same or similar3 its course too1 is something quite distinct from its character4 #dh ii4 #dh end4 #di ,the discussion of clinical details has been relegated to an ,appendix1 as they are rather of medical than of literary or artistic interest4 ,they are1 nevertheless1 essential to a full appreciation of the merits of the description that ,thucydides gives of the pestilence4 #ej viii4 #da4 #g4 #ea ii4 #ed4 #eb i4 #c4 #c4 #ec ,pausanias1 ix4 #bb4 #a4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,unlike ,greece1 young ,rome was subject to repeated pestilence3 plagues punctuate the pages of her history4 ,we shall see how deep an imprint they left on the nascent religion1 literature1 and art of ,rome4 ,at first these plagues must needs have been endemic1 and bred no doubt in the extensive swamps that lay within the city and around it for many miles1 for ,rome was not then a commercial city4 ,her corn she derived from ,italy and ,sicily1 and held little or no intercourse with ,egypt1 until after the conquest of ,carthage4 ,yet1 in spite of the numerous records of her pestilences that have survived1 there is not one the nature of which can be identified before the true ,plague of ,gregory the ,great4 ,according to ,plutarch#ed there was pestilence in ,italy and ,rome in the eighth year of ,numa ,pompilius 7#gjg ,b4,c471 forty-six years after the foundation of the city3 the legend of it is full of interest4 ,during its course a brazen buckler fell from heaven into the hands of ,numa4 ,egeria and the ,muses told him its meaning4 ,it had been sent from heaven for the preservation of the city1 and to prevent its theft eleven more were to be made so exactly like it1 that no thief should be able to distinguish it from the rest4 ,the immediate cessation of the pestilence seemed to verify this interpretation4 ,one ,veturius ,mamurius successfully produced the eleven copies1 and ,numa gave charge of all the bucklers to the ,salii1 so-called from the dance they led up the streets1 when1 in the month of ,march1 they carried the sacred bucklers through the city4 #8,on that occasion'1 says ,plutarch1 #8they are habited in purple vests1 girt with broad belts of brass3 they wear also brazen helmets1 and carry short swords1 with which they strike upon the bucklers1 and to those sounds they keep time with their feet4 ,they move in an agreeable manner1 performing certain involutions and evolutions in a quick measure1 with vigour1 agility1 and ease4444 ,the reward that ,mamurius had for his art was1 we are told1 an ode1 which the ,salii sung in memory of him1 along with the ,pyrrhic dance4 ,some1 however1 say that it was not ,veturius ,mamurius1 who was celebrated in that composition1 but vetus memoria1 the ancient remembrance of the thing4' ,the legend affords unmistakable evidence of some expiatory ceremony1 first introduced for relief of a definite plague1 but subsequently1 in view of the constant recurrence1 performed twice a year4 ,plutarch omits one significant feature of the ,salic ritual1 the driving of a skin-clad man1 called ,mamurius ,veturius 7the old ,mars71 through the streets1 while the ,salii showered blows on him1 and drove him out of the city4 ,the examples in ancient folk-lore#ee of animal and human scapegoats1 for the exorcising of pestilence are so numerous1 that we may well seek the interpretation of this ,salic ceremony in the persistence of this conception4 ,the dancing1 singing1 and clashing of shields was perhaps intended to drive out the evil demon from the city as a preliminary to transferring it to the scapegoat ,mamurius4 ,at ,tanagra1 the youth who annually carried a ram on his shoulders round the walls of the city1 did so as a representative of the ,ram-bearing ,hermes1 who averted a plague in this same fashion4#ef ,plutarch discusses the meaning of these bucklers1 called ,ancilia1 so it was said1 from their curved form 774 ,he suggests as alternative derivations1 from on high3 or healing of sick3 or putting an end to drought3 or deliverance from calamities4 ,but whatever the etymological significance1 their ritual purpose would seem to have been to ward off the darts and arrows of pestilence1 and the ,salic ceremonial was dedicated to the honour of the sender4 ,god he was not1 for the religion of ,numa's ,rome knew no gods of human form3 these were a later importation from the anthropomorphic religion of ,greece4 ,he was some numen1 some power less personal than a god1 but more personal than a spirit4 ,it was he that engendered pestilence by his evil machinations4 ,the legend brings us back again close to the confines of imitative magic4 ,true1 it is not the agent of pestilence that is fashioned1 not the brazen serpent1 not the mice1 not the emerods1 but the agent of deliverance1 #8thy shield and buckler4' ,in later years the ,salii figure as colleges of priests1 dedicated first to the worship of ,mars1 and later of ,quirinus as well4 ,the transformation served to obscure their true origin1 which ,plutarch asserts and which there is every reason to accept4 ,mars was not originally a god of war1 but an agricultural god1 and1 like ,apollo1 a guardian of the crops4 ,coincidently with the transformation the ritual assumed a more martial character1 the ,salii performing the war-dance in full fighting panoply1 as the procession moved through the city twice a year1 in ,march and ,october4 ,the beginning and end of the season of pestilence had faded insensibly into the beginning and end of the campaigning season4 ,horace#eg recounts the aldermanic magnificence of their festive repast4 ,the hymn of the ,salii was written in archaic ,saturnian verse1 fragments of which have come down to us4 ,quintilian#eh says that1 by the first century ,b4,c4 the primitive language1 passed down with verbal exactitude from generation to generation1 had become unintelligible to those who ceremoniously recited it4 ,one fragment is instructive in its significance3 ,cum tonas1 ,leucsie1 prae tet tremonti1 ,quom tibei cunei dextumm tonrent4 7#8,when thou thunderest1 thou god of ,light1 they tremble at thy presence1 when the lightning shafts have thundered from thy right hand4'7 ,these lines recall the figure of ,apollo the ,far-,darter in the ,iliad1 and his invocation in the ,oedipus ,tyrannus4 ,pestilence was in ,rome again just before the death of ,tullus ,hostilius#ei in #fdj ,b4,c4 ,tullus himself fell ill1 and in his illness revived every superstitious usage1 though when in health he had affected to scorn religion4 ,the people also cherished the conviction that only by obtaining pardon of the gods would they be rid of the pestilence4 ,so ,tullus consulted the commentaries of ,numa1 and finding that certain sacrifices should have been paid to ,jupiter ,elicius 7elicere to elicit information71 he set about their performance4 ,but as he failed to conduct them in due form1 he not only failed of his purpose1 but so roused the anger of ,jupiter1 that he struck him with lightning and reduced him and his whole household to ashes4 ,livy's story of ,tullus illustrates well the relation of a ,roman to his god3 it was a practical1 not a spiritual relation1 a bargain1 not an act of grace4 ,if the ,roman paid all his dues of worship to the god he had a claim to repayment in full4 ,again and again1 under the stress of pestilence1 failure of the god to honour his bond drove the ,roman to try his luck with alien gods4 ,this is the spirit in which ,tarquinius ,superbus1#fj during another plague1 in #ead ,b4,c41 sent his sons to ,greek ,delphi to inquire of the god how to be rid of it4 ,pestilence1 in this manner1 was destined to forge many a link in the chain that bound ,rome to ,greece4 ,in the fifth century ,b4,c41 ,livy and ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus record a constant succession of plagues in ,rome4 ,eight visitations1 at least1 are mentioned1 and as some of these lingered over several years1 ,rome1 in the fifth century1 can seldom have been free from pestilence4 ,and yet all this time she was not only growing1 but actually sending out colonies4 ,of a plague in #dgc ,b4,c4 we have an interesting recital by ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus4#fa #8,in the beginning of the year'1 he writes1 #8many prodigies and omens happened1 which filled the city with superstition and fear of the gods3 and all the augurs and the interpreters of holy things declared that these were signs of divine anger1 because some rites had not been performed with sanctity and purity4 ,not long after1 a distemper1 supposed to be pestilential1 attacked the women1 particularly such as were with child1 and more of them died than had ever been known before4 ,for as they miscarried and brought forth dead children1 they died together with their infants4 ,and neither supplications at the statues and altars of the gods1 nor expiatory sacrifices performed on behalf of the public and of private families gave the women any relief4' ,thereupon a slave came forward and denounced ,urbinia1 one of the ,vestal ,virgins1 who tended the perpetual fire1 for impurity4 ,the pontiffs at once removed her from her ministry1 brought her to trial1 convicted her1 and condemned her #8to be whipped with rods1 to be carried through the city1 and buried alive'4 ,one of her guilty lovers killed himself3 the other was ordered to be publicly whipped like a slave1 and then put to death4 ,after this1 #8the distemper1 which had attacked the women and caused so great a mortality among them1 presently ceased4' ,again1 the pestilence is attributed to the imperfect performance of some detail of ritual1 which must be expiated forthwith1 if the sender of the pestilence is to be appeased4 ,its special incidence on women seemed to bring home the guilt to them4 ,it was meet therefore that a woman's life should be its expiation4 ,such is the earliest detailed record of human sacrifice for deliverance from plague1 but we shall meet it again and again in the history of epidemic pestilence4 ,surely the tiger in man is but lightly prisoned in his human cage4 ,human sacrifice was probably world-wide in the earliest ages of nations4 ,the ,phoenicians#fb resorted to it in times of national calamity1 such as epidemic pestilence4 ,there is abundant evidence from the ,bible#fc and elsewhere1 that human sacrifice was habitual in primitive ,semitic religion4 ,the ,israelites were apt to assert that they learnt these practices from the peoples whom they superseded in the land of ,canaan1 but it must be remembered that they came of the same stock as these races4 ,pausanias#fd refers to the legend of ,leos1 who is said to have sacrificed his daughters1 at the bidding of the oracle1 to save ,athens from a famine2 and in speaking of the ruined city of ,potniae#fe he says that the oracle of ,delphi told them that they would get rid of a pestilence only by the sacrifice of a blooming boy to ,dionysus1 who had sent it for the murder of his priest4 ,at the ,athenian feast of ,thargelia in ,may1 a man and a woman were led through the city and stoned to death outside its walls1 a man for the men1 and a woman for the women3 and a similar practice maintained in the ,saturnalia at ,rome4 ,but with the advance of civilization animal substitutes came to replace the human victims4 ,philostratus#ff cites another notable instance of human sacrifice for deliverance from pestilence4 ,the ,ephesians had summoned ,apollonius 7first century ,a4,d47 to come and check the plague4 ,on his arrival he at once set himself to encourage the citizens1 and gathered them together to the theatre #8where now stands the statue of ,averruncus4 ,here they found an ill-looking old beggar1 whom ,apollonius ordered them to stone to death1 as being the enemy of the gods4 ,as soon as they set to stoning him1 fire darted from the old beggar's eyes1 so that they knew him for a demon4 ,after they had killed him1 ,apollonius ordered them to remove the stones from the corpse1 and they found instead of a human body a fierce dog vomiting foam1 as if mad4444 ,the form this dog assumed was like that given to the statue of ,averruncus4' ,the blood-lust of panic terror1 which found its gratification in the slaying of ,urbinia1 is the lineal descendant of the cold-blooded ritual of human sacrifice3 no human passion is so cruel as fear4 ,but we shall fail to find even this palliation for the torture and killing of the #8unctores'1 both in ,genoa and ,milan1 and for the wholesale massacre of ,jews at the time of the ,black ,death1 carried through by legal process far more deliberate1 far more lengthy1 far less impassioned than any rite of human sacrifice4 ,in the pestilence of #dfa ,b4,c4 the mortality was so great that it became necessary to throw the dead bodies into the ,tiber4 ,livy#fg says that a cattle epizootic preceded the epidemic1 and that the necessity of admitting the cattle within the walls1 owing to the invasion of ,roman territory by the ,aequans and ,volscians1 increased the malignity of the distemper4 ,in this crisis of calamities1 the ,senate ordered the people to supplicate the protection of the gods4 ,these #8supplications' took the form of expiatory processions1 and seem to have been introduced from ,greece to ,rome4 ,like the ,salic processions they moved to the sound of music and singing1 as they visited the sanctuaries of the gods1 prostrating themselves before their statues1 clasping their knees and kissing their hands and feet4 ,livy#fh holds that the guardian gods and the city's good fortune saved ,rome at this juncture1 as fear of the pestilence induced the enemy to divert their attack to the richer and healthy ,tusculan territory4 ,just before this outbreak ,livy#fi says that the sky seemed to be lit up by an exceeding bright light4 ,it is not clear what celestial phenomenon he has in mind1 but it is noteworthy as perhaps anticipating the fixed belief of later days in comets1 as harbingers of pestilence4 ,the belief in astral influence over terrestrial phenomena and on the affairs of humanity was general and dates from prehistoric times4 ,hippocrates held that every physician should be versed in astrology4 ,the dependence of season on the heavenly bodies1 and the seasonal prevalence of epidemic disease were facts patent to every one1 so that it was seemingly reasonable for the ancients to assert the influence of the heavenly bodies on disease1 though when pushed to excessive lengths it became absurd4 ,when pestilence was seldom absent1 it must needs at times coincide with certain conjunctions of planets4 ,how deeply the belief took root in medicine is shown by the words of the preface of the ,german ,herbarius1#gj first published in ,a4,d4 #adhe4 #8,many a time and oft have ,i contemplated inwardly the wondrous works of the ,creator of the universe3 how in the beginning ,he formed the heavens and adorned them with goodly1 shining stars1 to which ,he gave power and might to influence everything under heaven4 ,also how ,he formed afterwards the four elements3 fire1 hot and dry--air1 hot and moist--water1 cold and moist--earth1 dry and cold--and gave to each a nature of its own3 and how after this the same ,great ,master of ,nature made and formed herbs of many sorts and animals of all kinds1 and last of all ,man1 the noblest of all created things4 ,thereupon ,i thought on the wondrous order1 which the ,creator gave these same creatures of ,his1 so that everything1 which has its being under heaven1 receives it from the stars1 and keeps it by their help4' ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus#ga records another fearful pestilence in #dea ,b4,c41 which carried off all the slaves and half the citizens of ,rome4 ,the pollution of the ,tiber by the dead bodies seemed to intensify its ravages4 ,men and cattle perished alike1 in and around ,rome1 and famine followed1 because the land was left untilled4 ,as long as the people had any hopes in the assistance of their own gods1 they approached them with sacrifices and all manner of expiation4 ,but when these proved of no avail1 they set themselves to introduce foreign innovations into the established religion of ,rome4 ,we shall see in the succeeding visitation1 in what direction the disillusioned ,romans first cast their eyes4 ,from #dce-dcj ,b4,c4 pestilence1#gb following on a drought and cattle epizootic1 raged in ,rome and the surrounding country beyond the power of human endurance4 ,frequent earthquakes preceded a great access of virulence in #dca ,b4,c43 the very powers of nature seemed to have declared war on ,rome4 ,the people offered a general supplication to the gods1 repeating the formulas word for word after the duumvirs1 so that no mistake of word or syllable might invalidate the office3 but in vain4 ,so the worship of ,apollo was brought from ,greece to ,rome1 and a temple erected in his honour in #dca ,b4,c4 ,apollo cannot have been a wholly unfamiliar god1 for the ,sibylline books must at least have introduced his name to ,rome4 ,but from this time he becomes naturalized as a leading ,roman god4 ,from his temple1 in times of pestilence1 expiatory processions paraded the streets of the city2 and as plague succeeds plague1 he supplants step by step the older native gods4 ,in #cie ,b4,c4 pestilence#gc worked such havoc1 that the ,senate ordered the ,sibylline books to be consulted4 ,this collection of oracular utterances in ,greek1 given forth by inspired prophetesses or ,sibyls 7 ,doric will of the god71 had found its way from the ,troad to ,cumae4 ,thence ,tarquinius ,superbus transferred part to ,rome1 and laid it up in sacred custody1 to be used by order of the ,senate1 in times of national emergency4 ,as these books recognized the gods and ritual of the ,asiatic ,greeks1 they played a leading part in the introduction of ,greek gods and ,greek ritual into the religion of ,rome4 ,on this occasion the ,sibylline books prescribed the celebration of a lectisternium4 ,the lectisternium1 which now first appeared in ,rome1 was a festival of ,greek origin4 ,a public banquet of great magnificence was set before the deities1 whose images were placed on couches4 ,the exhibition of three pairs of alien gods1 ,apollo and ,latona1 ,diana and ,hercules1 ,mercury and ,neptune1 betrayed its foreign origin4 ,the imaginative populace saw them accept the food or turn away from it in anger4 ,meantime domestic feasts were spread throughout the city1 to which strangers and friends alike1 and even liberated prisoners1 came each to have his share4 ,doors lay open everywhere1 offering a home to every casual comer4 ,all things were had in common4 ,no sound of discord marred the perfect peace4 ,the people were admitted to solemn communion with the gods1 as the ,greek warriors before ,troy shared with their gods in the eucharistic feast1 in token that the plague was stayed4 ,coincidently with this epidemic at ,rome1 ,diodorus ,siculus#gd describes with some clinical detail a pestilence that attacked the ,carthaginian army1 while besieging ,syracuse4 ,the ,lacedaemonians were assisting ,dionysius and the ,syracusans against the ,carthaginians4 ,the record is of interest as exhibiting ,diodorus in the rle of a flagrant plagiarist of ,thucydides4 #8,but as to the ,carthaginians1 after they had ruined the suburbs and rifled and plundered the temples of ,ceres and ,proserpine1 a plague seized upon the army1 and to intensify and sharpen the vengeance of the gods upon them1 both the season of the year and the multitudes of men crowded together contributed greatly to the aggravation of their misery3 for the summer was hotter than ordinarily1 and the locality itself occasioned the distemper to rage beyond all control4 ,not long before the ,athenians were swept away in the self-same place by a plague1 for it was marshy and low-lying ground4 ,at the commencement of the distemper1 before the sun rose1 their bodies would fall a-shaking and trembling1 through the coldness of the air that came off the water3 but about noon they were stifled with the heat1 because they were pent up so closely together4 ,the south wind brought in the infection among them1 and swept them away in heaps1 but for a while they buried their dead4 ,but when the number of the dead increased to such an extent that even those in attendance on the sick were cut off1 none durst approach the infected1 for the distemper seemed to be incurable4 ,for first catarrhs and swellings about the neck 7 7 were caused by the stench of the bodies that lay unburied1 and by the putrefaction of the soil4 ,then followed fever1 pain in the muscles of the spine1 heaviness of the limbs1 dysentery and pustules 77 over the surface of the whole body4 ,the majority suffered in this manner1 but others became raving mad and forgot everything1 and rushing about distracted struck every one that they met4 ,all the help of the physicians was in vain1 both by reason of the violence of the distemper and the suddenness with which it carried many off3 for in the midst of terrible suffering they commonly died on the fifth or at latest the sixth day3 so that those who died in battle were accounted fortunate by all4 ,and it was further a matter of observation1 that all who attended on the sick died of the same distemper1 and what aggravated the misery was that none would willingly come near the distressed and exhausted1 to minister to them4 ,for not only strangers1 but even brothers and familiar friends were driven by fear of infection to forsake one another4' ,diodorus seems to have drawn on the clinical symptoms of several different diseases1 to heighten the effect of his description4 ,the combination of pustules on the body with swellings about the neck suggests true plague1 but there the likeness ends4 ,there are other descriptions of pestilence in ,diodorus ,siculus1 that exhibit this same eclectic tendency4 ,in #cfc ,b4,c41 after one or two intervening milder outbreaks1 another period of pestilence#ge set in in ,rome4 ,plutarch says that it carried off a prodigious number of the people1 most of the magistrates and ,camillus himself4 ,when all else failed to appease the gods1 scenic plays were imported from ,etruria4 ,hitherto the ,roman people had had only the games of the circus4 ,livy describes their introduction to ,rome in minute detail1 tracing the development of regular stage plays from these rude scenic shows4 #8,actors'1 he says1 #8were sent for from ,etruria1 who without any song or imitative gestures regulated their movements by the measures of the music1 and exhibited in ,tuscan fashion by no means ungraceful dances4' ,to the ancients the movements of the body spoke a language as familiar as the movements of the tongue4 #8,it seemed to me'1 he continues1 #8that the first origin of plays should be noticed1 that it might appear how from a modest beginning they have reached their present extravagance4 ,however1 the first introduction of plays1 intended as a religious expiation1 neither relieved their minds from religious awe1 nor their bodies from disease4' ,indeed the ,tiber inundated the circus and interrupted a performance1 as though the gods despised their efforts at atonement4 ,so popular amusement had come at last to supplant popular atonement1 giving birth in the process to dramatic entertainment4 ,in this respect we shall find history repeat itself with striking similarity in the plague times of the ,middle ,ages4 ,such was the origin and the evolution of the scenic plays 7ludi scenici71 introduced in the first place to divert the mind and distract the spirit from the crushing catastrophe of pestilence4 ,the visitation was followed by an earthquake1 which is said to have opened a gaping abyss in the ,forum1 into which ,manlius ,curtius hurled himself in full armour--a willing human scapegoat sacrificed to the angry gods4 ,when these various measures failed to allay the pestilence1 an old custom of driving a nail into the temple of ,jupiter was solemnly revived4 ,this practice in its inception purposed to make a calendar of years4 ,but once when a dictator had driven in the nail1 forthwith a pestilence had ceased4 ,so now it was urged that1 if a dictator and no common magistrate drove in the nail1 the pestilence would cease4 ,so says ,livy1 but there is abundant evidence1 both from ancient literature and from modern folk-lore1 that he has missed the real significance of the act4 ,we find traces of a world-wide belief in the possibility of transferring the evils of the body1 as well as the evils of the soul1 to some other being or animal1 or thing4 ,the scapegoat is familiar to all1 and we know from ,leviticus1#gf that at the cleansing of a leper the ,jews let a bird fly away4 ,pliny#gg too tells us1 that a ,roman cure for epilepsy was to drive a nail into the ground1 where the epileptic's head had struck it on falling3 a similar cure for toothache was practised in ,france and ,germany1 and for ague in ,suffolk4#gh ,in each instance the idea was to nail fast the evil thing1 and so hinder it from returning to trouble its former host4 ,a story given by ,l4 ,strackerjan1#gi and quoted by ,frazer1 comes even more closely to the point4 ,during the ,thirty ,years' ,war pestilence came from ,neuenkirchen1 in ,oldenburg1 to a neighbouring farmhouse in the semblance of a blue vapour1 and entering the house found its way into a hole in the door-post4 ,the farmer seized a peg and hammered it into the hole1 so that it should not come out4 ,after a time he drew out the peg1 believing the danger was past1 but out came the blue vapour once more4 ,every member of the unhappy household fell a victim to the pestilence4 ,in #cdh ,b4,c4 pestilence#hj was again rife1 and a lectisternium was observed at the instance of the ,sibylline books4 ,in #cca ,b4,c4 ,rome was again in the grip of a devastating pestilence4#ha ,numbers of the ,senate had already perished1 when a female slave came to the aediles and declared that the victims had died of poison4 ,she would show them matrons actually engaged in compounding poisons1 and a store laid up in readiness for use4 ,sure enough1 drugs were found in the possession of two women of patrician rank1 ,cornelia and ,sergia1 and in spite of their protest that these were harmless1 they were compelled to swallow them1 and fell victims to their own nefarious devices4 ,one hundred and seventy matrons were implicated in their guilt1 and paid the penalty with their lives4 ,rome offered a human holocaust to the spirit of panic fear4 ,the grim suspicion of poison was not now formulated for the first time1 for the ,athenians had suspected the ,lacedaemonians of poisoning their wells4 ,but now the charge appears as a deadly and insidious weapon1 ready to the hand of every infamous or ill-disposed informer4 ,the hideous catalogue of cruelties inflicted on innocent victims1 under the spell of this illusion1 forms a dark chapter in the history of epidemic pestilence4 ,in the face of another pestilence#hb in #cab ,b4,c41 a dictator was again appointed to drive a nail into the temple of ,jupiter4 ,we have seen the succession of ,rome's epidemics almost unbroken throughout the fourth and fifth centuries4 ,we are accustomed to think of ,roman character as trained in the school of interminable warfare1 but we are apt to forget that there was another1 a sterner and more desolating enemy1 almost always alert within her gates1 #8the pestilence that walketh in darkness4' ,in the perpetual struggle for existence on the stricken fields of battle and of pestilence1 young ,rome had found1 as yet1 no leisure for the loftier pursuits of the human intellect1 and had developed no literature and no art of her own1 worthy of either name4 ,as ,greek and ,roman were alike children of one common stock1 some strong abiding influences must have been at work1 leading development along widely divergent paths3 and perhaps in epidemic pestilence1 with which ,greece was but little familiar till the end of the fifth century at least1 we may look for one such agency4 ,in #bie ,b4,c41 during a fierce pestilence1 ,livy#hc says that the consul's son built a temple to ,venus1 close to the circus out of fines inflicted on some matrons convicted of adultery1 as though their sin was believed to be its cause4 ,in the ,middle ,ages likewise we shall find many churches built in commemoration of particular plagues4 ,only two years later a violent pestilence#hd drove the magistrates to consult the ,sibylline books1 and in obedience to their instruction ambassadors were sent from ,rome to ,epidaurus to demand the serpent of ,aesculapius1 in which the god seemed to be incarnate4 ,at first nothing was done beyond devoting one day to the supplication of ,aesculapius4 ,but in the following year ambassadors set out under the leadership of ,quintus ,ogulnius#he and on arrival at ,epidaurus were taken to the temple of ,aesculapius1 and invited to carry away whatever was needed to rescue their city from pestilence4 ,thereupon the serpent1 which rarely appeared to the ,epidaurians1 presented itself for three days in the most public parts of the city1 and then of its own accord made its way to the ,roman galley1 in which it was transported to ,antium1 after the ambassadors had been instructed how to pay honour to the god4 ,after a brief sojourn there it re-entered the ,roman galley1 and scarce had they reached the ,tiber1 when it swam to the island in mid-stream1 where a temple was dedicated afterwards to ,aesculapius4 ,a coin of ,commodus#hf and a medallion of ,antoninus 7see ,plate ,i1 p4 #d7 survive to commemorate the event4 ,to this day there may be seen on some large blocks of stone1 moulded to the shape of the poop of a ship1 on the ,isola ,tiberina1 the head of an effigy of ,aesculapius in relief1 with the serpent twined round his staff4 ,so it was pestilence that brought ,aesculapius to ,rome1 as it had brought ,apollo before him4 ,in this temple in the ,tiber the healing ritual of the god flourished for some centuries1 and in recent excavations many votive emblems of diseased parts of the body have been brought to light4 ,with few intervals1 and those of no long duration1 the island has been dedicated to works of healing down to the present day4 ,claudius ordained that sick slaves should be exposed on the island1 and those that recovered were to receive their freedom4 ,the hospital of ,s4 ,giovanni ,calabita1 founded in #aege1 stands there still4 ,in #afef the whole island was converted into a lazaretto for the victims of the plague4 ,it was the constant custom of the priests of ,epidaurus1 in founding a new shrine to send out one of the sacred snakes from the sanctuary4 ,pausanias#hg describes the coming of ,aesculapius from ,epidaurus to ,sicyon1 in the form of a snake1 in a car drawn by a pair of mules4 ,before his transference to ,rome1 ,aesculapius had already attained all the attributes of divinity4 ,he had ceased to be a mere god-man by the time that his worship reached ,athens from ,epidaurus 7#dbj ,b4,c474 ,so far was his serpent origin forgotten1 that the ,greeks explained his association with the serpent by the suggestion that medicine1 like the serpent1 reappeared annually in a fresh integument4 ,in computing the number of epidemics that visited ,rome ,livy is the chief authority1 and in doing so it must be borne in mind that his work is incomplete4 ,epitomes only survive of the books dealing with the years from #bic to #bai ,b4,c41 and of those again from #afg ,b4,c4 to the end of his history in the middle of the reign of ,augustus4 ,that there was no cessation of the frequent recurrence of pestilence may reasonably be inferred from the regularity of appearance in those intervening years1 of which his complete histories survive4 ,in #bab ,b4,c4 ,livy#hh describes simultaneous pestilence at ,syracuse and at ,rome4 ,the ,roman general1 ,marcellus1 was besieging ,syracuse1 when pestilence fell both on besiegers and besieged4 ,the ,carthaginian and ,sicilian armies1 however1 suffered more than the ,romans1 who retired within the walls to recruit their health4 ,the ,sicilians also shook it off by dispersing to their cities1 but it continued to rage among the ,carthaginians1 who had no place to which to retire4 ,livy's description of the neglect of the dead recalls that of ,thucydides1 but the similarity of expression is not so close as to make it certain that he has borrowed directly from ,thucydides4 ,he writes3 #8,at last their feelings had become so completely brutalized by being habituated to these miseries1 that they not only did not follow their dead with tears and decent lamentations1 but they did not even carry them out and bury them3 so that the bodies of the dead lay strewn about1 exposed to the view of those who were awaiting a similar fate4 ,and thus the dead were the means of destroying the sick1 and the sick those who were in health1 both by fear and by the filthy state and the noisome stench of their bodies4 ,some1 preferring to die by the sword1 even rushed upon the outposts of the enemy4' ,livy might well have been describing the scenes in the streets of ,marseilles during the plague of ,a4,d4 #agbj4 ,silius ,italicus#hi has described this pestilence1 as well as ,livy1 but his is a mere poetic picture of its fancied incidence first on dogs1 next on birds1 then on wild beasts1 and finally on man4 ,the ,ludi ,apollinares also were instituted in #bab ,b4,c41 but ,livy states that they were instituted in commemoration of the victory in arms1 and not because of the restoration of a state of healthiness1 as is commonly supposed4 ,in the circumstances the one proposition need hardly exclude the other4 ,for three full years1 from #ahc to #ahj ,b4,c41 pestilence#ij raged in ,rome1 carrying off both high and low4 ,the people saw in it a sign of celestial anger1 and the ,pontifex ,maximus ordered that the ,sibylline books should be consulted4 ,gilded statues and offerings were duly vowed to the healing deities1 ,apollo1 ,aesculapius1 and ,hygieia1 who for long years in the person of ,athena had stood as protectress of the health of ,athens4 ,pestilence had now brought her to ,rome4 ,a supplication was celebrated in town and surrounding country by all above the age of twelve1 the suppliants wearing chaplets on their heads and carrying in their hands boughs of the laurel1 sacred to ,apollo4 ,suspicions of poison were freely bruited in the city1 and ,valerius of ,antium says that an investigation actually resulted in the condemnation of two thousand persons1 and among them ,quarta ,hostilia1 wife of the consul who had died of the pestilence4 ,so splendid an atonement must needs appease the angered gods4 ,in #agf-age ,b4,c4 pestilence was again severe in ,rome4 ,livy's#ia account of it is interesting1 because he states that1 in spite of the great mortality among cattle and men1 there were no vultures to be seen in either year of the pestilence4 ,taking the observation in its context it reads as though the vultures were the first to suffer1 so that they were exterminated locally1 then the cattle1 and afterwards man1 and with him probably his dog4 ,thucydides had already drawn attention to the absence of vultures during the plague of ,athens1 and with the passage of years the observation crystallized into an article of faith pertinent to all and every pestilence4 ,in the case of the plague of ,aleppo ,russell definitely negatives the observation4 ,with the conclusion of ,livy's history we enter on a barren period in the history of ,roman pestilence1 and we may turn for a while to some aspects of pestilence presented by ancient ,latin poetry4 ,,footnotes3 #ed ,life of ,numa4 #ee ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough4 #ef ,pausanias1 ix4 #bb4 #a4 #eg ,odes1 ,i4 #cg4 #eh ,i4 vi4 #dj4 #ei ,livy1 i4 #ca4 #fj ,livy1 i4 #ef1 and ,dion4 ,halic4 ,antiq4 ,rom4 iv4 #fh4 #fa ,antiq4 ,rom4 ix4 #dj4 #fb ,porphyry1 ,de ,abstinentia1 ii4 #ef4 #fc ,deuteronomy xii4 #ca2 ,leviticus xviii4 #ba2 #b ,kings ii4 #e-ag4 #fd ,i4 v4 #b4 #fe ,,ix4 viii4 #b4 #ff ,vita ,apollonii1 iv4 #aj4 #fg iii4 #f4 #fh iii4 #h4 #fi iii4 #e4 #gj ,agnes ,arber1 ,herbals1 #aiab4 #ga ,antiq4 ,rom4 x4 #ec2 and ,livy1 iv4 #cb4 #gb ,livy1 iv4 #ba-e4 #gc ,livy1 v4 #ac4 #gd xiv4 #gj4 #ge ,livy1 vii4 #b4 #gf ,leviticus xiv4 #g1 and #ec4 #gg ,nat4 ,hist4 xxviii4 #fc4 #gh ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough1 and ,e4 ,c4 ,gurdon1 ,county ,folk-lore1 ,suffolk1 p4 #ad4 #gi ,aberglaube und ,sagen aus dem ,herzogthum ,oldenburg1 ii4 #abj1 #dbh4 #hj ,livy1 vii4 #bg4 #ha ,livy1 viii4 #ah4 #hb ,livy1 ix4 #bh4 #hc x4 #ca4 #hd ,livy1 ,x4 #dg1 and ,epit4 ,lib4 xi4 #he ,valerius ,maximus1 i4 #h4 #hf ,see ,duruy1 ,history of ,rome1 i4 #eee4 #hg ii4 #aj4 #c4 #hh xxv4 #bf-h4 #hi ,punic ,war1 v4 #ehj-fbf4 #ij ,livy1 xxxix4 #da2 xl4 #ai2 xl4 #cg4 #ia xli4 #ba4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,into his great poem #8,on the ,nature of ,things' 7,de ,rerum ,natura7 ,lucretius has grafted a description of the plague of ,athens1 converting the record of ,thucydides into ,latin hexameter verse4 ,his prime motive in its introduction is to show that the chief phenomena of nature1 and pestilence as one of these1 all harmonize with the atomic theory1 that he has adopted from ,democritus and ,epicurus4 ,lucretius indeed propounds an atomic explanation of pestilence1 consonant in its main features with the doctrines of his contemporary ,asclepiades4 ,we can reason of the imperceptible1 he argues1 only from our knowledge of the perceptible4 ,our eyes see clouds descend from the sky1 and noxious vapours rise as mists from the land4 ,our minds then may not unreasonably infer1 that pestilence also either comes down from heaven by the medium of clouds1 or rises up from the rain-sodden earth by the medium of mist4 ,in each manner the atmosphere becomes impregnated with noxious atoms that distemper it4 ,these particles enter our bodies1 either by the air we breathe1 or by the food and drink they have contaminated1 and thus provoke infection4 ,such1 he holds1 was the cause of the plague of ,athens4 ,the views of ,lucretius as to the proximate causes of pestilence are almost identical with those of his contemporary1 ,diodorus ,siculus4 ,with each of them moisture1 as cloud or mist1 distempers the air or damages food1 and so finds entry into lungs or stomach4 ,with each an ill wind may engender pestilence3 with ,lucretius1 by bringing a harmful to replace a beneficent atmosphere3 with ,diodorus ,siculus1 by failing to cool the air to an appropriate temperature1 thus causing fever4 ,to ,lucretius clouds1 mists1 and winds are carriers of noxious particles4 ,in this atomic theory of infection he faintly foreshadows the doctrine of particulate poisons1 that held the field of scientific speculation within the memory of living men4 ,but even so ,lucretius came less near the truth than his great contemporary ,varro1#ib who actually ascribes disease in animals to living organisms beyond the range of human vision 7#8crescunt animalia quaedam minuta1 quae non possunt oculi consequi1 et per aera1 intus per os ac nares perveniunt atque efficiunt difficiles morbos'74 ,to ,lucretius pestilence is a purely natural process1 in which there is no place for the handiwork of gods4 ,of this theme1 in varying applications1 he is a fierce exponent throughout the length and breadth of his poem4 ,perhaps it is for this reason that he chose the narrative of ,thucydides as the basis of his poem1 for ,thucydides1 too1 referred epidemic pestilence to natural causation1 not to the special act of any god4 ,like ,thucydides1 too1 ,lucretius accepts without reserve the doctrine of contagion3 ,qui fuerant autem praesto contagibus ibant ,atque labore4 7,those who had stayed near at hand would die of contagion and the toil47 ,pestilence1 too1 affords ,lucretius a rare text for the exposure of the hollow sham of state-worship1 which represented now all that survived of religion in ,rome4 ,we have seen how much of ,roman religion had its origin from time to time in the necessity of exorcising pestilence3 and we have seen how popular superstition revivified the ritual of popular atonement4 ,now the ,sibylline books are consulted4 ,now a nail is driven into the temple of ,jupiter4 ,now ,apollo is brought to ,rome1 and a temple erected in his honour4 ,now ,aesculapius comes in the form of a serpent to deliver ,rome3 now ,hygieia4 ,now sacrifices are offered and feasts set out before the statues of the gods4 ,this is the fabric that ,lucretius1 fired with iconoclastic zeal1 would fain demolish1 not as the enemy of religion1 but as the ruthless enemy of religious sham4 ,in literary form this part of the great ,lucretian poem falls far below the rest4 ,the poem as a whole possesses a rugged grandeur of its own1 but this terminal portion1 while retaining all the ruggedness1 has lost most of the grandeur4 ,it gives the impression of having been merely rough cast1 to await the polishing1 which1 owing to the premature death of the poet in #ee ,b4,c41 it never received4 ,fault also may be found with the literary substance1 for in places he misunderstands the language of ,thucydides1 and misrepresents his meaning4 ,again1 he incorporates here and there fragments of ,hippocrates and fancies of his own into the record of ,thucydides1 as though all disease presented a single clinical facies4 ,for example1 he reproduces as cor the of ,thucydides1 which the latter used1 as did ,hippocrates1 for the cardiac end of the stomach4 ,again1 he misinterprets ,thucydides with regard to the effect of the disease on the extremities4 ,he represents as ferro privati1 whereas clearly ,thucydides means that the parts sloughed off1 not that they were amputated4 ,it would seem that ,lucretius was versed in the ,greek language of his day1 but that language was no longer the ,greek of ,thucydides and ,plato4 ,nor does ,lucretius scorn the full licence that ,horace accords to the poet1 and exigencies of metre sometimes compel him not to adhere strictly to his model3 thus he transforms the critical days into the eighth and ninth4 ,one long passage beginning ,multaque praeterea mortis tum signa dabantur consists of various excerpts from ,hippocrates turned into ,latin verse4 ,these are gathered from such diverse parts of the ,hippocratic writings1 as to indicate considerable acquaintance with them4 ,the lineaments of the ,hippocratic facies are reproduced in detail4 ,the fact is that ,lucretius was more anxious for the picturesqueness than for the accuracy of his description1 provided always that the logical soundness of the main thesis and its didactic purpose were not compromised thereby4 ,in his picture of the mythical plague that afflicted the people of ,aegina1 ,ovid#ic exacts contributions alike from ,thucydides1 ,lucretius1 and ,vergil1 while there are certain features that bear a strong resemblance to ,diodorus ,siculus4 ,his story is that ,minos1 ,king of ,crete1 the second king of the name1 goes in quest of allies to the island of ,aegina1 and courts unsuccessfully the aid of its king ,aeacus4 ,as soon as he has departed1 ,cephalus comes as ambassador from ,athens and obtains help from ,aeacus1 who gives him an account of the pestilence that had formerly raged in ,aegina1 and dwells on its marvellous repeopling4 ,ovid maintains sufficient independence of his models for us to be able to gather something at least of current ideas of pestilence1 set though it is in an atmosphere of antiquity4 ,at first the disease was referred to natural causation and so was combated by medicines3 ,dum visum mortale malum tantaeque latebat ,causa nocens cladis1 pugnatum est arte medendi4 ,exitium superabat opem1 quae victa iacebat4 ,the tendency was now to regard pestilence as a natural process1 until it overstepped habitual limitations1 and triumphantly defied the resources of orthodox medicine4 ,then popular imagination saw in it the hand of a god1 and forthwith set it outside the confines of recognized pathology4 ,so now ,ovid ascribes the ,aeginetan plague to the anger of ,juno1 because the island was named after her adulterous rival ,aegina1 who was carried there by ,jupiter1 and by him became the mother of ,aeacus1 ,king of ,aegina4 ,but side by side with this ,ovid lays stress on various meteorological phenomena1 that accompanied or preluded the pestilence--the earth encompassed with gross darkness1 a drowsy heat in the clouds1 and persistent hot winds1 as though he believed in some close causal connexion4 ,he conceives the virus to be communicable in water1 for fountains and lakes were deemed to be infected1 and the rivers tainted with the venom of innumerable snakes4 ,he dwells at length on the epizootic1 and elaborates this feature far more even than ,livy1 and true to the habitual character of ,roman pestilence1 he makes it precede the human epidemic4 ,he holds fast the doctrine of contagion1 which he conceives to be transmitted by the dead as well as the living4 ,ovid's description of pestilence unmasks his shallow nature4 ,he shows himself to be no more and no less than an elegant literary trifler4 ,one feels in the easy flow of his verse and the light vagaries of his picturesque imagination an unconcern and indifference to the horrible realities he handles4 ,he has no power1 like ,thucydides1 to plumb the depths of pathos1 and the reader turns from his catalogue of sufferings with no emotion of horror1 still less with one of sympathy4 ,one looks in vain for some vestige of the moral earnestness of ,lucretius4 ,even for his deities the springs of action reside in the lowlier human passions4 ,caprice and jealousy move ,juno to send the pestilence3 humanity is the sport of these infirmities4 ,when man's conception of ,divine ,providence had sunk so low1 it was well that ,imperial ,rome should be without religion4 ,manilius1 in his ,astronomica1#id composed about the ,christian era1 asserts with confidence1 that comets presage pestilence4 ,the belief is probably far older than ,manilius1 though it is difficult to cite exact authorities4 ,livy#ie speaks of a bright light in the sky before the plague of #dfb ,b4,c42 #8coelum ardere visum est plurimo igni'3 and ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus#if recounts the lighting up of a fire in the heavens before that of #dej ,b4,c43 4 ,allusions such as these would seem to signify the appearance of a comet4 ,vergil#ig is even more explicit3 ,non secus ac liquida si quando nocte cometae ,sanguinei lugubre rubent1 aut ,sirius ardor1 ,ille sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus aegris ,nascitur1 et laevo contristat lumine coelum4 ,of their supposed malign influence on human affairs in general there is no doubt4 ,tacitus#ih assigns to them even a political significance1 for he says that in popular opinion they always portend a revolution to kingdoms4 ,seneca1#ii in his ,physical ,science1 makes the specific statement that #8after great earthquakes it is usual for a pestilence to occur'4 ,the concurrence of the two had been mentioned previously by ,thucydides1 ,diodorus ,siculus1 ,livy1 and others1 but ,seneca would seem to be the first to attempt to define the exact relation of the one to the other4 ,in the ,campanian earthquake of ,a4,d4 #fc a flock of #fjj sheep had perished mysteriously1 near ,pompeii4 ,seneca conceives that earthquakes liberate poisonous fumes imprisoned in the earth1 or pent up in marshes1 which serve to taint the air4 ,flocks suffer most1 he thinks1 because they live in the open1 and also drink the poison-laden water4 ,they feed too with heads close to the ground and so receive the concentrated venom1 before it has become diluted3 and then he adds3 #8,if it had issued in greater volume1 it would have injured man too1 but the abundant supply of pure air counteracted it1 before it could rise high enough to be breathed by any human being4' ,and he proceeds3 #8,the better is ever conquered by the worse4 ,even that pure air of heaven changes then to pestilential4 ,thence come sudden and continuous deaths1 and portentous forms of disease1 that spring from unexampled causes4 ,the disaster is long-or short-lived according to the strength of the sources of infection4 ,nor does the plague cease1 until the freedom of heaven and the tossing of the winds have banished that fatal air4' ,seneca had probably stumbled on the true explanation of the death of the ,campanian sheep1 for ,geikie says that after an eruption of ,mount ,vesuvius the escape of carbonic acid gas has been known to suffocate hundreds of hares1 partridges1 and pheasants4 ,seneca1 in conformity with the learned opinion of his time1 regards volcanoes and earthquakes as closely allied phenomena4 ,earthquakes were regarded as the product in the main of violent commotion of the air4 ,niebuhr1 like ,seneca1 expressed a firm belief in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as causes of pestilence1 a thesis that many writers have sought to substantiate4 ,it is tempting1 even to-day1 to speculate on migrations of rats set in motion by subterranean activity4 ,but a careful survey of a sufficient series of earthquakes and plagues lends little support to such a proposition4 ,each may occur alike before or after1 with or without the other1 and their frequent concurrence in ancient history denotes no more than that the eyes of historians were focused1 almost exclusively1 on a narrow tract of land around the shores of the ,mediterranean1 in which earthquakes were and are notoriously of frequent occurrence4 ,two years after the great earthquake ,campania was devastated by a hurricane1 and ,rome desolated by pestilence4 ,tacitus#ajj says that the pestilence swept away #8all classes of human beings without any such derangement of the atmosphere as to be visibly apparent4 ,yet the houses were filled with dead bodies and the streets with funerals4' ,tacitus declares unhesitatingly for the production of pestilence by natural and not by supernatural agency4 ,the year ,a4,d4 #gi is ever memorable for the destruction of ,herculaneum and ,pompeii4 ,it was followed by pestilence1 which ,dion ,cassius attributes to ashes from ,vesuvius4 ,dust had been suspect from the remotest ages of antiquity4 ,at the time of the ,exodus ,moses was told to sprinkle dust before heaven4 #8,and it shall become dust in all the land of ,egypt1 and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man4' ,livy and ,plutarch each attributed the plague that broke out among the ,gauls1 when besieging ,rome under ,brennus1 to the dust and ashes of the houses they had burnt4 ,philo1 too1 ascribes a pestilence of about the year ,a4,d4 #ib to hot dust irritating the skin4 ,dion ,cassius#aja mentions a plague that broke out in the reign of ,domitian 7,a4,d4 #ha-if71 and which may be the same as that mentioned by ,philo4 #8,certain individuals'1 he says1 #8poisoned needles and set to work to prick whomsoever they wished3 several who were pricked died without knowing anything about it3 but some of the scoundrels were denounced and punished2 and that happened not only in ,rome1 but over all the world so to say4' ,some initial punctiform eruption may perhaps have simulated a needle-prick4 ,belief in the dissemination of pestilence by the cutaneous inoculation of poison was destined to flourish for many centuries4 ,dion ,cassius#ajb himself repeats the statement in the case of another pestilence in the reign of ,commodus 7,a4,d4 #ahg73 #8,in the reign of ,commodus occurred the most violent sickness ,i have ever known3 at ,rome two thousand persons often died in a single day4 ,but many died1 not only in ,rome1 but in all parts of the empire1 in another manner3 scoundrels1 poisoning little needles with certain noxious substances1 transmitted the disease in this way for pay3 this had been done already in the reign of ,domitian4' ,for three years then famine and pestilence worked hand in hand to ruin ,rome1 and the people in their fury clamoured for a victim4 ,a pleasant sacrifice was handy in the ,phrygian freedman ,cleander1 the greedy and infamous minister of ,commodus4 ,it was eagerly bruited that ,cleander had hoarded wheat1 and the maddened populace1 surging to the palace of ,commodus1 clamoured for the head of the hated favourite4 ,the ,emperor1 fearful for his own life1 at the instance of the women of his court demanded that the head of ,cleander should be thrown from the palace to the people4 ,the spectacle of this bloody expiation appeased the fury of the rabble4 ,on the advice of his physicians#ajc ,commodus himself beat a hasty retreat to ,laurentum1 to seek an antidote in the scent of its abundant laurels4 ,those who remained in ,rome filled their noses and ears with sweet ointments1 to neutralize the pestilential exhalations from infected bodies and from the contagious atmosphere4 ,at last a ,roman emperor is found1 in presence of pestilence1 consulting--not the ,sibylline books1 not the oracle1 not the omens--but a physician1 and obeying his instruction4 ,medicine has tardily come into her own1 and ,pliny's sarcasm1 that ,rome prospered for #fjj years without physicians1 has lost its sting4 ,but we shall see presently that the hour for professional exaltation is not yet4 ,the great ,antonine plague--the long plague1 as ,galen calls it1 for it lasted no less than fifteen years#ajd--was brought to ,rome from the ,east by the ,syrian army of ,verus1 about ,a4,d4 #afe4 ,ammianus ,marcellinus#aje sets its commencement in the sacrilegious folly of some ,roman soldiers at the sack of the city of ,seleucia4 ,these men wrenched from its site a statue of ,apollo1 and from a narrow aperture beneath its pedestal the pestilence escaped1 carrying death wherever it went4 ,julius ,capitolinus 7c4 ,a4,d4 #cjj7 confirms the statement of ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 except in that he traces the source of origin to a small golden coffer in this same temple of ,apollo4 ,carried thence by the victorious army to ,rome1 it found there conditions favourable to its propagation in an already existing famine1 in the accumulation of the soldiery1 and in the concourse of spectators1 who had come to see the triumph of the joint emperors duly celebrated4 ,of the mortality at ,rome no figures exist1 but it is said to have been very great4 ,dead bodies were so numerous1 that they were carried to burial heaped up in carts4 ,aurelius#ajf paid the dead the tribute of a public funeral1 and erected statues to the memory of many men of high estate4 ,his philosophy1 though proof against religious belief1 showed itself not proof against religious superstition4 ,the whole pagan ritual of expiation was paraded on behalf of the distracted city4 ,the neglected worship of the gods was revived with renewed vigour1 and the aid of those most powerful to help in such circumstances was eagerly invoked4 ,a lustration was solemnly performed for the purification of the city1 and a lectisternium celebrated for seven whole days4 ,the people were readily infected with the contagion of their sovereign's superstition1 and from this time may be dated a brief revival of the worship of the effete pagan deities4 ,aurelius sought even to appease the anger of the national gods by a persecution of the ,christians1 whose religion was an insult to their majesty4 ,the ,christian chronicler1 ,orosius1#ajg attributes the pestilence actually to the persecution of the ,christians that had broken out in ,asia and ,gaul before its commencement4 ,all that is known for certain is1 that such a persecution was a consequence1 if not a cause as well4 ,an engraved blood-coloured jasper1 preserved in ,paris1 and figured in the ,histoire de l',acadmie des ,inscriptions et ,belles-,lettres1 survives to commemorate the sacrifices by which ,marcus ,aurelius sought to charm away the plague4 ,duruy#ajh describes its features3 #8,marcus ,aurelius as sovereign pontiff3 on his veiled head a globe1 symbol of his sovereign power3 behind him an augur's staff3 facing the ,emperor ,rome helmeted and ,aesculapius with horns3 under ,aurelius1 ,hygieia or ,health3 lastly the head of ,faustina4 ,the ,sagittarius1 who occupies the centre1 marks the time of the sacrifices1 offered in ,november or ,december4' ,some have inferred from a passage of ,julius ,capitolinus that ,marcus ,aurelius himself died of this pestilence in ,a4,d4 #ahj4 ,in describing his death-bed1 ,capitolinus says that he took a hasty farewell of his son1 for fear of communicating his malady to him4 ,niebuhr considers that the ancient world never recovered from the havoc of this pestilence4 ,to it he traces the decadence of ,roman literature and art in the years that followed1 and points to analogous results in ,greece from the plague of ,athens1 and in early ,german and early ,florentine literature from the ,black ,death of ,a4,d4 #acdh4 ,but the seeds of decay in the empire of ,rome had already been sown1 as they had been in the empire of ,athens before the ,peloponnesian ,war4 ,pericles himself had warned the ,athenians at the outset of the far-reaching consequences of failure4 ,we shall see too hereafter that in the case of the early ,florentine literature other more potent influences than pestilence were concerned in its temporary effacement4 ,the lesson to be learnt from a comprehensive survey of the history of pestilence would seem rather to be this1 that with the community1 as with the individual1 the sound constitution throws off the effects of a sickness that strikes right home1 when the resisting power is impaired4 ,such was assuredly the case with the interminable sequence of plagues that assailed ,rome in adolescence as well as in adult life4 ,but as decadence and decrepitude beset the body politic1 the wounds of pestilence went deeper and left abiding scars4 ,the ,antonine plague bequeathed one ill-starred legacy to the profession of medicine4 ,every sovereign has the physicians he deserves1 and ,galen was physician to ,marcus ,aurelius4 ,at the first onset of the pestilence ,galen made off to ,campania1 and finding no safety there took ship to ,pergamus4 ,thence1 after two years' absence1 he returned at the summons of the emperors1 and after a brief stay in ,rome joined them at ,aquileia1 where pestilence tracked him down again4 ,cowards die many times before their death4 ,courage1 however1 and medical acumen are by no means constant companions1 and for many centuries1 in face of pestilence1 physicians1 and among them ,morgagni and ,sydenham1 were doomed to follow the example of ,galen as faithfully as they cherished his precepts4 ,galen has been regarded generally as the leading authority on the medical aspects of the ,antonine plague1 but the value of ,galen's testimony is not enhanced by the investigation of these attendant circumstances4 ,the physician who takes flight at the outset is little likely subsequently to observe the disease carefully1 constantly1 and at close quarters3 nor is it surprising to find that much of his symptomatology is borrowed directly either from ,thucydides or ,hippocrates4 ,the striking picture of ,thucydides must needs dominate the mind of the man who studies medicine in his arm-chair1 so that we are prepared to find ,galen asserting the identity of the ,antonine pestilence with the plague of ,athens4 ,here and there passages are lifted almost verbatim from ,thucydides4 ,for example1 ,galen#aji says that the sick man's body did not seem hotter than normal to the touch1 but that he suffered an intolerable inward burning4 ,the skin was not yellow1 but reddish and livid4 ,the transference of from ,thucydides shows that he is copying ,thucydides1 and is not describing what he himself saw4 ,again1 the description of the eruption1 though far more precise and complete than that by ,thucydides1 shows his influence closely1 and now and again falls into his actual words1 as in 4 ,the same also is true of the more general symptoms#aaj of the disease1 such as the insistence on the characteristic appearance of the inflamed eyes1 and the redness of mouth1 tongue1 and fauces4 ,there is the ring of the charlatan1 too1 in ,galen's use and advocacy of ,armenian bole as an antipestilential specific1 in striking contrast to the crude disavowal of all remedies by ,thucydides4 ,galen#aaa says that #8all those who used it were promptly cured'--one wonders at ,galen's flight--#8those who felt no effect from it died3 no other remedy could replace it'--and then he sublimely concludes1 #8that those1 with whom the remedy failed1 were incurable4' ,this ,armenian bole was merely an argillaceous earth brought from ,persia and ,armenia1 which owed its red colour to oxide of iron4 ,galen used it as an astringent for wounds and ulcers before he vaunted it as a specific for pestilence4 ,internally1 at any rate1 it must have been almost inert in medicinal doses1 and as ,galen adduces no evidence in support of his crude dictum1 we need be at no pains to justify our incredulity4 ,there is reason to think that the ,antonine plague was not one and the same disease throughout its course4 ,had it been so1 we should have expected from ,galen something in the nature of a single clinical picture1 rather than casual references scattered throughout his voluminous writings4 ,in describing the character of the eruption and its transformations1 ,galen#aab certainly seems to have small-pox in mind4 ,at a certain stage the eruption broke out all over the body in the form of 7a dark efflorescence71 probably of haemorrhagic type4 ,when it ulcerated1 a crust 77 formed on the surface1 which became detached1 and then everything proceeded to a cure4 ,a scar remained after the separation of the crust1 comparable to the #8pitting' of small-pox4 ,in some cases ulceration did not occur1 but the exanthem was rough and scaly and became detached like a skin3 in this condition all got well4 ,galen gives some indication of the course of the disease in one who recovered4 #8,a young man on the ninth day had his whole body covered with ulcers1 as had most of those who recovered4 ,then he was seized with a cough1 and three days after the ninth he was in a condition to go into the country for convalescence4' ,the day after the cough set in1 he expelled during a paroxysm of coughing a crust just like those of the cutaneous ulcers4 ,galen had previously examined his mouth and fauces1 and had detected no signs of ulceration4 ,he could also swallow both liquids and solids without any difficulty4 ,to determine whether the crust came from his gullet or no1 ,galen administered a draught of vinegar and mustard2 and from the absence of pain attending this drastic procedure he concluded that it must have come from the larynx and not from the gullet4 ,destructive ulcerations of the larynx have been recorded in rare instances in the course of small-pox1 but such a condition would certainly preclude a journey to the country after the lapse of two days4 ,it would be less impossible after the expulsion of a diphtheritic membrane4 ,it would be unprofitable to follow ,galen further into the features of the pestilential fever he details1 for1 as we have said1 it is quite uncertain that these are the features of a single disease4 ,indeed1 apart from the evidence of ,galen's writings1 it would be reasonable to presume the reverse from such knowledge as we have of other prolonged periods of pestilence4 ,before leaving ,galen we may say that he postulates a dual causation of pestilence3 on the one hand1 great irregularity of the seasons inducing a pestilential state of the atmosphere3 on the other1 a vitiated condition of the human body1 due to contaminated food1 rendering it liable to fever from very slight causes4 ,the atmospheric factor1 no doubt1 would seem to be confirmed by the universality of the disease1 while the greater severity of the disease and perhaps its special incidence as well among the ill-fed and destitute would seem to incriminate the resisting power of the individual4 ,the plague of ,a4,d4 #beb1 during the joint imperialty of ,gallus and ,hostilian1 rivalled the ,antonine pestilence both in virulence and duration4 ,hostilian was one of the first victims1 though his death was commonly ascribed to the hand of ,gallus4 ,eusebius#aac says that the disease had already worked havoc in ,alexandria and ,egypt1 before it reached ,rome4 ,in some cities of ,rome and ,greece the daily mortality rose as high as #e1jjj1aad and with greater or less virulence the disease spread over the whole known world4#aae ,eusebius attributes the pestilence to moulds deposited from the air1 a belief that we shall meet again in the course of the ,great ,plague of ,london4 ,cyprian1 the ,christian bishop of ,carthage1 has left us some details of the symptoms in his eloquent homily #8,de ,mortalitate'1 which ,st4 ,augustine admired so greatly4 ,eusebius and ,cyprian are both intent on extolling the self-sacrificing zeal with which the ,christians laid down their lives in the service of the sick4 ,their writings help us to appreciate the contempt of suffering generated in the mind of the early enthusiasts of ,christianity by living perpetually in the presence of persecution and in the fear of death4 ,we know from the manner in which ,cyprian#aaf yielded himself to the sword of the executioner that the spirit of the #8,sermo de ,mortalitate' permeated his whole being4 ,in this sermon we may still read the glowing appeal of ,cyprian to his hearers to seek courage and consolation in repentance for their sins4 ,cedrenus#aag was so impressed with the infectiveness of the disease that he believed it might be communicated by a look1 as ,plato had conceived to be true of ophthalmia4 ,trebellius ,pollio#aah recounts the association of terrestrial and other portents4 ,volcanoes awoke to fresh activity3 earthquakes occurred and rumblings of the earth were heard3 the sky was darkened for days3 chasms yawned in the ground3 great tidal waves overwhelmed many cities4 ,it seemed as though the end of the world1 foretold by the ,christians1 was at hand4 ,in ,rome the ,sibylline books were consulted1 and they prescribed the easy atonement of a sacrifice to ,jupiter ,salutaris4 ,eusebius#aai is the chief authority for the pestilence of ,a4,d4 #cjb1 during the reign of ,maximian4 ,it was accompanied by famine1 so that the people were reduced to eating grass1 and as many died of starvation as of disease4 ,the famished dogs fought over the corpses of the dead1 and the people slaughtered them wholesale1 lest they should go mad and attack the living4 ,,footnotes3 #ib ,de ,re ,rustica1 i4 #ab4 #ic ,metamorphoses1 vii4 #ebj seq4 #id ,bk4 ,i4 #ie iii4 #e4 #if x4 #b4 #ig ,aeneid1 x4 #bgb seq4 #ih ,annals1 xiv4 #bb4 #ii ,quaestiones ,naturales1 vi4 #bg4 #bh1 and ,seneca1 ,physical ,science1 ,clarke and ,geikie4 #ajj ,annals1 ,bk4 ,,xvi4 #aja lxvii4 #aa4 #ajb lxxii4 #ad4 #ajc ,herodian1 ,bk4 ,i4 #ajd ,evagrius1 ,hist4 iv4 #bh4 #aje xxiii4 #g4 #ajf ,merivale1 ,hist4 of ,rome1 vii4 #egh4 #ajg vii4 #ae4 #ajh ,hist4 of ,rome1 v4 #ahf4 #aji ,commentar4 ,i4 in ,hippocrat4 ,lib4 ,,vi1 ,epidem4 ,aph4 #bi4 #aaj ,de ,praesag4 ex pulsibus1 iii4 #d4 #aaa ,de ,simplicium ,medicamentorum ,temperamentis et ,facultatibus1 ix4 #a4 #aab ,method4 ,medendi1 v4 #ab4 #aac ,hist4 ,eccles4 vii4 #bb4 #aad ,trebellius ,pollio1 ,gallienus1 tom4 ii4 #aae ,pomponius ,laetus1 ,rom4 ,hist4 tom4 ii4 #aaf ,pontius1 ,vita ,caecilii ,cypriani4 #aag ,compend4 ,historiarum1 ex versione ,xylandri1 p4 #beh4 #aah ,gallienus1 iv and v4 #aai ,hist4 ,eccles4 ix4 #h4 ,,chapter ,v ,until recent years it was generally believed that no certain record of bubonic plague existed prior to that of ,procopius 7c4 ,a4,d4 #dij-efj74 ,it would seem to be necessary to revise this opinion in the face of a fragment of the writings of ,rufus of ,ephesus1 preserved by ,oribasius1#abj the ,christian physician of the ,emperor ,julian 7,a4,d4 #cee-fc74 ,he writes3 #8,the buboes called pestilential are most fatal and acute1 especially those that are seen occurring about ,libya1 ,egypt1 and ,syria1 and which are mentioned by ,dionysius ,curtus4 ,dioscorides and ,posidonius make much mention of them in the plague1 which occurred in their time in ,libya3 they say it was accompanied by acute fever1 pain1 and prostration of the whole body1 delirium1 and the appearance of large and hard buboes1 which did not suppurate1 not only in the accustomed parts1 but also in the groins and armpits3' and further3 #8,one can foresee an approaching plague by paying attention to the ill condition of the seasons1 to the mode of living less conducive to health1 and to the death of animals that precedes its invasion4' ,rufus is believed to have flourished in the reign of ,trajan 7,a4,d4 #ih-aag71 and may have been his physician4 ,dioscorides and ,posidonius were probably ,alexandrine physicians who flourished soon after the ,christian era4 ,the identity of ,dionysius ,curtus is conjectural1 but there is some reason to think that he practised medicine in ,alexandria in the third century ,b4,c4 ,accepting these dates1 one must admit that the evidence for the existence of bubonic plague in epidemic form in northern ,africa and the ,levant as early as the third century ,b4,c4 is exceedingly strong4 ,even if we conceive buboes to have been more common than nowadays in the course of other acute infectious diseases1 the above record can hardly denote anything but bubonic plague4 ,the reference to buboes as occurring with greater frequency in other parts than the groins and armpits does not appear to have received from medical writers the attention it deserves4 ,we have already adduced evidence to show that ,hippocrates also was familiar with bubonic plague in its sporadic1 but probably not in its epidemic form4 ,galen1#aba too1 discusses the relation of buboes to fever in such a manner as to show that he also was acquainted with a severe bubonic malady1 distinct from ordinary septic buboes4 ,oribasius also is cognizant of bubonic fevers1 but it may be asserted generally that neither ,galen nor ,oribasius shows any signs of knowing them as a prevalent epidemic pestilence4 ,we may1 then1 justly say that the narrative of ,procopius affords the first unequivocal description of an epidemic of bubonic plague4 ,according to ,procopius#abb the plague began at the ill-starred ,pelusium1 spreading in one direction through ,alexandria and ,egypt1 in another through ,palestine1 and thence throughout the world1 which would have meant to him from the eastern limits of ,persia as far westward as the shores of the ,atlantic4 ,in the light of modern knowledge it is probable that ,pelusium was no more than a distributing centre en route1 and that the true focus of origin lay much further back along the commercial highways to the east or south4 ,of its pandemic character1 however1 we have the fullest confirmation in a succession of historical records4 ,evagrius#abc says that its total duration was fifty-two years1 and this also it is possible to substantiate from the annexed table of its offsets1 along with the names of the authorities for each locality4 ,date4 ,locality4 ,authority4 ,a4,d4 #edj ,antioch ,evagrius4 ,a4,d4 #edb ,byzantium ,procopius4 ,a4,d4 #edi ,arles ,gregory of ,tours4 ,a4,d4 #eeh ,byzantium ,agathias4 ,a4,d4 #efe ,liguria ,paul the ,deacon4 ,a4,d4 #efg ,auvergne ,gregory of ,tours4 ,narbonne ,gregory of ,tours4 ,a4,d4 #ehg ,marseilles ,gregory of ,tours4 ,a4,d4 #eij ,rome ,gregory of ,tours4 ,paul the ,deacon4 ,john the ,deacon4 ,a4,d4 #eij ,avignon ,gregory of ,tours4 ,a4,d4 #eia ,strasbourg ,oseas ,schadaeus4 ,procopius describes the plague as progressing by definite stages1 expending its virulence on one country before passing to another1 as though intent on overlooking nothing4 ,indeed1 if at first it touched a place lightly1 it always returned to it subsequently1 till the full measure of punishment was exacted4 ,always beginning at the sea-coast it spread into the interior1 so that the infection in the first place was clearly sea-borne4 ,he states that it took over a year to reach ,byzantium1 where it made its appearance in the spring of ,a4,d4 #edb4 ,we know1 however1 from ,evagrius that plague was already in ,antioch in ,a4,d4 #edj1 earlier1 therefore1 than the date of its alleged appearance in ,pelusium4 ,in his discussion of etiology ,procopius borrows much of the phraseology of ,thucydides1 but neither here nor elsewhere does he show the least sign of being influenced by the substance of the ,thucydidean narrative4 ,thucydides1 it will be remembered1 evidently attributed the plague of ,athens to natural causes1 declining to speculate as to what could have produced such a disturbance of nature 774 ,procopius says that those who pretended to knowledge ascribed the pestilence to things darting down from heaven 7 74 ,this is indeed harking back to primitive conceptions4 ,but he adds that they do so without a fragment of evidence1 merely for the sake of deceiving1 ascribing to nature what is clearly the handiwork of ,god and nothing else4 ,this opinion he bases on the ground that the plague did not confine its ravages to any single country nor fall specially on either sex or any age1 but spread over the whole world1 regardless of season and of differences of habit4 ,the argument1 in so far as it was negative1 was certainly a strong one in the light of the medical knowledge of his time1 which referred much of the distinction of different maladies to variations of climate1 soil1 season1 habit1 and other accidental circumstances4 ,visual and auditory hallucinations were not lacking4 ,procopius says that many that were stricken by the plague saw1 either when awake or when asleep1 visions of spirits arrayed in human forms4 ,some seemed to hear in their sleep a voice saying that they were enrolled in the number of the dead4 ,they fancied that these spectres in human form struck them in some part of the body1 and immediately they were seized with the disease4 ,to avoid these demons some shut themselves up in their houses and would not come out on any account4 ,others tried to escape the demons by invoking that the most sacred names and by every form of expiation4 ,this idea of pestilential demons seems to be of oriental origin4 ,we have already encountered it in the story of ,apollonius of ,tyana at ,ephesus4 ,it figures in early ,indian medicine1 and also in ,mahometan lore4 ,mahomet seems to have adopted it directly from ,magian tradition1 as embodied by ,zoroaster in the ,zendavesta4 ,the ,magians conceived one supreme ,god and ,creator of the universe1 from whom also emanated two active principles1 personified as ,ormusd1 the principle or angel of light or good1 and ,ahriman1 the principle or angel of darkness or evil1 a demon4 ,from these two opposite principles the universe was compounded1 and in the direction of its affairs these two conflicting elements were always striving for mastery4 ,so long as the angel of light was in the ascendant it was well with the affairs of men2 but if for a while the demon of darkness prevailed1 then sorrow and suffering and sin were the lot of mortal man4 ,it was inevitable that a shepherd race1 tending their flocks beneath a star-lit sky in the plains of ,arabia and the uplands of ,central ,asia should see in the light and the darkness two hostile personalities dominating their existence for better or for worse4 ,mahometans believed that spirits were sent by ,god armed with bows and arrows to disseminate plague as a punishment for sin4 ,spectres of a black colour dealt fatal wounds1 but those dealt by white spectres were not fatal4 ,we shall presently find this same fancy figuring in the literature and art of mediaeval ,italy4 ,it is not without interest to have traced the conception spreading1 like the plague itself1 from an endemic focus in the ,east1 first to ,byzantium1 and then by slow stages to ,italy and the ,west4 ,in ,byzantium many succumbed to the disease without any premonitory visions4 ,in these there was a sudden onset of a mild fever without any grave symptoms1 so that the victim had no apprehension of dying4 ,then either the same day1 or a day or two after1 appeared a bubo 771 either in the groin or armpit1 or behind the ear1 or elsewhere4 ,so far as these symptoms went1 all suffered in pretty much the same way4 ,the ,byzantine plague was therefore characteristically bubonic1 and the buboes seem to have been distributed in the different parts of the body1 much as we find them to-day4 ,in this and in all essential points bubonic plague still exhibits a striking conformity to the picture drawn by ,procopius some #a1djj years ago4 ,indeed ,procopius has afforded an admirable outline sketch of oriental plague1 to which the most recent medical science has added little beyond some elaboration of detail4 ,we can decipher in his narrative at least four recognized types--the bubonic1 the pustular1 the pneumonic1 and the tonsillar--as having prevailed during this epidemic in ,byzantium4 ,unlike ,thucydides1 ,procopius rejects the idea of contagion1 as opposed to his own observations4 ,physicians1 nurses1 and those who buried the dead were not1 in his experience1 specially affected1 in spite of their constant contact with the sick2 and contrariwise1 many contracted the disease without any contact at all4 ,the belief of ,procopius in the pestilence as a special act of ,god almost necessitated his being a non-contagionist4 ,he was at a loss whether to attribute the varied manifestations of the disease to differences of constitution1 or to the will of the ,author of the plague4 ,in one case profound lethargy prevailed1 in another maniacal delirium4 ,the lethargic lay simply regardless of everything and died of starvation1 unless food was pressed on them4 ,the delirious in their terror tried to flee3 they struggled with their attendants in the attempt to throw themselves out of windows1 or to drown themselves4 ,their desire was not to assuage their thirst1 for often they threw themselves into the sea4 ,this is evidently a criticism of the suggestion of ,thucydides that it was thirst that drove the victims to throw themselves into cisterns4 ,procopius says that the physicians conceived that the source of the disease lay in the buboes4 ,this was a not unnatural inference from the fact that1 in cases of simple suppuration of the bubo1 the sufferer usually recovered1 as though some virulent humour had escaped by this channel4 ,for the same reason in later years incision was performed1 and suppuration encouraged1 whenever practicable4 ,when1 however1 the physicians opened the buboes in the hope of discovering the cause1 they found nothing but a horrible growth1 like a carbuncle 774 ,the ,byzantine physicians evidently regarded the disease as a morbid process within the confines of recognized pathology4 ,there was a pustular type of the disease1 and those who got a crop of black pustules all over the body1 as large as a lentil1 died at once4 ,procopius in his 1 1 echoes the language of ,thucydides1 3 and it is noteworthy that ulcers were no feature of the ,byzantine plague4 ,many dropped dead from spontaneous vomiting of blood1 probably from the lungs1 as is not infrequent in the pneumonic form of plague4 ,some escaped with a defect in the speech1 so that as long as they lived they stammered or stuttered1 and were unintelligible4 ,this may well have been a sequel of the tonsillar type4 ,the plague lasted in epidemic virulence in ,byzantium for four months in all1 and was at its height for three4 ,this again1 speaking broadly1 has been a feature of most ,european and ,levantine outbreaks4 ,at the worst the daily mortality reached the appalling total of ten thousand4 ,procopius dwells at length on the accumulation of dead bodies in the streets and the neglect of funeral rites4 ,at first each man buried the dead members of his own household1 sometimes throwing them into graves prepared for others2 but soon buriers failed1 and then corpses began to litter the streets4 ,these ,justinian commissioned his agent ,theodorus to bury4 ,when all the existing burial-grounds were filled1 huge burial-pits were dug wherever they could find space all round the city4 ,finally1 when the digging of graves could no longer keep pace with the deaths1 they mounted the towers of the city walls in ,sycae1 the port of ,byzantium1 and removing the roofs threw in the bodies promiscuously3 when these were filled1 the roofs were replaced4 ,but when the wind set from that quarter1 the awful stench proved most distressing to the citizens4 ,many corpses were simply cast out on the shore1 where they were piled in barges and turned adrift out to sea4 ,we shall see these various conditions strikingly reproduced during the plague of ,marseilles in ,a4,d4 #agba4 ,john of ,ephesus states that the ambulance arrangements made by ,justinian for the burial of the dead met all the requirements1 but it is impossible to accept his statement in face of the precise and detailed account of ,procopius4 ,the horrors of the plague1 according to ,procopius1 turned men from dissoluteness to piety1 for fear that their own death was imminent4 ,if1 however1 they fell sick and recovered1 they became even more dissolute than before1 in the belief that they were now safe for the future4 ,according to ,thucydides1 the ,athenian ,greeks became reckless from the first and gave themselves over to pleasure1 seeing that the disease smote virtuous and vicious alike4 ,perhaps1 however1 the difference lay more in the mental attitude of the observer than in the actual demeanour of those observed4 ,all work came to a standstill in ,byzantium1 so that famine supervened in the city1 where usually everything was in profusion4 ,justinian himself became infected and suffered from an attack1 in which a bubo appeared4 ,such in brief is the account that ,procopius gives of the plague of ,byzantium1 as he saw it with his own eyes4 ,unquestionably he had before him the description of the plague of ,athens1 for now and again he slips into an identical turn of language4 ,but to speak of him as a flagrant plagiarist of ,thucydides is sheer absurdity4 ,rather he gives the impression of maintaining a critical attitude towards ,thucydides1 and of emphasizing the points of dissent4 ,procopius has no doubt that he is describing the same disease as ,thucydides1 and is impressed by the clinical differences he has observed4 ,the tone of ,thucydides is subjective3 he attempts a general description1 but cannot keep in the background the symptoms of his own case4 ,the tone of ,procopius is wholly objective3 he writes as an intensely interested onlooker1 retailing his own observations1 supplemented by the statements of those who have had the disease and recovered4 ,the apparent resemblance of the two accounts is really no more than surface deep4 ,an account of an offset of this pandemic at ,antioch survives from the pen of the historian ,evagrius1#abd who was born in ,a4,d4 #ecf and spent the greater part of his life at ,antioch4 ,apparently he knew nothing of the records of ,procopius or ,agathias1 for he says that the history of this pestilence had not been written previously4 ,he knew the narrative of the plague of ,athens1 for he says that this plague was #8in some respects much like that which ,thucydides described1 in others quite unlike'3 it cannot be said to have influenced either the form or the substance of his description4 ,he says that it first reached ,antioch in #edj ,b4,c41 whereas it did not appear at ,byzantium till the spring of #edb ,b4,c41 and that the pandemic lasted altogether fifty-two years1 exceeding #8all the diseases that had ever been before ,philostratus wondered at the plague1 which was in his time1 because it continued fifteen years'4 ,this is presumed to have been the ,antonine pestilence1 for ,philostratus was born in ,lemnos about ,a4,d4 #agj1 but spent most of his life in ,rome and died there in ,a4,d4 #bde4 ,evagrius had the fullest opportunities of observing the plague at close quarters1 for as a boy at school he himself suffered from an inguinal bubo1 and in later years he lost his wife and several children of plague4 ,he was but three years old when it first reached ,antioch1 so that his description must represent the disease after it had been rife for many years4 ,evagrius traces its origin further back than does ,procopius1 placing it in ,ethiopia1 so that it may actually have originated in an endemic area in ,central ,africa4 ,spreading over the whole world1 it attacked cities quite irrespective of season1 summer and winter alike4 ,evagrius has no doubt whatever of the contagiousness of the distemper4 ,those1 he says1 who escaped one year were attacked the next1 and those who fled to places free from disease were the first to succumb1 as they carried the contagion with them4 ,infection seemed to be taken in various ways--by sharing beds1 by actual contact1 by visiting infected houses1 or even by casual meeting in the market-place4 ,some1 however1 escaped in spite of running every risk of infection4 ,the description that ,evagrius gives of the symptoms of the disease1 though brief1 is wonderfully comprehensive4 ,it shows that he was cognizant of the tonsillar1 the bubonic1 and the carbuncular or pustular types at least1 and the rapidity of a fatal issue in a proportion of the cases suggests that pneumonic and septicaemic forms were also rife4 #8,the disease'1 he writes1 #8was compound and mixt with many other maladies4 ,it took some men first in the head1 made their eyes as red as blood and puffed up their cheeks3 afterwards it fell at their throat1 and whomsoever it took it dispatched him out of the way4 ,it began with some with a fire and voiding of all that was within them1 in others with swellings about the secret parts of the body1 and there arose burning fires1 so that they died thereof within two or three days of the furthest in such sort and of so perfect a remembrance as if they had not been sick at all2 others died mad1 and carbuncles that arose out of the flesh killed many4' ,agathias#abe 7b4 ,a4,d4 #ecf7 describes a recrudescence of this pandemic in ,byzantium in ,a4,d4 #eeh4 ,he carried on the history of ,procopius from its termination to ,a4,d4 #eeh4 ,he says that the disease had never really disappeared since the first outbreak in ,a4,d4 #edb1 when it burst out furiously a second time in the spring of this year4 ,many persons fell as though stricken with apoplexy3 those who held out longest died on the fifth day4 ,buboes and continuous fever were the outstanding features1 as in the previous visitation4 #8,people of all ages perished indiscriminately1 but especially the young and vigorous and those in the flower of youth3 and of them the males1 for the females were not so much affected4' ,with an epidemic recurrence such as this1 the chief incidence would necessarily be on the young1 who had neither resisted1 nor acquired immunity from1 a previous attack4 ,the character of their occupation or of their habits of life would doubtless explain the special liability of the males to infection4 ,gregory of ,tours#abf 7,a4,d4 #edj-id7 testifies to the widespread character of the plague in ,france4 ,in ,a4,d4 #edi he says that it depopulated the province of ,arles1 and afterwards devastated ,narbonne4 ,here ,felix1 bishop of ,nantes1#abg succumbed to the sloughing of his legs caused by the application of cantharides plasters to a crop of pustules4 ,in ,a4,d4 #eff1 before the plague invaded the ,auvergne1#abh a succession of portents terrified the district4 ,three or four great brilliant lights made their appearance around the sun1 which nevertheless underwent almost complete eclipse in ,october1 looking dark and discoloured and like a bag4 ,the heaven also seemed to be on fire1 and many strange signs were seen4 ,then in ,a4,d4 #efg the epidemic raged throughout the district1 causing an immense mortality4 ,lyons1 ,bourges1 ,chalons1 and ,dijon also lost a large part of their population4 ,coffins for the dead soon failed1 and as many as ten bodies would be placed in the same grave4 ,one ,sunday no less than three hundred corpses were counted in the church of ,st4 ,peter at ,clermont4 ,death seized the victims with dramatic suddenness4 #8,there grew in the groin or armpit a lesion in the shape of a serpent1 the effect of which was such that men yielded up their souls on the second or third day1 and its violence completely took away their senses4' ,in this epidemic buboes were evidently most frequently found in the groins1 for ,gregory repeatedly speaks of the disease as lues inguinaria or morbus inguinalis and the like4 ,plague broke out at ,marseilles#abi in ,a4,d4 #ehg1 brought there by a merchant ship from ,spain1 which concealed its contact with a plague-stricken port4 ,several people made purchases from it1 and in consequence eight inhabitants of one house were fatally infected4 ,as in the epidemic of ,a4,d4 #agbj1 the disease did not spread immediately to the whole town4 ,bishop ,theodore and a few of his suite shut themselves up in the church of ,st4 ,victor1 and there1 amid the general desolation1 implored the mercy of ,god with prayer and vigil till the epidemic was at an end4 ,on the return of the fugitive populace a belated outbreak exacted its appointed tribute4 ,around ,avignon#acj celestial portents foretold the plague that broke out in ,a4,d4 #eij4 ,the earth was illuminated at night by a light as bright as the midday4 ,balls of fire were seen tracking the sky during the night4 ,a violent earthquake was felt at dawn in mid-,june4 ,the sun suffered almost complete eclipse in mid-,august4 ,abundant autumn thunderstorms and rain raised the rivers in flood4 ,meantime ,italy1 too1 had been in like case4 ,paul the ,deacon#aca 7,a4,d4 #gbj-ij7 briefly refers to a plague that had devastated ,liguria in ,a4,d4 #efe4 ,he says that the plague was presaged by the sudden appearance of marks on houses1 doors1 utensils1 and clothing1 and the more they tried to efface them the more conspicuous they became4 ,eusebius#acb in like manner told of moulds on the walls of houses in a previous pestilence1 and in ,leviticus#acc we read of greenish and reddish marks on houses infected with leprosy4 ,towards the end of the year buboes began to attack the people1 followed by a fever that killed in three days4 ,the inhabitants fled1 leaving property and cattle and crops1 and desolation reigned supreme4 ,but it was on the head of hapless ,rome that the full fury of the expiring storm was destined to spend its virulence4 ,both ,gregory of ,tours#acd and ,paul the ,deacon have left a record of the havoc4 ,gregory says that he obtained his information from his own deacon1 who happened to be in ,rome at the time4 ,paul the ,deacon#ace seems to borrow his material from ,gregory of ,tours4 ,an inundation of the ,tiber in ,a4,d4 #ehi resulted in the destruction of many old buildings on its banks and in the flooding of the granaries of the church1 so that immense stores of grain were spoilt4 ,the river yielded up a multitude of serpents1 and a dragon of extraordinary size was seen to float through the city on its passage to the sea4 ,probably these were eels from the muddy bed of the ,tiber1 metamorphosed after the manner of ,ovid into serpents3 the dragon no one seems to have seen at close quarters4 ,the inundation was followed in ,a4,d4 #eij by a severe outburst of bubonic plague 7pestilentia1 quam inguinariam vocant74 ,portents were not confined to ,rome4 ,according to ,evagrius1#acf a great earthquake in ,a4,d4 #ehi laid ,antioch in ruins1 destroying the sanctuary of the ,mother of ,god1 and taking sixty thousand lives4 ,in ,upper ,italy also there were extensive inundations due to overflowing of the mountain streams in ,venetia1 ,liguria1 and the sub-,alpine plains4 ,it is instructive to contrast the records of these chroniclers of the ,church of the ,west with those of ,procopius and ,evagrius1 and still more so with that of the pagan historian ,thucydides4 ,so intent are they on the mental and moral features of the distemper1 that they say almost nothing of its physical features4 ,they dilate at length on the visions and hallucinations that haunted the distracted fancy of the sufferers1 which ,thucydides disregards1 though such must have accompanied the wild delirium he describes4 ,demons stalking the streets1 ineffaceable marks and moulds on houses1 voices from the grave1 and celestial portents were the creations of the delirious fancy1 and are faithfully reproduced in the pages of the ,christian writers4 ,one is sensible of something of the spirit in which ,fra ,angelico portrayed the joys of heaven and the torments of hell1 when pestilence lay heavy on mediaeval ,italy4 ,the mortality in ,rome was appalling4 ,death was rampant everywhere4 ,at first the dead bodies were gathered up and flung in loads into great gaping graves1 but after a while none were left even to bury the dead1 and putrid corpses littered the streets4 ,all business was at a standstill1 and such as survived were huddled1 panic-stricken like sheep1 in the insecure sanctuary of the churches4 ,to add to the general consternation1 ,pope ,pelagius perished on ,february #h1 ,a4,d4 #eij4 ,the choice of a successor lay with the clergy and people of ,rome1 subject to confirmation by the ,emperor4 ,with one accord they haled ,abbot ,gregory from the seclusion of his monastery to the pontifical chair in anticipation of the ,imperial assent4 ,gregory of ,tours1 ,paul the ,deacon1 and ,john the ,deacon all tell of ,gregory's unwillingness to obey the summons1 and of his attempt to intercept the letter of election on its way to the ,emperor in ,constantinople4 ,but meantime1 as the plague showed no sign of abating1 ,gregory determined to try to appease the wrath of ,god by a special act of contrition4 ,ascending the pulpit of ,st4 ,john ,lateran1 he preached a memorable sermon1 which has been preserved by the hand of ,gregory of ,tours4 ,he implored them to make their sufferings an instrument for their conversion1 and a means by which to soften the hardness of their hearts4 ,he besought them1 as ,cyprian had done before1 as ,borromeo and ,belsunce were to do hereafter1 not to let the suddenness with which death seized them1 sweeping away numbers at a time1 and giving no opportunity for tears of penitence1 find them unprepared to meet their ,god4 ,let them call their sins to mind and purge them away with weeping1 for ,god wills not the death of a sinner1 but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live4 ,let no man despair because of the multitude of his offences4 ,did not ,god forgive the people of ,nineveh of old1 when they did penance for three days1 and did ,he not give the reward of everlasting life to the dying thief8 ,let them therefore turn with him to ,god with importunity of prayer1 or ever the sword of punishment descend4 ,does ,he not say by the mouth of the ,psalmist3 call upon ,me in the time of trouble3 so will ,i hear thee and thou shalt praise ,me4 ,let them all come with contrite hearts and mended moods at early dawn on the fourth day from then to the celebration of a sevenfold litany1 and with lamentation in their souls1 so that the stern ,judge may remit the sentence of damnation ,he has purposed to pass upon them4 ,let the clergy then start from the church of the martyr-saints ,cosmo and ,damian1 along with the priests of the sixth region4 ,all the abbots with their monks from the church of the martyrs ,gervase and ,protasius1 along with the priests of the fourth region4 ,all the abbesses with their flocks from the church of the martyr-saints ,marcellinus and ,peter1 along with the priests of the first region4 ,all the children from the church of the martyr-saints ,john and ,paul1 along with the priests of the second region4 ,all the laity from the church of the protomartyr-saint ,stephen1 along with the priests of the seventh region4 ,all the widowed women from the church of ,st4 ,euphemia1 along with the priests of the fifth region4 ,and the married women from the church of the martyr-saint ,clement1 along with the priests of the third region4 ,let them all go forth from these several churches with prayer and lamentation1 to meet at the basilica of the ,blessed ,virgin ,mary the ,mother of ,christ1 there with long and earnest supplication to implore pardon for their sins4 ,so ,gregory distributed the remnant that the plague had spared according to the seven ecclesiastical regions of ,rome1 bidding his clergy spend the three days' interval in ceaseless psalms and prayers for mercy4 ,then on the fourth day1 the festival of ,st4 ,mark1 in the pale light of the early ,april morning1 the great procession set out4 ,with solemn chant of doleful ,miserere1 these seven trains of human suffering wended their slow way sadly amid the ruined monuments of ancient ,rome4 ,no other sound broke the stillness1 but the faint rustle of sweeping garments and the silent shuffle of sick men's feet4 ,now and again one fell stricken and lay as he fell1 for ,death was moving hither and thither among the moving ranks4#acg ,no less than eighty breathed out their lives before the church of the ,mother of ,god was reached4 ,there again ,gregory fervently exhorted the people to repentance1 so that the plague might cease4 ,a legend has it that as ,gregory1 heading his train of penitents1 reached the ,aelian ,bridge1 there1 right before him1 on the summit of ,hadrian's mole1 a heavenly vision met his eyes4 ,there stood the ,archangel ,michael1 restoring a flaming sword to its sheath1 in token that the plague was stayed4 ,it is to this legend that the mausoleum owes the name of ,castel ,s4 ,angelo1 that it has borne since the tenth century at least4 ,a bronze figure of the ,archangel sheathing his sword still hovers on the summit1 fifth of a series that have stood there at different times4 ,the legend of the angel is not mentioned by either of ,gregory's biographers1 the deacons ,paul and ,john1 or by ,bede or ,gregory of ,tours4 ,though of earlier origin than the tenth century1 the first written records of it are in a ,german sermon of the twelfth or thirteenth century and in the ,legenda ,aurea of the end of the thirteenth century ,caxton has rendered it thus3 #8,and because the mortality ceased not1 he ordained a procession1 in which he did do bear an image of our ,lady1 which1 as is said1 ,st4 ,luke the ,evangelist made1 which was a good painter1 he had carved it and painted it after the likeness of the glorious ,virgin ,mary4 ,and anon the mortality ceased1 and the air became pure and clear1 and about the image was heard a voice of angels that sung this ,anthem3 ,regina ,coeli laetare6 ,alleluia4 ,quia quem meruisti portare3 ,alleluia4 ,resurrexit sicut dixit3 ,alleluia4 and ,st4 ,gregory put thereto ,ora pro nobis1 deum rogamus3 ,alleluia4 ,at the same time ,st4 ,gregory saw an angel upon a castle1 which made clean a sword all bloody1 and put it into the sheath1 and thereby ,st4 ,gregory understood that the pestilence of this mortality was passed1 and after that it was called the ,castle ,angel4' ,in memory of this legend the great processions from ,s4 ,marco1 until the prohibition of processions in ,a4,d4 #ahgj1 used to strike up the antiphon #8,regina ,coeli'1 as soon as they came to the bridge of ,hadrian4 ,for the true source of this legend there is no need to look beyond the vision of the angel at the threshing-floor of ,araunah3 #8,and ,david lifted up his eyes1 and saw the angel of the ,lord stand between the earth and the heaven1 having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over ,jerusalem4' ,in the ,capitoline ,museum is an altar dedicated to ,isis by some traveller on his safe return1 and bearing the customary imprint of two feet4 ,the devout believed these to be the footprints of the angel that appeared to ,gregory1 and the altar once stood in the church of ,ara ,coeli4 ,illustration3 ,,gregory ,,and ,,the ,,angel ,photograph by ,giraudon1 ,paris ,it is certain that at least as early as this time pictures were carried in public procession4 ,theophylactus#ach has described two occasions on which a sacred effigy of ,christ1 believed not to have been made by human hands1 was carried into battle for the sake of inspiring valour and discipline into the soldiery 7,a4,d4 #ehf and #ehh74 ,among the many gems in which ,bede's ,ecclesiastical ,history#aci abounds is that picture of the arrival of ,augustine and his companions in ,thanet #8bearing a silver cross for their banner1 and the image of our ,lord and ,saviour painted on a board' 7,a4,d4 #eig74 ,the sixteenth-century chronicler ,baronius says1 that the picture which ,gregory carried in this plague procession of ,a4,d4 #eij was that of the ,madonna1 now preserved in the church of ,s4 ,maria ,maggiore on the ,esquiline1 and still believed to protect ,rome from plague and pestilence4 ,rome has no fewer than four pictures of the ,madonna attributed like this one to the hand of ,luke the ,physician1 and all of them reputed to have wonder-working powers4 ,expert opinion1 alas6 pronounces the oldest of them a fifteenth century production4 ,gregory's procession has afforded a favourite theme for art4 ,it is the subject of one of the frescoes in the ,lady ,chapel of ,winchester ,cathedral executed under the direction of ,prior ,silkstede at the beginning of the sixteenth century4 ,the scene is also shown in a picture in the ,chiesa del ,san ,pietro at ,perugia1 in a modern picture by the ,austrian painter ,hiremy ,hirsch1 and in several others elsewhere4 ,the miniature figured on the opposite page is one of two from a beautiful ,livre d',heures1 of the early fifteenth century1 and once the property of the ,duc de ,berry4 ,it is now in the ,muse ,cond of the ,chteau de ,chantilly4 ,an ,italian tradition refers the custom of saying #8,bless you'1 when a person sneezes1 to the time of the pestilence of ,gregory1 in which all those that sneezed were said to have died4 ,boersch1 quoting from the local chronicles of ,kleinlauel and of ,oseas ,schadaeus1 would trace its origin to the plague at ,strasbourg in ,a4,d4 #eia4adj #8,and when any one sneezed1 he gave up the ghost forthwith4 ,hence the saying 8,god help you04 ,and when any one yawned1 he died4 ,hence it comes that when any one yawns1 one makes the sign of the cross before the mouth4' ,probably the association is even older than this1 for ,thucydides speaks of sneezing in the plague of ,athens4 ,sneezing and yawning were prominent features of the ,sweating ,sickness4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v 7,face ,page #ie7 ,,fresco ,,in ,s4 ,,pietro ,,in ,,vincoli1 ,,rome ,photograph by ,anderson1 ,rome ,,footnotes3 #abj uvres de ,oribase1 ,bussemaker et ,daremberg1 lib4 #dd4 c4 #ag4 #aba ,de ,differ4 ,febr4 i1 tom4 vii1 p4 #b2 #if1 ed4 ,kuhn4 #abb ,de ,bello ,persico1 ii4 #bb-c4 #abc ,hist4 iv4 #bh4 #abd ,hist4 iv4 #bh4 #abe ,hist4 v4 #ab4 #abf ,hist4 ,francorum1 iv4 #e4 #abg vi4 #ad4 #abh iv4 #ca4 #abi ,hist4 ,francorum1 x4 #a4 #acj x4 #bc4 #aca ,de ,gestis ,langobardorum1 ii4 #d4 #acb ,hist4 ,eccles4 vii4 #bb4 #acc xiv4 #cg4 #acd ,hist4 ,francorum1 x4 #a4 #ace ,de ,gestis ,langobardorum1 iii4 #bd4 #acf ,hist4 vi4 #acg ,this penitential procession has been wonderfully depicted by ,dudden in his ,gregory the ,great1 vol4 i1 p4 #bag4 #ach ,hist4 ii4 #c1 and iii4 #a4 #aci ,bk4 ,i1 c4 #be4 #adj ,essai sur la mortalit ,strasbourg1 p4 #gi4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,in the summer of ,a4,d4 #fhj ,rome was again gripped in the toils of an appalling plague that had spread over the greater part of ,italy4 ,paul the ,deacon#ada says that eclipses of both sun and moon in ,may were followed by pestilence in the months of ,july1 ,august1 and ,september4 ,describing its ravages at ,ticinum 7,pavia7 ,paul says that #8the number of the dead was so great that parents were often carried to burial on the same biers as their children1 and brothers along with sisters4444 ,and then many saw with their own eyes a good and a bad angel passing through the city by night4 ,and whenever at the bidding of the good angel1 the bad one1 who seemed to carry a lance in his hand1 struck so many times with his lance on the door of each house1 as many of that household would die on the following day4 ,then it was revealed to some one that the plague would not cease until an altar was set up to ,sebastian1 saint and martyr1 at the church of ,s4 ,pietro in ,vincoli4 ,this was done1 and as soon as the altar was set up1 the relics of the martyr-saint ,sebastian were brought from ,rome1 and forthwith the plague ceased4' ,paul the ,deacon1 beyond all doubt1 was referring to the church of ,s4 ,pietro in ,vincoli at ,pavia1 but the ,romans of later date claimed the legend for their own church of the same name1 in which it has been embodied in a fresco of the fifteenth century1 ascribed to ,pollajuolo 7#adbi-ih74 ,in the background1 at the summit of a flight of stairs1 presumably suggested by those of ,ara ,coeli1 a citizen is telling to ,pope ,agatho1 who is seated among his cardinals1 his dream that the pestilence will not cease till the body of ,s4 ,sebastian is brought into the city4 ,on the right the good angel indicates the condemned houses to the bad angel in the guise of the ,evil ,one1 who strikes on the door with his lance4 ,on the left a procession1 carrying a banner on which the ,madonna is depicted with robe spread out in protecting attitude1 is bringing in the relics4 ,the foreground is strewn with corpses of the dead4 ,in the sky1 bow in hand1 hovers the angel that spreads the pestilence4 ,to the left is a group of the ,almighty and angels1 now almost obliterated4 ,it is not generally recognized that the well-known picture #8,la ,peste ,rome'1 by ,delaunay 7,a4,d4 #ahbh-ia71 now in the ,muse du ,luxembourg at ,paris1 was directly inspired by this fresco4 ,the scene is laid in a street of ,rome1 which is strewn with bodies of dead and dying1 among which the good and evil angels are busy at their task4 ,the figure of a youth huddled up in a brown shawl on a doorstep is a living picture of misery4 ,in the background a procession bearing a cross is descending a flight of stairs1 and a fire to purify the atmosphere is burning in the open street4 ,an effigy of ,aesculapius and a colossal equestrian statue of ,constantine are introduced in the manner of the ,renaissance4 ,the chief merit of the picture lies in the excellence of its draughtsmanship4 ,in this same church at ,rome is a mosaic effigy of ,sebastian1 believed to have been executed in ,a4,d4 #fhc4 ,in spite1 however1 of the name of ,sebastian1 that it carries in gold mosaic letters1 it is difficult to believe that it is anything but a figure of ,st4 ,peter1 transformed perhaps in the presence of this epidemic to that of ,sebastian4 ,it represents faithfully the traditional lineaments of the apostle1 an old man with white hair and beard1 dressed in the true ,byzantine style4 ,kugler considers that the careful shadowing of the drapery1 executed with more than usual pains1 indicates that the effigy was intended to be exposed to the close gaze of the pious4 ,the figure on its blue mosaic background is stiff and inanimate1 even beyond other similar archaic effigies4 ,beside it1 on a marble tablet1 is an inscription in ,latin1 reproducing almost to a word the story told by ,paul the ,deacon4 ,tradition has it that ,pope ,agatho 7,a4,d4 #fgh-hb7 on this occasion caused the bones of the saint to be collected in the cemetery of ,calixtus1 and brought to the church of ,s4 ,pietro in ,vincoli1 there to be enshrined beneath an altar4 ,in the ninth century the body seems to have been removed for safety to the ,vatican1 and again transferred to the church of ,s4 ,sebastiano1 where it now is1 by ,honorius ,,iii in ,a4,d4 #abaf4 ,this church1 however1 was completely rebuilt in ,a4,d4 #afaa4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi ,,la ,,peste ,,rome4 ,,by ,,delaunay ,photograph by ,giraudon1 ,paris 7,face ,page #if7 ,from the time of this pestilence in ,a4,d4 #fhj1 ,sebastian was universally recognized as the patron saint of pestilence4 ,gradually he comes to be identified more particularly with true plague1 but never in the same exclusive fashion as his brother saint1 ,st4 ,roch4 ,his comprehensive patronage of pestilence indicates not only how rife were other epidemic diseases besides true plague1 but how little they were differentiated in the public mind4 ,the story of the life of ,sebastian#adb is well authenticated in its main incidents4 ,born in the middle of the third century ,a4,d41 he was a native of ,narbonne in ,gaul4 ,his noble birth secured for him early in life the command of a company of ,praetorian ,guards1 so that he was constantly about the person of the ,emperor4 ,though secretly a ,christian and using his position to secure the conversion of others to ,christianity1 he remained intensely loyal to the temporal interest of the ,emperor4 ,among his friends were two young soldiers1 ,marcus and ,marcellinus1 like him of noble birth4 ,they were convicted of embracing ,christianity1 and after enduring torture bravely were led out to die4 ,on the way their aged parents1 their wives and children1 and their friends1 implored them to relent1 and they were about to recant1 when ,sebastian rushed forward and exhorted them not to renounce their ,redeemer4 ,so inspiring was his appeal1 that the whole assembly1 guards1 judges1 and all1 were converted and baptized1 and for a while ,marcus and ,marcellinus were saved4 ,this scene is depicted in a spirited canvas by ,veronese in the plague church of ,s4 ,sebastiano at ,venice4 ,their respite was but short1 for in a few months they were put to death with many others of the ,christian community1 and ,sebastian himself was condemned to die4 ,the ,emperor ,diocletian 7,a4,d4 #bhd-cje71 by reason of his personal attachment1 sent for him and exhorted him to abjure his heresy1 but ,sebastian meekly and courageously refused4 ,diocletian then ordered that he should be bound to a stake and shot to death with arrows1 and that an inscription should be placed on the stake for all to see1 saying that he was put to death only for being a ,christian4 ,a vast number of pictures1 beside the masterpiece of ,sodoma1#adc depict this scene4 ,pierced with arrows1 ,sebastian was left for dead1 but at midnight ,irene1 the widow of one of his martyred friends1 came to take away his body for burial1 but found him still alive1 the arrows having pierced no vital part4 ,she and her attendants carried him to her house and tended him1 till he was completely healed4 ,after this they urged him to leave ,rome1 but ,sebastian went boldly to the palace gate1 and as the ,emperor passed out1 pleaded for those ,christians who were condemned to suffer for their faith1 and reproached ,diocletian for his cruelty4 ,the ,emperor in fierce anger ordered his guards to seize ,sebastian and carry him to the circus1 there to beat him to death with clubs4 ,to conceal his dead body from his friends it was thrown into the ,cloaca ,maxima1 but a ,christian woman1 ,lucina1 received tidings in a vision of where the body lay1 and recovering it had it secretly buried in the catacombs4 ,the church of ,s4 ,sebastiano at ,rome is now built over these catacombs4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii 7,face ,page #ii7 ,,sebastian ,,as ,,protector ,,against ,,pestilence ,by ,benozzo ,gozzoli4 ,photograph by ,brogi1 ,florence ,though ,sebastian was martyred in ,a4,d4 #bhh1 it was not till the plague of ,a4,d4 #fhc that his cult as a protector from pestilence was firmly established4 ,the association of ,sebastian with pestilence was in the first instance purely fortuitous4 ,devout men in seasons of pestilence were wont to acclaim their own peculiar patron saint a very present help in time of trouble3 an altar1 a church1 a votive picture1 a procession1 these1 now one1 now another1 were the price of the promised dispensation4 ,but that ,sebastian came to be the patron saint of plague and pestilence was due to the association of arrows with his effigy and with the story of his attempted martyrdom4 ,from remote antiquity we have seen that arrows have been emblematic of plague4 ,it was ,apollo among the ,greeks that scattered pestilence with his bow1 and who was invoked also by sacrifice and hymns of praise to avert it4 ,in ,christian hagiology and ,christian art ,sebastian is the counterpart of the pagan ,apollo4 ,whatever the variations of detail1 ,sebastian is practically always represented1 either transfixed with arrows or carrying an arrow in his hand4 ,having regard to his story1 it is a mistake to show the arrows piercing a vital part1 such as the heart1 the brain1 or even the neck1 as is often done4 ,and for artistic effect it is well that they should not be so numerous as to suggest a well-filled pin-cushion3 albeit the ,golden ,legend has it that #8the archers shot at him till he was as full of arrows as an urchin is full of pricks'4 ,such is the effect of an interesting fresco by ,benozzo ,gozzoli 7c4 ,a4,d4 #adbj-ig7 in the ,chiesa della ,collegiata at ,san ,gimignano1 dedicated to ,sebastian in ,a4,d4 #adfe in a time of plague4 ,at the head of the picture1 ,christ1 with the marks of wounds in ,his hands1 communes with the ,virgin and a group of saints4 ,sebastian is standing on a pedestal1 his whole body studded with arrows1 while archers on either side of him are rapidly increasing the number4 ,this ,collegiata fresco has been closely followed in an ,italian ,pestbltter1 reproduced in the ,heitz-,schreiber portfolio of ,pestbltter 7q4v474 ,another votive fresco in the church of ,s4 ,agostino at ,san ,gimignano1 also by ,benozzo ,gozzoli1 commemorating the disastrous plague of ,a4,d4 #adfd1 shows ,sebastian turning aside with his cloak the broken arrows of pestilence4 ,in the uppermost part of the fresco the ,almighty is launching forth ,his shafts1 and attendant angels are aiding in the task4 ,between them and ,sebastian ,christ and the ,virgin kneel in an attitude of prayer4 ,sebastian stands in the centre of the foreground on a low stone pedestal1 on which are inscribed the words1 #8,sancte ,sebastiane1 ,intercede ,pro ,devoto ,populo ,tuo4' ,his body is fully draped1 and the broken arrows lie behind him1 removed by the hands of angels1 two of whom hold a crown of martyrdom above his head4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii 7,face ,page #ajj7 ,,sodoma',s ,,sebastian ,,plague ,,banner 7,,reverse7 ,,ss4 ,roch and ,sigismund1 and ,brethren of ,compagnia di ,s4 ,sebastiano ,photograph by ,alinari1 ,rome ,these older representations of ,sebastian by ,benozzo ,gozzoli1 and others by ,albrecht ,drer and the early ,german school1 showing ,sebastian as an elderly bearded man1 offer but little attractiveness4 ,by far the most beautiful pictures are those of ,perugino1 ,sodoma1 and ,francia1 who use his nude and youthful figure1 as the ,greeks used ,apollo1 as a model for the exhibition of elegance of form and accuracy of anatomical design4 ,as one of the few nude forms permitted to ,christian art1 it is readily understood why ,sebastian figures in such a multitude of pictures4 ,the finest example of this type is the peerless masterpiece of ,sodoma 7#adgg-aedi71 now in the ,uffizi ,gallery at ,florence1 one of the most beautiful creations of ,renaissance art4 ,it was formerly a banner1 painted in ,a4,d4 #aebh for the ,sienese ,compagnia di ,san ,sebastiano in ,camollia1 and was carried in procession when ,siena was afflicted with pestilence4 ,it was kept in the church of the ,confraternity at ,siena1 until it was removed to ,florence in ,a4,d4 #aghf4 ,the undraped body of the saint is modelled on the lines of the youthful ,apollo4 ,he is bound to a tree in the foreground of a wild ,italian landscape4 ,his neck1 side1 and one thigh are transfixed with arrows4 ,the upturned face wears an expression of ecstasy1 in spite of suffering1 as an angel descends to place the crown of martyrdom on his brow4 ,symonds has said of this picture3 #8,gifted with an exquisite feeling for the beauty of the human body1 ,sodoma excelled himself when he was contented with a single figure4 ,his ,st4 ,sebastian1 notwithstanding its wan and faded colouring1 is still the very best that has been painted4 ,suffering1 refined and spiritual1 without contortion or spasm1 could not be presented with more pathos in a form of more surpassing loveliness4 ,this is a truly demonic picture in the fascination it exercises and the memory it leaves upon the mind4 ,part of its unanalysable charm may be due to the bold thought of combining the beauty of a ,greek ,hylas with the ,christian sentiment of martyrdom4 ,only the ,renaissance could have produced a hybrid so successful1 because so deeply felt4' ,on the reverse of the banner is the ,madonna with the ,child in her arms1 enthroned on clouds1 above a kneeling group of ,,ss4 ,roch and ,sigismund and members of the ,compagnia di ,s4 ,sebastiano1 wearing their characteristic garments4 ,the work is much inferior to that of the face of the banner1 and is said to be in part the work of ,beccafumi 7#adhf-aeea74 ,another superb1 but little known picture1 by ,perugino 7,a4,d4 #addf-aebd7 in the ,muse at ,grenoble1 shows the same type of nude figure of ,sebastian bound to a tree4 ,face and figure alike are the very embodiment of youthfulness and grace1 verging almost on effeminacy4 ,in this picture ,s4 ,apolline stands beside ,sebastian4 ,exceptionally1 and more particularly in the older pictures1 the youthful ,sebastian is depicted clothed in the costume of the period1 with or without an arrow in his hand4 ,in the ,brera at ,milan is a folding altar-piece of five panels by ,nicol da ,foligno 7,a4,d4 #adcj-ib71 in which he is represented as a youth in kilted tunic and hose4 ,he is similarly clad in another picture in the ,vatican1 #8,the ,coronation of the ,virgin and ,saints1' also by ,nicol da ,foligno1 and in a few others as well4 ,sebastian is very frequently represented in plague pictures along with other saints3 his most frequent companion by far is ,st4 ,roch4 ,in the sacristy of ,s4 ,maria della ,salute at ,venice1 itself a plague church1 is ,titian's well-known picture commemorating the great plague of ,a4,d4 #aeab1 in which ,st4 ,sebastian1 ,st4 ,roch1 and the physician-saints ,cosmo and ,damian stand before the throne of ,st4 ,mark1 across whose majestic figure the shadow of a cloud has fallen4 ,these groups of saints are not infrequently represented mediating with the ,madonna4 ,travelling through ,italy from town to town one becomes aware that the land of pestilence has been roughly partitioned into separate dominions under the tutelage of varying presiding saints4 ,in ,milan it is ,carlo ,borromeo3 in ,venice1 ,s4 ,rocco3 in ,rome1 the ,madonna3 in ,central ,italy1 in ,siena1 and in ,florence1 ,s4 ,sebastiano4 ,in ,florence he was the patron saint of the ,compagnia della ,misericordia1 the institution that has for seven centuries been so closely interwoven with the daily life of the city1 and has left no small mark on the products of ,florentine art4 ,christian sculpture has also seized the opportunity of the nude figure for a model4 ,well-known statues are those by ,matteo ,civitali 7c4 #adgj7 at ,lucca1 and by ,puget 7#afbb-id7 in the church of ,carignano at ,genoa4 ,a colossal recumbent figure of the saint by ,bernini 7#aeih-afhj7 lies beneath the high altar of the church of ,s4 ,sebastian on the ,via ,appia at ,rome4 ,in ,switzerland especially1 but also in southern ,germany and south-eastern ,france1 wooden statues of ,sebastian are commonly met with1 mostly belonging to the three centuries following the ,black ,death4 ,several may be seen in the ,historical ,museum at ,basle1 more or less archaic in character1 and a very fine example in the ,cluny ,museum at ,paris4 ,the same museum also possesses a pair of quaint coloured high reliefs in wood of ,st4 ,sebastian and ,st4 ,roch respectively4 ,these wooden effigies are naturally most common in districts where wood-carving has been extensively pursued4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ix 7,face ,page #ajb7 ,,ss4 ,,mark1 ,,sebastian1 ,,roch1 ,,cosmas ,,and ,,damian4 ,,by ,,titian ,photograph by ,naya1 ,venice ,it must not be supposed that the cult of ,sebastian was widespread from the first1 or that the record of its growth is continuous and unbroken from its inauguration in this ,roman plague of ,a4,d4 #fhc4 ,circumstance chanced to be arrayed against its continuity4 ,the seventh century was not a notable period of plague in ,europe1 and that was now the dominating epidemic4 ,there was famine and pestilence in ,ireland1#add but its nature is not known1 and the kings of ,erin faced their ,irish question in the spirit of ,cromwell4 ,in a season of famine they summoned the leading clergy and laity to a council to consider the situation4 ,no one1 in the circumstances1 will dispute the propriety of their injunction to clergy and laity to observe a fast4 ,but the further injunction that they should employ their hours of abstinence in praying that some sickness might carry off the surplus of the lower orders1 as the excess of population was the cause of the famine1 is more debatable4 7#8,petebant ut nimia multitudo vulgi per infirmitatem aliquam tolleretur1 quia numerositas populi erat occasio famis4'7 ,at the instance of ,st4 ,gerald1 who contended that the ,almighty could relieve the situation more suitably and quite as easily by multiplying the fruits of the earth1 it was proposed to recommend this course to ,his adoption1 at any rate as a preliminary measure4 ,but clergy and laity1 headed by the holy ,st4 ,fechin1 were in no mood for such half-hearted measures as promised no finality1 and ,st4 ,gerald's suggestion was set aside4 ,pestilence followed in due course1 and the ,divine working was made manifest in that it claimed ,st4 ,fechin and the two kings of ,erin among its innumerable victims4 ,in spite of the retrocession of plague from ,europe after the seventh century1 ,syria1#ade the ,euphrates valley1 and ,irak were still devastated at frequent intervals by recurring epidemics4 ,from this persistent source it spread as far as ,constantinople in ,a4,d4 #fig and #gid1 in the latter case almost completely depopulating ,constantinople according to ,nicephoras ,byzantinus4 ,constantinople was in such intimate relation1 commercial and political1 with ,syria and ,central ,asia that transference of plague was wellnigh inevitable4 ,after this there was a long lull in ,europe1 and to a less extent in ,syria1 until the eleventh century4 ,it is often confidently stated that the ,crusades brought plague back to ,europe1 but it must not be forgotten that there was a severe epidemic of plague on that continent in ,a4,d4 #ajid1 before the ,crusades commenced4 ,doubtless they served to maintain the continuity of infection4 ,the pestilence that decimated the army of ,louis ,,ix and carried off him and his son was by no means certainly bubonic plague4 ,the surviving accounts suggest rather cholera or dysentery4 ,again1 in ,a4,d4 #aafg1 the army of ,frederick ,barbarossa1 while encamped before ,rome1 was swept away by a pestilence1 that seems to have been bubonic plague1 which penetrated into the city also and worked great havoc4 ,thomas ,becket1 writing to ,pope ,alexander ,,iii after the retreat of ,frederick1 congratulates him on the ,lord having destroyed ,sennacherib's army4 ,again1 in ,a4,d4 #abcj1 a destructive inundation of the ,tiber was followed by plague1 that led the ,romans to recall the banished pope1 ,gregory ,,ix4 ,in ,a4,d4 #abdd plague was in ,florence1 and led to the institution of the ,compagnia della ,misericordia4 ,its foundations were laid in the fines paid by wool-porters for the use of foul and blasphemous language at their meeting-house4 ,one of them1 the good old ,piero di ,luca ,borsi1 induced them1 when the total had reached a large sum1 to spend it in the provision of six litters1 one for each ward of the city1 and to select two of their members weekly for each litter1 to carry sick persons to the hospitals or dead bodies to the mortuaries4 ,in ,a4,d4 #abid plague was again widespread and severe in ,europe1 and a succession of scattered epidemics1 of which the most severe were those of ,a4,d4 #acbj and #accc respectively in southern ,france and ,spain1 led up to the virulent pandemic of ,a4,d4 #acdh and after1 commonly known as the ,black ,death4 ,out of the desolate wilderness of the ,black ,death arose the figure of ,st4 ,roch1#adf patron saint of the plague-stricken and intercessor against the plague4 ,born at ,montpellier1 the son of noble parents1 probably about ,a4,d4 #abie1 he seemed designed for a life of sanctity by the birthmark of a small red cross on his breast4 ,so ,mahomet before him had borne in the imprint of a mole between his shoulders the token of his divine mission4 ,from boyhood he was attracted by the active virtues of the ,redeemer1 and aspired to follow that example rather than to devote himself to the life of the cloister4 ,the death of his parents1 before he was twenty years old1 left him with great riches1 which he distributed forthwith among the poor and hospitals4 ,his lands he left in the management of his brother1 and set out on foot1 as a pilgrim1 for ,rome4 ,on his way he found plague raging at ,aquapendente4 ,there he gave himself to the service of the sick in the hospital1 and such was his skill and sympathy that his ministrations were regarded as more than human4 ,the sick seemed to be healed by his mere prayers1 or by the sign of the ,cross as he stood over them1 so that when the plague soon ceased1 they in their enthusiasm attributed it to his intercession4 ,so ,roch himself became inspired with the belief in a divine ,providence specially guiding his ministry4 ,hearing that plague was devastating the province of ,romagna1 he hastened thither and devoted himself to the sick in the cities of ,casena and ,rimini4 ,thence he went to ,rome1 where plague was raging fiercely 7c4 #acjf71 and for three years tended the sick1 devoting himself to those most destitute of help4 ,his constant prayer to ,god was that he might be a martyr in his task1 but for long he passed unscathed through daily peril4 ,visiting city after city1 wherever plague was rife1 he succumbed at last to the infection at ,piacenza1 while nursing the sick in the hospital4 ,along with a burning inward fever1 a horrible ulcer broke out on his left thigh4 ,the pain was so intolerable that he shrieked aloud4 ,fearing to disturb the inmates of the hospital1 he crawled into the street1 but the officers would not let him remain there for fear of spreading infection4 ,with the aid of his pilgrim's staff he dragged himself to a solitary spot outside the gates of ,piacenza1 and there laid himself down to die4 ,but still a kind ,providence watched over him4 ,his little dog1 that had attended him faithfully in all his pilgrimage1 went daily into the city and brought back a loaf of bread1 none knew whence4 ,an angel came1 too1 and dressed his sore and tended him1 till he was well4 ,others say that it was the dog of a countryman1 one ,gothard1 that brought food to him4 ,on his recovery he turned his steps back to his native ,montpellier1 but his sufferings had so changed him that even his own retainers there did not recognize him4 ,he was arrested as a spy1 and condemned by the judge1 who chanced to be his own uncle1 to be thrown into the public prison4 ,roch1 believing it to be ,god's will1 yielded to the punishment without revealing his identity1 and languished in a dungeon for five years4 ,one morning1 when the jailer entered his cell1 he found it filled with a bright supernatural light1 but his prisoner dead1 and by his side a writing that revealed his name and the words3 #8,all those that are stricken by the plague1 and who pray for aid through the merits and intercession of ,st4 ,roch1 the servant of ,god1 shall be healed4' ,his uncle1 the judge1 gave him an honourable burial1 and the whole city lamented his death4 ,st4 ,roch is believed to have died in ,a4,d4 #acbg in his thirty-second year4 ,at ,montpellier he was venerated from the first1 and this veneration was quickened and extended by the great pandemic of ,a4,d4 #acdh4 ,but it was not till the fifteenth century that his cult became widespread4 ,this was the direct consequence of an outbreak of plague at ,constance in ,a4,d4 #adad1 during that ,council of prelates that condemned ,huss to the stake4 ,they were about to disperse and fly from danger1 when a young ,german monk told them of the power of ,st4 ,roch4 ,on his advice the ,council ordered an effigy of the ,saint to be carried in procession through the streets with prayers and litanies3 and immediately the plague was stayed4 ,his festival has been celebrated for centuries on the sixteenth day of ,august4 ,in ,a4,d4 #adhe the ,venetians1 who from their trade with the ,levant1 were constantly subject to plague1 carried off the body of ,st4 ,roch from ,montpellier by stealth1 and the church of ,san ,rocco was built to receive it4 ,such is the legend of ,st4 ,roch4 ,he and ,sebastian commonly figure together in dedicatory plague pictures1 as dual protectors against plague4 ,they seem to represent in art two attitudes to suffering1 ,st4 ,roch that of compassion1 ,st4 ,sebastian that of courage and resignation--two attitudes well expressed in four short lines of an obscure ,australian poet that deserve to be better known than they are3 ,life is mostly froth and bubble3 ,two things stand like stone3 ,kindness in another's trouble1 ,courage in your own4 ,coming into general knowledge about the time of the revival of art1 the legend of ,st4 ,roch and his figure were favourite and familiar subjects in the ,christian art of the ,west4 ,the whole legend has been frequently used as a theme for the decoration of churches dedicated to his name3 such a one may be seen in ,siena1 and another1 though less complete1 in ,venice4 ,in the ,scuola di ,s4 ,rocco his life-story is set out in a series of twenty carved reliefs on the walnut panelling of the upper hall4 ,sometimes several scenes from his life are blended in a single picture4 ,in the ,brera1 at ,milan1 is a picture of ,st4 ,roch with ,madonna and ,child1 by ,ambrogio da ,fossano1 called #8,borgognone' 7,a4,d4 #adhj-aebc74 ,in the background are scenes from his life1 among which his dog is shown carrying a loaf in its mouth4 ,the picture formerly belonged to the ,company of ,charity of ,milan4 ,st4 ,roch is generally represented as a man in the prime of life1 with a short pointed beard1 delicate features1 and a gentle expression of countenance4 ,as a rule he wears a pilgrim's dress1 with a cockle-shell in his hat and a wallet at his side4 ,in one hand he holds a long staff1 while with the other he lifts his robe to show the plague sore in his groin or thigh4 ,very rarely he is figured as a youth in the dress of the period1 and is then nearly always introduced to balance a similar ,sebastian4 ,numerous pictures deal with single episodes in his life--his tending the plague-sick1 his healing by an angel1 his life and death in prison4 ,the best known are perhaps those by ,tintoretto in the church of ,s4 ,rocco at ,venice4 ,many show him praying among the sick1 as in the picture by ,domenichino of ,bologna 7,a4,d4 #aehd-afda7 in the ,palazzo ,rosso at ,genoa4 ,an angel with a drawn sword hovers over the scene1 and ,st4 ,roch holds out one arm1 as though entreating the angel to put up his sword into its sheath4 ,jacopo ,bassano 7,a4,d4 #aeaj-ib71 in a picture in the ,brera1 represents him among a number of plague victims1 with hand raised in attitude of benediction4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,x 7,face ,page #ajh7 ,s4 ,,roch4 ,,by ,,ambrogio ,,borgognone ,photograph by ,anderson1 ,rome ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xi 7,face ,page #aji7 ,,an ,,intercessory ,,plague ,,picture ,,by ,,niklaus ,,manuel4 ,s4 ,,roch ,,tended ,,by ,,an ,,angel ,a picture by the ,swiss painter1 ,niklaus ,manuel 7,a4,d4 #adhd-aecj71 at ,basle1 painted in tempera on linen1 shows ,st4 ,roch with a little angel tending his wound4 ,it is typical of a large group of intercessory plague pictures4 ,at the summit of the picture is the ,almighty in glory in the heavens4 ,beneath ,him is ,st4 ,anna with the ,virgin ,mary and the ,child ,jesus3 they are placed between the ,almighty and the plague-stricken to indicate that they are the appropriate medium of intercession4 ,they are flanked on the one side by ,st4 ,roch1 and on the other by ,st4 ,james4 ,st4 ,anna appears in many pictures of this period1 as ,pope ,alexander ,,ii in #adid promoted her worship1 by making her feast-day one of the chief festivals of the ,church4 ,at the foot of the picture is a rough delineation of the city attacked by plague3 on the right of it1 a group representing probably the donors of the picture3 on the left1 a group of sufferers1 two of whom show plague marks on their limbs4 ,on the woman's arm is a raised sore3 on the man's arm black petechial blotches1 on his body large circular spots1 and an open red ulcer on the inner side of his leg4 ,one of the most famous pictures of ,st4 ,roch is the altar-piece by ,rubens1 at ,alost1 near ,brussels4 ,the upper part of the picture shows the interior of a prison illuminated by a supernatural light4 ,st4 ,roch kneels looking up into the face of ,christ1 in radiant gratitude1 as he receives his commission as patron saint against the plague4 ,an angel holds a tablet on which is written1 #8,eris in peste patronus1' in allusion to the words revealed in his cell at his death4 ,statues of ,st4 ,roch are hardly so frequently met with as those of ,sebastian3 he was a less attractive model for sculptors4 ,in the ,muse of ,grenoble is a quaint archaic wooden figure of ,st4 ,roch of the early fifteenth century1 which stood formerly in the chapel of the ,chteau of ,bressieux4 ,it shows him in pilgrim guise1 holding aside his garments to show the bubo in his left groin4 ,it is deeply incised1 according to the surgical practice of the period4 ,the plague mark of ,st4 ,roch is depicted in a variety of forms4 ,sometimes it is simply a bubo in the groin1 usually the left1 or just below it1 to satisfy artistic decency4 ,this form may be seen in a picture by ,crivelli 7,a4,d4 #adfh-ic7 of #8,four ,saints'1 in the ,academy at ,venice1 and in another of ,st4 ,roch and ,st4 ,sebastian1 by ,alfani1 in the ,pinacotheca at ,perugia4 ,far more commonly the mark is a short longitudinal incision in the upper part of either thigh1 as in ,sodoma's plague banner 7see ,plate ,,viii1 p4 #ajj74 ,sometimes the incision is in the substance of a bubo4 ,this may be seen in a portrait of ,st4 ,roch over a side-altar in the church of ,s4 ,maria dei ,servi at ,siena4 ,not infrequently the incision is slanting or transverse and displays a complete disregard for the femoral artery4 ,a notable example is ,titian's #8,st4 ,mark and ,saints' in the ,salute at ,venice 7see ,plate ,,ix1 p4 #ajb74 ,sometimes the hose is slit over the incision in the flesh1 as though some bold and busy surgeon had been pressed for time4 ,this may be seen in ,caroto's picture of #8,four ,saints' in the church of ,s4 ,fermo ,maggiore at ,verona3 also in a picture by ,perugino1 #8,virgin and ,saints1' in the cathedral at ,perugia1 and in another of ,st4 ,roch in the ,palazzo ,borromeo at ,milan4 ,a solitary example of ,st4 ,roch with a black pustule on the inner side of his left thigh1 surrounded by a pink zone of inflammation1 may be seen in the ,brera4 ,the picture is by ,bernardino ,borgognone 7,a4,d4 #adij-aebd74 ,in some of the ,pestbltter a gash in the thigh is shown as well as a small circle1 which would seem to indicate the circular plague pustule4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xii 7,face ,page #aaj7 ,,madonna ,,and ,,child1 ,s4 ,,anna ,,and ,,saints ,,by ,g4 ,,francesco ,,caroto ,photograph by ,alinari1 ,rome ,,footnotes3 #ada ,de ,gestis ,langobardorum1 vi4 #e4 #adb ,caxton1 ,golden ,legend2 ,jameson1 ,sacred and ,legendary ,art4 #adc ,see ,frontispiece4 #add ,bascombe1 ,history of ,epidemic ,diseases4 #ade ,kremer1 ,ueber die grossen ,seuchen des ,orients1 nach arabischen ,quellen4 #adf ,caxton1 ,golden ,legend2 ,jameson1 ,sacred and ,legendary ,art4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,there is no need to rewrite the history of the ,black ,death3 that has been admirably accomplished by ,hecker and by ,abbot ,gasquet4 ,it is still profitable1 however1 to investigate its by-effects in the domains of literature and art1 and to consider its broad morbid features1 as a contribution to the medical history of the time4 ,the ,black ,death was the first great pandemic that left in its wake a complete and continuous succession of literary and historical records1 in most points complementary1 in some frankly contradictory1 but for all that none the less instructive4 ,as to the starting-point of the pandemic there is a diversity of voices4 ,russian records place it in ,india1 ,greek in ,scythia1 ,english in ,india and ,asiatic ,turkey1 ,arabian in ,tartary and the land of darkness4 ,according to ,italian tradition it originated in ,cathay1 to the north of ,china1 and spread in every direction from that focus2 northward by ,bokhara and ,tartary to the ,black ,sea2 to ,india and the towns south of the ,caspian1 and to ,asia ,minor2 and by way of ,baghdad through ,arabia and ,egypt to the north of ,africa4 ,the leading contemporary ,italian authority is ,gabrielle de ,mussi1 a notary of ,piacenza1 who himself saw its outbreak in ,upper ,italy4 ,in his #8,ystoria de morbo seu mortalitate qui fuit a #acdh'1 first printed by ,henschel in ,haeser's ,archiv fr die gesammte ,medicin1 he describes how the plague was brought by ship from ,caffa2 a ,genoese settlement in the ,crimea4 ,the ,tartar city ,tana 7,port ,azov71 that had been appropriated by ,italian merchants1 was besieged in ,a4,d4 #acdf by an army of ,tartars and ,saracens4 ,the ,tartars expelled them1 and followed them to ,caffa1 whither they had fled4 ,plague broke out fiercely among the besieging ,tartars1 who1 in the hope of infecting the garrison1 threw their dead bodies into the city by means of engines of war4 ,the garrison in turn cast them into the sea1 but the city became infected and almost completely depopulated1 a few survivors taking ship and carrying the disease with them to ,italy in the autumn of ,a4,d4 #acdg4 ,speaking of the infection of ,caffa1 de ,mussi says #8the air became tainted and the wells of water poisoned1 and in this way the disease spread rapidly in the city'4 ,so the old idea of poison still prevails1 but it is a virus derived from infected corpses1 and not some extraneous poison compounded by a maleficent enemy4 ,the poison was communicable also from man to man1 for he says of the sailors coming from ,caffa to ,venice and ,genoa that #8as if accompanied by evil spirits1 as soon as they approached the land1 they were death to those with whom they mingled'4 ,these ships seem to have infected ,constantinople en route1 and an account of its ravages there survives from the pen of the ,emperor ,cantacuzenus4#adg ,it is a mistake to regard his record as worthless material1 because of its plagiarism of much of the language of ,thucydides4 ,in what is not appropriated from this source he gives a valuable clinical description of the disease4 ,he notes the early low delirium1 and distinguishes pneumonic1 bubonic1 and carbuncular types of the disease4 ,he mentions cervical and axillary1 but not inguinal buboes1 and also the dark patches on the skin1 that later came to be termed #8tokens'4 ,he also asserts the incidence of the disease on the domestic animals4 ,in making for ,genoa these ships put in at ,messina in ,sicily and left the infection there4 ,michael ,platiensis 7of ,piazza71 a ,franciscan friar1 has given an account of its course in this city4 ,he refers to infection by means of the breath1 and by contact with the belongings of1 the infected4 ,gabrielle de ,mussi seems to hold a similar belief4 #8,we' i4 e4 the ,genoese sailors1 he says1 #8reach our homes3 our kindred and our neighbours come from all parts to visit us4 ,woe to us1 for we cast at them the darts of death6 ,whilst we spoke to them1 whilst they embraced us and kissed us1 we scattered the poison from our lips4 ,going back to their homes1 they soon infected their whole families4' ,de ,mussi explicitly asserts that the plague was carried from the seaport of ,genoa by some ,genoese to ,bobbio1 and to his city of ,piacenza4 ,here such was the mortality that #8no prayer was said1 no solemn office sung1 nor bell tolled for the funeral of even the noblest citizen3 but by day and night the corpses were borne to the common plague pit without rite or ceremony'4 ,so ,italy had been primarily infected at ,venice and at ,genoa1 and from these sea-coast cities the disease spread itself over the whole ,italian peninsula4 ,at ,venice the example of ,galen had sunk deep into the hearts of her physicians4 ,they fled before the advancing enemy and shut themselves up in their houses1 leaving the surgeons1 led by ,andrea di ,padova1 to fill their place4 ,physicians would do well to bear this occasion in mind1 when they complain of the encroachments of surgery into the domain of medicine4 ,on ,march #cj1 ,a4,d4 #acdh1 the ,grand ,council of ,venice appointed three men to act as a ,committee of ,public ,safety4 ,these men had large burial-pits dug in one of the islands of the lagoon1 and organized a service of boats to transport the bodies to them4 ,rome was not so hard hit as some of the cities of ,italy4 ,nevertheless1 there remains to this day a monument of this plague in the flight of marble steps leading up to the church of ,ara ,coeli4 ,these were set up by ,giovanni de ,colonna in ,october #acdh1 out of the spoils of the temple of the ,sun on the ,quirinal1 and were designed for the use of the citizens1 who with ropes round their necks and with ashes on their heads climbed the hill barefooted1 to implore from the ,blessed ,virgin the cessation of the plague4 ,the thirteenth-century mosaic of the ,madonna and ,child may still be seen above the side entrance of ,ara ,coeli at the head of the well-worn stairs leading up from the ,capitoline ,piazza4 ,the object of worship remains1 but the worshippers are no more4 ,lanciani#adh has reproduced an old engraving showing women ascending the marble stairs on their knees4 ,this staircase would seem to be indicated both in ,delaunay's picture and in the fresco by which it was inspired4 ,there is a legend in ,rome1 that as the panic-stricken people were carrying an effigy of the ,madonna from the ,ara ,coeli to ,st4 ,peter's1 the statue of the angel on the ,castel ,s4 ,angelo bowed its head to do homage to it4 ,plague was not the only enemy in ,rome in ,a4,d4 #acdh1 for a terrible earthquake on ,september #i and #aj wrought havoc among the remaining monuments of ancient ,rome4 ,those citizens1 who had escaped the plague and from death among the falling ruins1 lived for weeks in the open ,campagna with no shelter from the inclemency of the weather4 ,perhaps it was this accident that served to bring the visitation to an end at ,rome more rapidly than elsewhere4 ,agnolo di ,tura1 in his ,cronica ,senese1 edited by ,muratori1 gives a graphic picture of the ,black ,death in ,siena4 ,a large uninteresting picture in the church of ,s4 ,maria dei ,servi depicts ,st4 ,catharine attending the plague-stricken1 and there is an ugly1 almost ludicrous1 fresco of the same subject in the ,house of ,st4 ,catharine of ,siena4 ,the painter brothers ,pietro and ,ambrogio ,lorenzetti were both carried off by plague4 ,but it is in the ,duomo itself that the mark of the ,black ,death is most apparent4 ,begun in ,a4,d4 #acci1 on the site of an older cathedral dedicated to the ,madonna of the ,assumption1 the transepts were built1 the foundations of the nave and choir were laid1 and their walls partly raised according to the designs of ,lando ,orefice1 when the ,black ,death broke out in the city in ,a4,d4 #acdh4 ,the money collected for the building was diverted to urgent public purposes1 and the work1 once suspended1 has never been completely accomplished4 ,the present cathedral1 splendid as it is1 is a mere fragment of the magnificent fabric1 in which ,orefice purposed to enshrine a memorial to the glory of fourteenth century ,siena4 ,the little ,cappella di ,piazza1 attached as a loggia to the ,palazzo ,publico of ,siena1 was set up in gratitude for the cessation of the plague that carried off no less than thirty thousand persons4 ,it was commenced in ,a4,d4 #aceb and completed in ,a4,d4 #acgf4 ,hard by ,siena the citizens of ,san ,gimignano vowed an altar to ,st4 ,fabian and ,st4 ,sebastian as the price of their protection1 and set it up between the doors of the ,pieve or ,collegiata4 ,above the place where once it stood is now the fresco of ,benozzo ,gozzoli1 commemorating the plague of ,a4,d4 #adfd4 ,no less a man than ,petrarch#adi has chronicled this plague at ,parma4 ,his letter is in no sense descriptive1 but rather a long-drawn-out wail over the devastation1 the loss of friends and relations1 and the magnitude of the destruction1 that seemed to him to threaten the utter extinction of the human race4 ,affectation is the key-note of his lamentations1 that are freely interspersed with allusions to the ancient classics4 ,laura had died of plague at ,avignon in ,a4,d4 #acdh1 and ,petrarch in sadness of soul wrote these lines on the manuscript of his beloved ,vergil1 now in the ,ambrosian ,library at ,milan3 #8,laura1 illustrious by her virtues1 and long celebrated in my songs1 first greeted my eyes in the days of my youth1 the #fth ,april1 #acbg1 at ,avignon2 and in the same city1 at the same hour of the same #fth ,april1 but in the year #acdh1 withdrew from life1 whilst ,i was at ,verona1 unconscious of my loss4 ,the melancholy truth was made known to me by letters1 which ,i received at ,parma on the #aith ,may4' #8,her chaste and lovely body was interred on the evening of the same day in the ,church of the ,minorites3 her soul1 as ,i believe1 returned to heaven1 whence it came4' #8,to write these lines in bitter memory of this event1 and in the place where they will most often meet my eyes1 has in it something of a cruel sweetness1 but ,i forget that nothing more ought in this life to please me1 which by the grace of ,god need not be difficult to one who thinks strenuously and manfully of the idle cares1 the empty hopes1 and the unexpected end of the years that are gone4' ,the ,florentines1 by way of rehabilitating their city after the ,black ,death1 founded a university1 and offered ,petrarch a professorial chair1 which he declined4 ,matteo ,villani#aej wrote a plain unvarnished account of the state of ,florence during the ,black ,death1 but it has found little favour beside the lighter sketch that stands as a prelude to the ,decameron4 ,his brother ,giovanni1 the ,florentine historian1 was one of the early victims1 and ,matteo takes up his history at the point at which he left it1 and begins with a description of the epidemic4 ,famine had preceded the plague1 and like it was regarded as sent by ,heaven for the punishment of sin4 ,but the energy of the government1 in importing corn and distributing it to the destitute1 had done much to relieve the distress1 when this worse enemy presented itself at the gates4 ,both ,villani and ,boccaccio enlarge on the futility of all measures1 preventive and remedial alike1 and the intense infectiveness of the disease4 ,they believed that it could be communicated by a look1 as well as by contact with the person or belongings of an infected subject4 ,boccaccio mentions the speedy death of two pigs from rooting among some infected clothing4 ,some pinned their faith on strict seclusion3 some on temperate living1 some on intemperance3 others sought safety in the carrying of aromatic substances4 ,both ,villani and ,boccaccio lay stress on the utter depravity and demoralization engendered by the plague4 ,great uncertainty of life has never failed to generate corresponding recklessness4 ,it has always been the same tale in every desperate city2 it was so when ,jerusalem1 panic-stricken at the threatened attack of ,sennacherib1 gave itself over to wild revelry3 #8,and in that day did the ,lord ,god of ,hosts call to weeping and to mourning1 and to baldness1 and to girding with sackcloth3 but behold joy and gladness1 slaying oxen1 and killing sheep1 eating flesh and drinking wine3 let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die4' ,matteo ,villani traces to the ,black ,death the social and moral degeneracy and the political anarchy1 that were rampant in ,florentine life1 in the centuries that followed close upon it4 ,family affection is apt to reach its lowest ebb in the houses of a plague-stricken city4 ,villani and ,boccaccio echo the language of ,thucydides when they tell of parents deserting children1 and husbands wives1 in their hour of need1 and the neglect of the sacred rites of sepulture4 ,the plague raged in ,florence from ,april to ,september1 and ,antoninus1 ,archbishop of ,florence1 computes the mortality within the city at #fj1jjj persons1 two-thirds of the total population4 ,boccaccio actually raises the figure to #ajj1jjj between ,march and ,july only1 but this figure1 if correct1 must comprise also the surrounding district1 which suffered only less severely than the city itself4 ,one bright record stands out against this dark background of social demoralization in the devotion of the ,compagnia della ,misericordia to their self-appointed task4 ,instituted in ,a4,d4 #abdd for the service of the sick1 they now also lent themselves to the transport of the dead4 ,a picture by ,cigoli 7,a4,d4 #aeei-afac71 now in the church of the ,misericordia1 shows the brotherhood in red robes--now changed to black--gathering up the dead and dying at the foot of ,giotto's ,tower4 ,the bearers may be seen to this day in the streets of ,florence in the same robes and hoods masking the whole face but the eyes1 but the hand-litters and sedans of ,cigoli's picture have now been slung on wheels and sanctified to modern use with the addition of a motor ambulance4 ,great wealth flowed into the coffers of the guild from men who desired to crown a vicious life with a comfortable death and a decent burial4 ,the horrors of the plague-stricken city1 with which ,boccaccio has prefaced his ,decameron1 stand out in striking contrast to the gay frivolity of the young men and women round whom his romance ranges4 ,plague and pleasure jostle each other in jarring juxtaposition4 ,boccaccio of set purpose chose this dark background for the staging of his brighter theme4 ,thucydides had done the same before him1 in setting the panegyric of ,pericles side by side with the plague of ,athens3 and ,manzoni has done so after him in the romance of ,promessi ,sposi4 ,perhaps also he had learnt1 amid the fierce realities of the plague1 to envisage life as it is1 and so present it to his readers4 ,niebuhr1 in tracing the decadence of ,roman literature to the ,antonine plague1 cites as a parallel illustration the influence of the ,black ,death on early ,florentine literature4 ,in the latter case1 at any rate1 it is difficult to bring his dictum into line with the actual circumstances4 ,it would seem rather that the break in the vernacular ,florentine literature after ,dante1 ,petrarch1 and ,boccaccio1 was deliberate1 and in no sense accidental4 ,what ,petrarch perceived1 and perceived unerringly1 was the poverty of the material on which the vernacular had maintained a starved existence2 and he saw in the ancient classics1 in their mythology1 in their speculative freedom1 in the principles of their art1 liberation from the bondage that the ,church had laid on literature4 ,what he did not perceive was that in reverting to ancient modes of thought it was needless1 nay even harmful1 to adopt also the language of the ancients4 ,it was not open to him to see1 as it is to us1 that no great work of literature has ever been produced in any language but that in which the writer speaks and feels and thinks3 any tongue but the tongue of his daily life must needs be artificial and inanimate4 ,petrarch himself little guessed that with posterity his fame would rest on his ,rime in the vernacular1 and not on his epistles and multifarious dissertations in a lifeless ,latin language4 ,it is this mistaken teaching of ,petrarch that explains the abrupt break of a century or more in vernacular ,florentine literature1 to which the ,black ,death can have been at most a trivial contributory cause4 ,as soon as this mistake came to be recognized ,florentine literature flows on again in its old channel in the full stream of the fifteenth and sixteenth century masterpieces of ,ariosto1 of ,tasso1 and the rest4 ,it was the advice of ,petrarch that turned ,boccaccio from the vernacular to ,latin1 after he had completed in his ,decameron a masterpiece of ,italian prose4 ,the influence of the classical revival that ,petrarch had brought to life was destined also slowly to secularize ,florentine art1 but the time of its complete emancipation was not yet4 ,the ,black ,death first touched ,french soil at ,marseilles1 brought thither1 it was thought1 by ships from ,genoa4 ,simon de ,covino1 a doctor1 described the features of the disease as he witnessed it at the neighbouring town of ,montpellier1 in ,latin hexameter verse4 ,he clearly recognized its contagious character1 for he says1 #8,by a single touch or a single breath of the plague-stricken they perished4' ,of the plague at ,avignon both lay and medical accounts survive4 ,a full description is contained in a letter from an anonymous canon to his friends in ,bruges4 ,he remarks on the virulence of the contagion1 and describes both pneumonic and bubonic types of the disease4 ,he says that ,clement ,,vi ordered bodies to be examined after death1 in the hope of discovering the origin of the disease4 ,this fact should be noted by those who assert that the ,church interpreted the ,de ,sepulturis bull of ,boniface ,,viii 7,a4,d4 #acjj7 as prohibiting the anatomy of human bodies4 ,the autopsies disclosed no more than inflammation of the lungs in the pneumonic cases4 ,similar examinations1 previously undertaken in ,italy1 had also yielded no better result4 ,clement also ordained expiatory processions and penitential litanies4 ,within the precincts of his palace1 to which his medical attendant1 ,gui de ,chauliac1 confined him1 he lent his own presence to the whole ceremonial that he prescribed4 ,but he did not neglect to keep large fires alight in his apartments1 as ,pope ,nicholas ,,iv 7,a4,d4 #abhh-ib7 had done at ,rome in a previous visitation4 ,only those who have been at ,avignon at midsummer can appreciate the price that ,clement was ready to pay for immunity4 ,clement's physician1 ,gui de ,chauliac1 says that the plague began at ,avignon in ,january1 and lasted for seven months4#aea ,in his view the causes of the pandemic were twofold3 universal1 consisting in a conjunction of the planets3 and special1 dependent on the feeble constitution of the individual1 whereby it came about that labouring men were chiefly attacked4 ,but then as now the scared populace was proof against pontifical pronouncements from the ,chair of ,medicine4 ,they saw in it the handiwork of ,jews spreading poison throughout the world1 so they put them to death4 ,they saw in it malevolence of lepers1 so they drove them out4 ,they saw in it a plot of feudal overlords for their extinction1 so they remained within their houses4 ,and for completer security they set a guard around the towns and villages1 who accosted each newcomer and compelled him to swallow any ointments or powders found upon him4 ,de ,chauliac describes two prevalent types of the disease4 ,the one type1 the pneumonic1 prevailed only for the first two months1 and was characterized by spitting of blood1 extreme infectiousness1 and death in three days4 ,the second type1 the bubonic1 prevailed throughout the five succeeding months1 and was characterized by boils1 by buboes chiefly in the armpits and groins1 by slight infectiousness1 and death in five days4 ,the mortality extended to no less than three-fourths of the total population1 so that to get rid of the bodies they were driven to throw them into the ,rhone1 after ,clement had pronounced a blessing on its waters4 ,to ,gui de ,chauliac the best of all preservatives was flight1 aided1 or perhaps we should say embarrassed1 by the free use of aloetic purgatives4 ,he did not fly himself1 for he says1 with the navet of a ,pepys1 #8,as for me1 to avoid infamy1 ,i did not dare absent myself1 but still ,i was in continual fear4' 7,et moy pour euiter infamie1 n'osay point m'abster3 mais auec continuelle peur me preseruay tant que ie peux1 moyennant les susdicts remedes47 ,his hesitancy was to prove his undoing1 for he was himself infected towards the end of the epidemic--but recovered after six weeks4 ,among other preservatives he reckons venesection1 purification of the air by means of fires1 comforting the heart with treacle and apples and things of savoury flavour1 consoling the humours with ,galen's ,armenian bole1 and the prevention of putrefaction by the use of bitter things4 ,should the disease defy all these precautions1 then he commends1 as curative measures1 bleedings and evacuations1 with electuaries and cordial syrups4 ,buboes should be ripened with poultices of figs and boiled onions1 pounded and mixed with leaven and butter3 then they should be opened and treated like ulcers4 ,carbuncles are to be leeched1 scarified1 and cauterized--an improvement on the disastrous treatment meted out to ,felix1 bishop of ,nantes1 on a previous occasion4 ,raymond ,chalin de ,vinario1 another practitioner in ,avignon during the plague1 adds but little to what ,gui de ,chauliac has to say4 ,he describes a solid cord1 red or variously discoloured1 which appeared in some cases on the body surface1 with a carbuncle at one end and a pestilential tubercle at the other4 ,this can hardly have been anything else than an acute lymphangitis4 ,it is clear from the descriptions of the various writers that a large proportion of the cases in this pandemic were of pneumonic type3 hence its virulence and its infectiousness4 ,amid all the panic of the ,black ,death1 persecution of the ,jews broke out with even greater ferocity than during the ,crusades in the twelfth century4 ,some victim was needed to appease the maddened populace3 so the ,jews were accused of poisoning the wells1 and even of infecting the air4 ,circumstantial accounts were circulated throughout ,europe of secret operations directed from ,toledo4 ,the concoction of poisons from spiders1 owls1 and other supposed venomous animals was described1 and its mode of distribution made known4 ,so well did their accusers deceive themselves that in many places the springs and wells were sealed1 so that no one might use them1 and the inhabitants of many cities had to rely on rain and river water4 ,if confirmation of poison were ever needed1 the rack could be trusted to procure it3 or1 failing that1 men could be found vile enough to deposit poison in places in which circumstances demanded its presence4 ,those who escaped the fury of the mob fell into the clutches of an inexorable justice4 ,in the case of the ,jews the suspicion of poisoning was prompted by the fact that at this time the practice of medicine1 at any rate in southern ,europe1 was chiefly in the hands of ,jewish physicians4 ,hideous massacres of ,jews had taken place in southern ,france and ,spain in the previous epidemics of ,a4,d4 #acbj and #accc1 as we know from the writings of ,rabbi ,joshua4 ,the first outbreak of murderous ferocity seems to have occurred at ,chillon1 on the ,lake of ,geneva1 in ,september and ,october1 ,a4,d4 #acdh4 ,here it was merely the culmination of an accusation of poisoning the wells so long previously as the epidemic of ,a4,d4 #acbj4 ,in face of the common danger1 high and low bound themselves together by a solemn oath to extirpate the ,jews by fire and the sword4 ,chillon summoned ,bern1 and ,bern sent on the summons to ,basle1 ,freyburg1 and ,strasbourg to join them in their righteous task4 ,the record of confessions extracted from the ,jews by the ordeal of torture within the ,castle of ,chillon has been rescued from oblivion by the vigilance of ,hecker4#aeb ,in ,basle and ,freyburg the ,jews were seized1 one and all1 and without form of trial were burnt to death in a wooden building1 specially constructed for the purpose1 while at ,strasbourg no less than two thousand ,jews were immolated on a wooden scaffold1 erected in their own burial-ground4 ,such as escaped were ruthlessly murdered in the streets1 saving a few only to whom freedom was granted on submission to baptism4 ,but for these the respite from renewed accusation and death was only temporary4 ,faithlessness to their own religion1 or physical charms sufficient to assuage the blood-lust of their ,christian persecutors1 constituted the only acceptable claims to a passing mercy4 ,strasbourg betrayed the true ground of its hatred of the ,jews in an order of its senate that all pledges and bonds should be returned to the debtors and the money divided among the working-people4 ,those who were unwilling to soil their hands with blood-money presented their share of the spoils to monasteries1 at the prompting of their confessors4 ,at ,spires1 ,mayence1 and ,eslingen1 voluntary immolation in their own houses alone saved the ,jews from more inhuman tortures4 ,some were murdered in the open streets and their dead bodies thrown into the ,rhine in empty casks1 so that they might not infect the air4 ,now and again banishment was substituted for burning1 only for the outcasts to perish at the hands of a savage and blood-thirsty countryfolk4 ,when the houses of the ,jews were burnt a ban was set on entry into the ruins of their habitations3 the site was accursed1 as the site of ,jericho of old4 ,but the bricks of the destroyed dwellings and the tombstones of the victims were in due time rendered as an acceptable thank-offering to ,god in the repair of ,christian churches4 ,in ,austria the same accusations were brought against the ,jews as elsewhere1 and numbers were burnt to death in ,vienna and throughout the country4 ,where there were no ,jews1 as in ,leipsic1 ,magdeburg1 and other places1 the grave-diggers were accused of propagating the plague for their own sordid ends4 ,it should be set to the credit of ,clement ,,vi that he extended his personal protection to the ,jews at ,avignon1 issuing two bulls1 asserting their innocence1 and calling on ,christians to refrain from persecution4 ,the ,emperor ,charles ,,iv did what lay in his power1 short of drawing the sword1 to check the outrages perpetrated by the ,bohemian nobles4 ,duke ,albert of ,austria exacted from the persecutors punishments only less cruel than they themselves had inflicted1 but even so did not avail to save hundreds of ,jews from the flames1 in his own fortress of ,kyberg4 ,other lesser princes1 more often for bribes than for pity1 extended some measure of protection to the wretched ,jews1 earning for themselves the sobriquet of #8,jew-masters'4 ,it was no light matter for a private person to shelter a ,jew1 for the penalty was often exacted on the rack or at the stake4 ,basnage#aec states that the large number of ,jews in modern ,poland may be traced to the fact that ,king ,casimir the ,great 7,a4,d4 #accc-gj71 yielding to the entreaties of a favourite ,jewess1 ,esther1 granted sanctuary to such ,jews as sought it4 ,but actually ,casimir only confirmed an edict of protection promulgated in ,a4,d4 #abfd1 and ,poland had then already afforded a haven of refuge to the ,jews1 who had fled from the cruel massacres perpetrated in the enthusiasm of the first ,crusade4 ,in ,england the ,black ,death served to revive the perennial charges brought against the ,jews--that they stole ,christian children and killed them1 especially at ,easter-time1 a charge that ,chaucer1 mindful of ,hugh of ,lincoln1 has enshrined in the pathetic verse of his ,prioress4 ,they were charged also with outraging the ,host1 as well as with spreading poison4 ,the ,black ,death seems to have fallen with greater violence on ,austria than on ,germany1#aed perhaps on account of its close contact with ,italy4 ,it devastated ,vienna from ,easter to ,michaelmas of ,a4,d4 #acdi1 carrying off thirty thousand out of a population of less than one hundred thousand persons4 ,the excited populace personified it as the ,pest-,jungfrau1 who had only to raise her hand to infect a victim4 ,she was to be seen flying through the air in the form of a blue flame1 and also proceeding out of the mouths of dead and dying4 ,some saw the plague poison descend in the form of a ball of fire4 ,one such was seen hovering over the town1 but a bishop exorcised it by prayer1 so that it fell harmless to earth4 ,a stone effigy of the ,madonna was set up in the street1 where it fell4 ,all medical aid proved useless1 and amulets1 potions1 and preservative electuaries were in general use4 ,segregation of the sick was attempted1 by nailing up doors and windows of infected houses1 but even so dead bodies littered the streets4 ,huge plague pits were dug for the reception of the dead4 ,flagellant processions sought to excite divine compassion by the ritual of peripatetic penitence4 ,the genesis of the ,flagellant movement must be looked for further back in the history of pestilence than the ,black ,death4 ,the idea of mortifying the flesh by the penance of scourging is of ancient origin1 and at least as early as the eleventh century brotherhoods were devoted to this ritual4 ,the processions of these ,devoti1 as they were termed in ,italy1 were originated by ,st4 ,anthony in ,a4,d4 #abca1 and we hear of them under the name of ,flagellants in ,vienna during the plague of ,a4,d4 #abfa4 ,one ,monachus ,paduanus1 quoted by ,hecker1 has left a record of the early days of the ,devoti4 #8,when the land was polluted by vices and crimes1 an unexampled spirit of remorse suddenly seized the minds of the ,italians4 ,the fear of ,christ fell upon all3 noble and ignoble1 old and young1 and even children of five years of age1 marched through the streets with no covering but a scarf round the waist4 ,they each carried a scourge of leather thongs1 which they applied to their limbs1 amid sighs and tears1 with such violence that the blood flowed from the wounds4 ,not only during the day1 but even by night1 and in the severest winter1 they traversed the cities with burning torches and banners1 in thousands and tens of thousands1 headed by their priests1 and prostrated themselves before the altars4 ,they proceeded in the same manner in the villages3 and the woods and mountains resounded with the voices of those whose cries were raised to ,god4 ,the melancholy chaunt of the penitent alone was heard4 ,enemies were reconciled3 men and women vied with each other in splendid works of charity1 as if they dreaded that ,divine ,omnipotence would pronounce on them the doom of annihilation4' ,before this mediaeval pageant of penitence the mind insensibly reverts to the ancient ritual of the ,salii on this same ,italian soil1 to their choric hymn of expiation1 to the supplicationes1 and to the love-feast of the lectisternium of later days4 ,under the stimulus of the ,black ,death1 the ,brotherhood of the ,cross1 or ,cross-bearers1 arose out of the ranks of the ,flagellants1 first in ,hungary1 and afterwards in ,germany4 ,ditmar#aee has left the following account of their processions3 #8,their heads covered as far as the eyes3 their look fixed on the ground1 accompanied by every token of the deepest contrition and mourning4 ,they were robed in sombre garments1 with red crosses on the breast1 back and cap1 and bore triple scourges1 tied in three or four knots1 in which points of iron were fixed4 ,tapers and magnificent banners of cloth of gold were carried before them3 wherever they made their appearance they were welcomed by the ringing of the bells3 and the people flocked from all quarters1 to listen to their hymns and to witness their penance1 with devotion and tears4' ,when the ,flagellants entered the town they would hand the citizens a document setting forth ,god's anger and determination to destroy mankind1 had not the ,virgin ,mary interceded for them4 ,some of the crosses carried by the ,flagellants are still to be seen at ,gross-,glogau1 ,kaysersberg1 and ,ammerschweyer in ,upper ,alsace4 ,this spirit of religious fanaticism spread like wildfire through ,hungary1 ,germany1 ,bohemia1 ,silesia1 ,poland1 and ,flanders1 and even beyond these countries4 ,in the autumn of #acdi some six-score ,flagellants crossed from ,holland and paraded the streets of ,london1 but the metropolis had not then acquired the taste for processions1 and ejected them as undesirable aliens4 ,at last the movement had alighted on uncongenial soil4 ,so great was the number of the ,flagellants that they became a cause of well-founded anxiety to the clergy1 whose churches they actually invaded1 and whose influence they threatened to supersede4 ,their hymns were in every mouth1 and one of them1 the chief psalm of the ,cross-bearers1 is reproduced by ,hecker in his ,epidemics of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the secular authorities also saw cause for alarm at the growing numbers and power of the brotherhood1 bound together by common ritual and common regulations1 and capable1 under bold and designing leaders1 of exerting their influence in the affairs of states4 ,the ,emperor ,charles ,,iv appealed to the ,holy ,see for protection against the heretics1 and ,clement ,,vi responded by issuing a bull from ,avignon on ,october #bj1 #acdi1 prohibiting the pilgrimages on pain of excommunication4 ,philip ,,vi forbade altogether their reception in ,france1 and several other ruling princes followed his example4 ,relentless persecution soon took the place of unthinking homage4 ,the processions were abandoned1 but the spirit that animated them was not dead1 and the same fanaticism broke out again in ,germany in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries1 and in ,italy even as late as the eighteenth1 under the influence of successive plagues4 ,the ,black ,death1 sweeping throughout ,england1 is believed to have carried off one-half of the total population4 ,historians have told the tale of the resulting emancipation of the labouring class1 but we find that it has also left its mark on the education1 the literature1 the art1 and the architecture of ,england4 ,in education1 it helped greatly to bring about the revival of ,english in the schools4 ,after the ,norman ,conquest ,french had gradually become the language of education3 not of set purpose1 for the ,conqueror himself tried ineffectually to learn ,english4 ,but most of the education was in the hands of the clergy1 and as many ,frenchmen had been put in charge of monasteries and of parochial cures1 it was inevitable that ,french should become the language of education1 and so diffuse itself generally through the educated part of the nation1 both ,french and ,english4 ,about the middle of the fourteenth century ,higden1 in his ,polychronicon1 states that ,french was still the language taught in the schools1 and had been so since the ,norman ,conquest4 ,in ,a4,d4 #ache ,trevisa1 commenting on ,higden's statement1 writes3 #8,this maner was myche yused tofore the first moreyn before the #acdi murrain1 and is siththe som dele since somewhat ychaungide4 ,for ,john ,cornwaile1 a maister of gramer1 chaungide the lore learning in gramer scole and construction of from ,frensch into ,englisch1 and ,richard ,pencriche lerned that maner teching of him1 and other men of ,pencriche4 ,so that now1 the yere of owre ,lord a thousand thre hundred foure score and fyve1 of the secunde ,king ,rychard after the ,conquest nyne1 in alle the gramer scoles of ,england children leveth ,frensch1 and construeth an in ,englisch4' ,despite the adoption of ,french as the language of the schools1 ,english had survived as a colloquial language side by side with its supplanter4 ,in the conflict between the two prestige and fashion were on the side of ,french1 tradition and nationality on the side of ,english3 and sooner or later the balance was bound to incline to the side of the national language4 ,the fusion of the two had inevitably led to the corruption of each1 but the corrupted ,french1 at any rate after the loss of ,normandy1 had no standard of purity at hand to limit corruption1 while the corrupted ,english was constantly purified by contact with the native tongue1 and by the existence of a pre-,norman vernacular literature4 ,national spirit1 stimulated by international strife1 was ripe for completing the task1 that ,john ,cornwall had begun in a single west country school2 and the ,black ,death1 by sweeping away the existing teachers and making place for others of native stock1 did much to facilitate the change4 ,the triumph of the vernacular operated a mighty revolution in our national literature1 paving the way for ,langland and ,chaucer4 ,thomas ,usk1 in the ,prologue to his ,testament of ,love1 completed not later than ,a4,d4 #achg1 alludes to the utter corruption of the imported ,french1 and the ,prioress in the ,canterbury ,tales1 although she could speak ,french #8ful fayre and festishly' spoke it only ,after the scole of ,stratford atte ,bowe1 ,for ,frenche of ,paris was to hire her unknowe4 ,one other immediate effect of the ,black ,death was to reduce the literary output of the monasteries to its lowest level4 ,no one can fail to be struck by the scantiness and sterility of the contemporary chronicles1 which characterize the period following the ,black ,death1 and the reasonable explanation of this abrupt change would seem to lie in the notorious depletion of the monastic households4 ,the tragedy of the ,provenal brotherhood1 in which ,petrarch's brother and his dog alone survived to tend and guard the monastery1 found an echo in a like desolation of many an ,english monastery4 ,the special incidence on the monasteries was perhaps due to the monks moving freely among the sick1 and giving them sanctuary within their cloister4 ,the sick1 too1 exhibited often an ill-timed gratitude in bequeathing their clothes to the monasteries4 ,doctors1 as ,chaucer remarked of his day1 were only for the rich4 ,in ,england1 as in ,italy1 the ,black ,death left its mark on architecture in the abrupt arrest of schemes of construction in course of execution4 ,many such breaks may be detected in the church architecture of the fourteenth century1 and a notable example is furnished in the unfinished towers of the church of ,st4 ,nicholas at ,yarmouth4 ,prior#aef indicates a similar break of continuity in the building of ,york ,minster4 ,the west front and the nave were in course of construction1 when the ,black ,death appeared1 and the result is a makeshift wood vaulting to the nave4 ,then the building of the choir was delayed for twelve years1 till ,a4,d4 #acfa1 and in its structure the flowing lines of the ,decorated style1 seen in the west front1 have given place to the formal stiffness of the ,perpendicular4 ,in ,london the effect is much less conspicuous than in the northern parts of ,england1 perhaps because it was easier to replenish the supply of masons in the metropolis than elsewhere4 ,the building of ,st4 ,stephen's ,chapel in ,westminster and the completion of the ,abbey cloisters seem to have proceeded continuously1 and with no change of style1 throughout the ,black ,death and the following years3 and the same is the case with ,gloucester ,cathedral4 ,prior considers that the ,black ,death played a leading part in the superseding of the ,decorated by the ,perpendicular type1 and in the diffusion of the latter from its ,gloucester home throughout ,england4 ,the lack of builders led to masons passing from one district to another1 removing them from the conditions of local stone favourable to their best work and to originality of style4 ,the inevitable result was that the architectural style easiest of expression in any form of stone was bound to prevail1 and that style was the ,perpendicular4 ,examples of this transformation in the years following close on the ,black ,death are numerous1 in the nave and cloisters of ,canterbury ,cathedral1 in the west front of ,winchester ,cathedral1 and elsewhere4 ,the same stereotyped monotony1 the same continuous decline in the skill of execution1 the same obvious diminution of interest in the craft of the artificer1 as is seen in the building construction1 are manifest also in the figure-sculpture and traceries of the period4 ,the variation of artistic expression1 that in the two preceding centuries had progressed steadily from strength to strength1 comes to an abrupt cessation1 and is content with the incessant repetition of inanimate models4 #8,the figure-sculpture#aeg of the later mediaeval church under such conditions grew to be especially of the shop1 according to pattern and not of fresh adventure4 ,it no longer took its place in the business of the building-yard1 but was provided for--not worked--in the building4 ,the constructing mason left niches for statues1 and on occasion worked bosses with subject relief1 cornices with #8angel' sculpture1 and gargoyles with #8devil' sculpture4 ,but this figure work was not essential1 and a whole majestic piece of architecture in ,perpendicular style might rise from the ground and never ask for the craft of the figure-sculptor at all4 ,the works of the imager were now in effect furniture1 which could be bought in the city and added to the building at any time4 ,accordingly statues and reliefs ceased1 in fifteenth century practice1 to be carved immediately by the mason upon the building3 they became outside works conceived in no intimate relation to it4' ,gasquet maintains that a similar breach of continuity may be observed in the manufacture of stained glass1 and that there is a noticeable change in style after the ,black ,death4 ,speaking broadly1 the styles of stained glass correspond to the styles of architecture1 but in each case are a little later3 so that the contention comes to this1 that there is an unbridged gap between the late ,decorated and early ,perpendicular4 ,yet one cannot but recall the ante-chapel windows of ,new ,college1 ,oxford1 and the east window of ,gloucester ,cathedral1 in each of which the transition from ,decorated to ,perpendicular is apparent4 ,,footnotes3 #adg iv4 #h4 #adh ,golden ,days of the ,renaissance in ,rome4 #adi ,epistolae de rebus familiaribus1 viii4 #g4 #aej ,bk4 ,i1 c4 #d4 #aea ,trait ,,ii1 ,doct4 ii1 ch4 #e4 #aeb ,epidemics of the ,middle ,ages4 #aec ,histoire des ,juifs4 #aed ,krafft-,ebing1 ,geschichte der ,pest in ,wien4 #aee ,chronicon1 #aehj4 #aef ,e4 ,s4 ,prior1 ,cathedral ,builders4 #aeg ,prior and ,gardner1 ,mediaeval ,figure ,sculpture in ,england1 p4 #cij4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,for three centuries and more after the ,black ,death plague was endemic throughout central and southern ,europe1 and its presence is indelibly recorded in the productions of contemporary art4 ,dances of ,death1 plague banners1 votive and commemorative paintings1 and actual representations of plague scenes all bear silent testimony to the abiding presence of the enemy within the gates4 ,memento mori1 with its dismal foreboding1 was the appropriate motto of the age4 ,innocent ,,iii in his ,de ,contemptu ,mundi had said the last word on the misery of human existence1 and the shame and degradation of the human body1 polluted and polluting1 long before the ,black ,death3 but henceforward the gloom that haunted the soul of this great successor of ,st4 ,peter seems to diffuse itself throughout the world4 ,dancing from early ages has been associated with the conception of death4 ,in many primitive races these dances seem to pertain to mimetic magic1 and purport to expedite the passing of the spirit of the deceased4 ,both ,greeks and ,romans preserved dancing in their funeral celebrations1 and representations of these funeral dances have been found in connexion with ,greek and ,etruscan tombs4 ,these are commonly a file of maidens1 holding each other's hands1 and led by a youthful male coryphaeus4 ,anacreon1#aeh ,tibullus1#aei and ,vergil#afj all depict the revelry of the dance in the land of departed souls1 and joy is the key-note of the dance4 ,christianity1 in superseding paganism1 for better or for worse inculcated a gloomy conception of death1 as a punishment1 a penalty for original sin4 ,recurrent epidemics of pestilence served to transform the conception into that of an inexorable foe revelling in the subversion of human happiness and the futility of human affairs4 ,the literature of the age no less than its art bears the imprint of this conception4 ,petrarch has left us a ,triumph of ,death1 and ,langland in his ,vision of ,piers ,plowman#afa has given us in verse a ,dance of ,death3 ,death came driving after1 and all to dust pashed ,kynges and ,knightes1 ,kaysers and ,popes1 ,learned and lewde3 he ne let no man stande2 ,that he hitte even1 stirred never after4 ,many a lovely ladie and her lemmans of knightes ,swouned and swelte for sorwe of ,death's dyntes4 ,the earliest authenticated painting of the ,death-dance is that which was once to be seen in the churchyard of the ,innocents at ,paris1 painted in ,a4,d4 #adcd1 but it is improbable that it was actually the first4 ,a closely similar theme of earlier date may still be seen in the ,campo ,santo at ,pisa4 ,vasari attributed it to ,andrew ,orcagna 7,a4,d4 #acbi-fh71 but modern critics believe it to have been painted by ,pisan artists1 about ,a4,d4 #acej4 ,this fresco shows three young men following the chase on horseback4 ,coming to the cell of ,st4 ,macarius1 an ,egyptian anchorite1 they are brought face to face with three open coffins1 in which are a skeleton and two dead bodies1 reminding them of the fleeting nature of human pleasures4 ,this subject also is one adopted from contemporary literature4 ,under the title of #8,les trois ,morts et les trois ,vifs' it had figured in thirteenth-century verse1 and is frequently illustrated in the manuscript ,horae of the period4 ,it is suggested that this legend is the origin of the name #8,danse macabre'1 or #8,macaber ,dance'1 used often as an alternative name for the familiar #8,dance of ,death'4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiii ,,dance ,,of ,,death1 ,,at ,,basle 7,face ,page #ace7 ,it is not in ,italy and not in ,france1 but rather1 as we should expect1 in ,germany and ,switzerland1 that these ,dances of ,death found most favour1 as befits the countries that gave birth to ,luther and shelter to ,calvin4 ,in #adfb-c plague raged fiercely at ,lbeck4 ,in the chapel at the east end of the ,marienkirche is a much restored #8,dance of ,death'1 dated #adfc1 and showing the costumes of the period4 ,it is interesting as being considerably older than the more famous ,basle ,dance4 ,by far the most celebrated #8,dance of ,death' was that painted in a shed in the churchyard of the ,dominican convent at ,basle4 ,it is believed to have been painted in commemoration of a plague that occurred during the session of the ,grand ,council of ,basle1 that lasted from ,a4,d4 #adca to #addc4 ,it has been attributed on insufficient evidence to ,holbein4 ,it was destroyed by a riotous mob in ,a4,d4 #ahjf1 but relics of the life-size figures1 painted in oil1 are still to be seen in the ,historical ,museum at ,basle4 ,engravings of it also exist that record its characters in detail4 ,holbein did actually paint a #8,dance of ,death' in fresco on the walls of the old ,whitehall ,palace1 which was destroyed in the fire of ,a4,d4 #afig4 ,it was an appropriate subject for the brush of an artist1 who himself was to die of plague 7,a4,d4 #aeed74 ,it is probably referred to by ,matthew ,prior in his ,ode to the ,memory of ,george ,villiers3 ,our term of life depends not on our deed1 ,before our birth our funeral was decreed1 ,nor aw'd by foresight1 nor misled by chance1 ,imperious death directs the ebon lance1 ,peoples great ,henry's tombs1 and leads up ,holbein's ,dance4 ,holbein was almost certainly also the author of the originals of the ,lyons #8,dance of ,death'1 from which ,hans ,lutzenberger engraved the woodcuts1 which represent a varied assortment of characters of each and every social order1 among whom ,death1 in grotesque guise1 plies his grim and gruesome task4 ,the most casual observer cannot fail to be struck in any collection of pictures of the ,holbein ,school1 with the number that present some aspect or other of death4 ,in the small picture gallery of ,basle there is a picture of two skulls and a tibia1 by ,ambrose ,holbein3 a diptych1 with the bust of a young man on one panel1 and a skeleton on the other1 by ,hans ,holbein the ,younger3 another sixteenth-century diptych with a bust of a girl on one panel1 and a bust of a skeleton on the other1 by an unknown painter3 and two pictures by ,hans ,baldung 7,a4,d4 #adge-aede71 one of ,death holding a woman by the hair and pointing to a grave3 the other of ,death kissing a woman before an open grave4 ,plague banners1 or gonfaloni1#afb are a characteristic product of the ,umbrian school of painting1 and particularly of its ,perugian branch4 ,it was the lot of ,perugian painters to ply their art in the midst of tribulations of every kind4 ,throughout the fifteenth century their country was devastated by war1 and by a succession of epidemics of plague 7in ,a4,d4 #acii1 #adah1 #adbi1 #adcg1 #adej1 #adef1 #adfj-h1 #adge-hj and #adhf74 ,in the face of these visitations ,perugia set herself to appeal to the mercy of ,christ through the medium of her art4 ,all her painters scarcely sufficed to provide all the banners required for her expiatory and triumphal processions4 ,it was at times such as these that the gonfaloni made their appearance1 raised between heaven and earth1 as though to convey to ,god a splendid manifestation of popular repentance4 ,before the suppliant banners marched the priesthood in their robes1 behind them followed a penitent people1 striking their breasts and wailing aloud ,misericordia4 ,at each fresh invasion of plague a new generation of artists1 beginning with ,bonfigli 7,a4,d4 #adbj-if7 and ending with ,baroccio 7,a4,d4 #aebh-afab71 was called upon to produce afresh these tributes of the popular devotion4 ,the remedy was well adapted to their sufferings1 for these processions of penitents1 traversing the city and following banners1 that displayed the figure of the ,redeemer1 or the ,madonna1 or some other plague saint1 produced in their souls such a degree of spiritual exaltation1 as made despondency impossible4 ,men gazed on them as they gazed on the ,brazen ,serpent that ,moses set up in the wilderness4 ,a striking banner is that by ,bonfigli1 in the church of ,s4 ,fiorenzo at ,perugia1 painted in ,a4,d4 #adgf during an epidemic of plague4 ,above kneels the ,madonna3 before her stands the ,child in a basket of roses upheld by angels1 wearing chaplets of roses1 as in most of ,bonfigli's pictures4 ,both ,madonna and ,child are crowned4 ,below kneel groups of citizens1 men and women1 with ,sebastian and other saints1 supplicating the ,madonna4 ,an angel holds a scroll1 on which is inscribed a fervid call to repentance1 blended with fierce denunciation of their sins1 in these words of ,lorenzo ,spiriti3 #8,oh1 most obstinate and wicked people--cruel1 proud1 and full of all iniquity1 who have placed your faith and your desires on things1 which are full of a mortal misery1 ,i1 the angel of ,heaven1 am sent unto you from ,god to tell you1 that ,he will put an end to all your wounds and weeping1 your ruin and your curse through the mediation of ,mary4444 ,turn1 turn your eyes1 most miserable mortals1 to the great examples of the past and present1 to the utter miseries and heavy evils1 which ,heaven sends to you because of all your sins3 your homicide and your adultery1 your avarice and luxury4444 ,oh miserable beings1 the justice of heaven works not in a hurry1 but it punishes always1 even as men deserve4444 ,nineveh was a city florid and magnificent1 and ,babylon was likewise1 but now they are as nothing3 and ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 behold them now--a morass of sulphur and of fetid waters4444 ,oh1 therefore1 be grateful and acknowledge the benefits and graces of our ,saviour1 and let your souls burn hotly with the fire of faith and charity1 of hope and faithful love4444 ,but and if you should again grow slothful and unwilling to renounce your errors1 ,i foretell a second judgement upon you1 and ,i reckon that it will prove more terrible1 more cruel than the first4'#afc ,in banners such as this the imagination of the painter finds play for the crowding emotions not of his own heart only1 but of the hearts of his fellow citizens as well4 ,another type of plague banner is that of the #8,madonna della ,misericordia' in the church of ,s4 ,francesco del ,prato at ,perugia1 also by ,bonfigli4 ,it bears the date ,a4,d4 #adfd4 ,in the centre stands the crowned ,madonna1 a majestic figure erect like a lighthouse amid the storm1 on which sufferers may fix their eyes and hope4 ,on her garment lie broken arrows1 while beneath its ample folds kneel groups of monks on one side1 and of nuns on the other1 all in attitudes of prayer4 ,in the upper part of the picture ,christ1 wearing both crown and cruciferous nimbus1 casts arrows down4 ,at ,his right hand is the angel of justice with sword drawn1 at ,his left the angel of mercy with sheathed sword4 ,gathered around the ,madonna and craving her intercession are ,s4 ,lorenzo and the ,bishop ,,ss4 ,severo1 ,costanzo1 and ,ludovico4 ,beneath these to the right ,,ss4 ,francis and ,bernardino1 and to the left ,s4 ,peter ,martyr and ,s4 ,sebastian1 whose body is pierced with many arrows4 ,these saints have ,perugia in their special keeping4 ,at the foot of the picture is shown the city of ,perugia1 with its emblematic griffin on the wall4 ,within the walls a white-robed confraternity is kneeling in prayer4 ,without them lurks ,death1 a bat-winged skeleton with bow and arrows1 whose victims strew the ground4 ,but the prayers have prevailed1 and already the archangel ,raphael strikes ,death with his spear4 ,in the foreground outside the walls is a fugitive family1 the mother mounted on a donkey1 carrying her infants in its paniers4 ,at a side gate two soldiers make off in haste1 as the porter tells them the state of the city4 ,perugians say that not ,bonfigli but an angel painted the face of the ,madonna4 ,they might well have said it of the exquisite #8,madonna del ,soccorso' in ,sinibaldo ,ibi's plague banner of ,a4,d4 #adhb in the church of ,s4 ,francisco at ,montone4 ,this fancy of the protecting ,madonna1 spreading her robes over her suppliants1 as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings1 is borrowed from ,hebrew poetry4 ,it figures in a similar conception in the language of the ninety-first ,psalm3 #8,i will say unto the ,lord1 ,thou art my hope and my stronghold3 my ,god1 in ,him will ,i trust4 ,for ,he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter1 and from the noisome pestilence4 ,he shall defend thee under ,his wings1 and thou shalt be safe under ,his feathers4' ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiv 7,face ,page #ach7 ,,madonna ,,della ,,misericordia ,,by ,,bonfigli ,photograph by ,alinari1 ,rome ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xv 7,face ,page #ach7 ,,madonna ,,del ,,soccorso4 ,,by ,,sinibaldo ,,ibi ,photograph by ,alinari1 ,rome ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xvi 7,face ,page #aci7 ,,plague ,,banner4 ,,christ ,,and ,,saints4 ,,by ,,bonfigli ,photograph by ,anderson1 ,rome ,one more ,madonna banner calls for passing notice--that of ,bonfigli at ,corciano near ,perugia1 dated #adgb4 ,it has the same general character as his #8,madonna della ,misericordia'4 ,the quaint head-gear of the angels supporting her robe is the rose-wreath1 symbolic of the ,madonna1 which appears1 in one form or another1 in so many of her pictures4 ,in nearly all these banners1 as in other archaic works1 the dwindling size of individual figures indicates the lesser parts they have to play4 ,in many the ,madonna fills almost all the banner's surface4 ,in another of ,bonfigli's banners in the church of ,s4 ,maria ,nuova at ,perugia the figure of ,christ1 wearing a cruciferous nimbus1 dominates the picture4 ,he holds the arrows of pestilence ready to be launched among the people4 ,his face is sad and regretful1 as ,he executes faithfully the behests of ,his ,father4 ,on either side of ,him saints bear the emblems of the ,passion1 and to the right and left are the darkened sun and moon4 ,beside ,him kneel the ,madonna and the ,franciscan ,s4 ,paulinus4 ,in the lowest part of the picture are the chimneys and towers of ,perugia1 with the pest-fiend1 in the semblance of a huge bat1 bearing a scythe1 and the ,angel of ,deliverance smiting him with his lance4 ,below1 shepherded by ,s4 ,benedict and ,s4 ,scholastica1 the diminutive citizens kneel in prayer4 ,yet another type of plague banner is that in which the figure of a saint plays the leading rle4 ,the saint is always ,sebastian1 only because in ,umbria and ,tuscany he was the chief accredited protector against pestilence4 ,the finest example of this type is the ,s4 ,sebastian of ,sodoma1 described above 7pp4 #ajj-a74 ,plague banners were not the exclusive product of ,umbria4 ,two of the most famous1 the ,s4 ,sebastian of ,sodoma and the ,sistine ,madonna of ,raphael1 painted at ,siena and ,florence respectively1 are products of the ,tuscan school3 but it is only in and around ,perugia that they can be found and studied to advantage4 ,the ,sistine ,madonna1 in which the ,madonna and ,child are attended by ,s4 ,sixtus and ,s4 ,barbara1 was painted during an epidemic of pestilence for the ,black ,brothers of ,s4 ,sisto at ,piacenza4 ,no record exists that it was ever actually used for the purpose for which it was painted4 ,bonfigli1 in the spirit of ,phidias1 had painted #8,mary the ,queen of ,heaven'3 ,raphael1 in the spirit of ,praxiteles1 had painted #8,mary the ,mother of ,god'4 ,the people wanted a queen and ,raphael gave them a peasant woman4 ,they could not see1 as ,raphael saw1 in womanhood the embodiment of gentleness spiritualizing the brute in man4 ,they could not see in motherhood the vision of willing suffering transfigured to joy4 ,it was this reunion of ,art with ,nature1 that dethroned the plague banner from the affections of the common people4 ,plague banners of less importance are those by ,bonfigli at ,civitella ,benazzone1 by ,sinibaldo ,ibi in the convent of ,s4 ,ubaldo at ,gubbio1 dated ,a4,d4 #aejc1 by ,giannicola ,manni in the church of ,s4 ,dominico at ,perugia1 dated ,a4,d4 #aebe1 and by ,berto di ,giovanni in ,perugia ,cathedral1 dated ,a4,d4 #aebf4 ,there they will be seen for the most part as framed altar-pieces4 ,perugia's greatest painter1 ,pietro ,vannucci1 better known as ,perugino1 perished in the course of one of his city's plagues4 ,tradition has it that he died denying the ,saviour and ,madonna1 whom his art had done so much to glorify1 and that his body was thrown into a desolate grave beside a wayside oak4 ,his sons searched diligently for their father's body1 to lay it in the church of ,s4 ,agostino1 but in vain1 among so many that had perished of the plague4 ,it is1 said1 however1 that a priest found it and buried it under the walls of his church at ,fontignano4 ,the humbler ,pestbltter seem to have played much the same part in the devotional activities of the individual as did the gonfaloni in those of the multitude4 ,they were not exclusively ,german1 but were issued also from the presses of ,flanders1 the ,netherlands1 ,italy1 and more rarely of ,france as well4 ,pictorial ,pestbltter are mostly rough woodcuts or copper-plate engravings1 crudely coloured by hand in some cases1 and belong chiefly to the last two-thirds of the fifteenth and the first third of the sixteenth centuries4 ,in the character of their subjects they are usually simply devotional1 and represent some act of expiation or intercession on behalf of mankind4 ,the three leading types correspond closely to the three types of gonfaloni in their subjects3 #a4 ,christ1 the suffering ,redeemer1 on the cross4 #b4 ,intercession by the ,virgin ,mary or by ,christ4 #c4 ,memorials of the martyrdom of special plague saints1 such as ,st4 ,sebastian1 ,st4 ,roch1 and ,st4 ,antony4 ,and closely allied to this last1 #d4 ,intercession by these special plague saints1 or by other saints whose association with plague was more fortuitous and less widely recognized3 such were ,st4 ,quirinus1 ,st4 ,adrian1 and ,st4 ,valentine4 ,many of these forms have attached to them some appropriate prayer or invocation4 ,sometimes the religious element is supplemented by an exposition of hygienic precautions or of remedial measures4 ,thus a devotional cut comes to be blended with injunctions1 usually in verse1 as to how to stave off pestilence by isolation1 fumigation1 washing1 or dietary2 or how to cure it by such measures as bleeding1 or plasters to hasten maturation of the buboes4 ,in addition to these types1 a non-pictorial type is met with1 nearly akin to the ,english ,broadside1 in which the religious purpose has almost or wholly disappeared1 and which sets out in uncompromising prose directions of prophylactic or therapeutic character4 ,pestbltter originated in more ways than one4 ,in times of pestilence pilgrimages were often made to the shrines of special saints1 and rough representations of these saints were provided1 as memorials of their pilgrimage to the devout4 ,sometimes the object of homage was some sacred picture1 which would then be roughly reproduced as a memento4 ,at other times they seem to have been issued by religious communities for purely devotional purposes4 ,those of secular character were either printed by order of the municipalities1 or were the product of private medical enterprise4 ,original ,pestbltter are to be seen in the leading museums of most ,european countries4 ,a selection of these has been admirably reproduced in a portfolio#afd by ,heitz and ,mndel of ,strasbourg4 ,plate ,,xvii 7#a7 is a woodcut1 probably printed at ,nuremberg at the commencement of the fifteenth century4 ,the ,almighty is depicted with the drawn sword of pestilence in ,his hand1 within what would seem from its colouring in the original to be a representation of the rose-wreath1 emblematic of the ,virgin ,mary4 ,in the centre are ,st4 ,sebastian with his symbolic arrow1 and an angel tending the plague sore of ,st4 ,roch4 ,below is a prayer to these two saints4 ,plate ,,xvii 7#b7 shows the ,almighty above1 with the shafts of pestilence in ,his hands4 ,the crowned ,madonna shelters beneath her robe her suppliants1 among whom are dignitaries of the ,church4 ,below a group of saints are interceding with the ,virgin and ,child and ,st4 ,anna4 ,the whole is encircled by the ,virgin's girdle wrought into a rose-wreath4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xvii 7,between ,pages #adb and #adc7 #a4 ,,the ,,almighty ,,with ,,ss4 ,,sebastian ,,and ,,roch ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xvii 7,between ,pages #adb and #adc7 #b4 ,,the ,,almighty1 ,,madonna ,,and ,,suppliants4 ,,the ,,virgin ,,and ,,child1 ,s4 ,,anna ,,and ,,suppliants ,st4 ,anthony is a favourite figure of these ,pestbltter4 ,he is more closely associated with plague and pestilence in ,germany than is the case in ,italy4 ,he is also patron saint against erysipelas1 known as ,st4 ,anthony's ,fire1 which often raged in epidemics in pre-,listerian times4 ,he is commonly represented with the cross1 on which he was crucified1 with a crutch symbolic of his great age and feebleness1 and with an exorcising bell4 ,the passing bell was tolled originally not only to ask for prayers for the soul of the departed1 but also to scare away evil spirits from it4 ,the pig1 that accompanies ,st4 ,anthony1 is the emblem of the ,devil1 whose temptings he successfully repelled4 ,even in the absence of ,st4 ,anthony himself1 his cross in the form of the ,greek ,t is often introduced1 sometimes with ,christ nailed upon it4 ,from this association of ,st4 ,anthony with the cross1 it became customary to appeal to him1 as to the crucifix1 in times of pestilence4 ,the association of ,,ss4 ,quirinus1 ,adrian1 and ,valentine of ,rufach with plague is purely local and incidental4 ,st4 ,quirinus was primarily the patron saint of the gouty1 and ,st4 ,valentine of the epileptic1 so that the name ,veltins ,krankheit was applied to epilepsy4 ,st4 ,adrian held under his special protection the ,flemish brewers1 and the more creditable patronage of the plague-stricken was only a later accretion4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a very large number of pictures are designed to commemorate specific plagues1 and were painted in fulfilment of vows made to the ,madonna and saints for deliverance from plague4 ,many of these have already been considered in connexion with the legends and cults of ,,ss4 ,sebastian and ,roch1 to whom they were dedicated4 ,but in far the larger proportion of these pictures the central figure is the ,madonna 7see ,plates ,,xi and ,,xii74 ,sometimes she is attended by ,,ss4 ,sebastian and ,roch1 and by other saints as well4 ,the added saints are1 as a rule1 the special protectors of the city1 for which the thank-offering has been vowed4 ,sometimes they are the patron saints of confraternities1 for whom they have been painted4 ,sometimes the special medical saints1 ,cosmas and ,damian1 are appropriately added to the pictures4 ,examples may be seen in almost any gallery of ,italian pictures4 ,in the ,brera1 ,cima de ,conigliano 7,a4,d4 #adfj-aeah7 has painted the ,madonna and ,child with ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 ,st4 ,sebastian1 the ,magdalen and ,st4 ,roch1 the last-named showing an incised wound on the inner side of the right thigh4 ,the character of the picture may be taken as conclusive evidence of its origin and purpose4 ,titian's picture in the ,vatican shows the ,madonna and ,child in glory1 and ,st4 ,sebastian1 ,st4 ,nicholas1 ,st4 ,catharine1 ,st4 ,peter1 and ,st4 ,francis are the attendant saints4 ,this picture was painted by ,titian after the cessation of a plague epidemic at ,venice for the ,franciscan church of ,s4 ,nicol de ,frari4 ,correggio's #8,madonna di ,san ,sebastiano'1 in which she is attended by ,,ss4 ,sebastian and ,roch1 with ,s4 ,geminiano1 the patron saint of ,modena1 was painted in ,a4,d4 #aeae in commemoration of a plague that devastated that city three years previously4 ,yet another by ,guido ,reni 7,a4,d4 #aegd-afdb71 in the ,academy at ,bologna1 was painted at the instance of the senate of ,bologna1 after the plague of ,a4,d4 #afcj4 ,it was carried in solemn procession through the city to its consecration1 and from this circumstance has been called #8,il ,pallione del ,voto'4 ,the rainbow beneath the ,madonna's feet1 and the olive branch in the hand of the infant ,christ1 each signify the return of peace4 ,the attendant saints are the special protectors of ,bologna1 ,st4 ,petronius1 ,st4 ,francis1 ,st4 ,dominic1 ,st4 ,proculus1 ,st4 ,florian1 ,st4 ,ignatius and ,st4 ,francis ,xavier4 ,raphael's #8,madonna of ,foligno'1 in the ,vatican1 has been accounted by some a plague picture on account of its general character1 and of the fireball descending on the city of ,foligno4 ,raphael1 however1 painted the picture in ,a4,d4 #aeab1 the very year in which it is recorded that an aerolite fell into ,foligno3 the picture probably commemorates the escape of some individual or institution4 ,there was a disastrous plague in ,foligno1 but not till ,a4,d4 #aebc1 and it has been depicted in a hideous picture by ,gaetano ,gandolfi of ,bologna 7,a4,d4 #agcd-ahjb71 which is now in the ,corsini ,palace at ,rome4 ,miraculous ,madonnas abound in ,italy1 but are1 as a rule1 of little artistic interest4 ,a pleasing exception is the #8,madonna and ,child' that hangs in the tribune of the church of ,carmine in ,perugia4 ,it was put up to commemorate the deliverance of ,perugia from plague at the prayer of the ,perugian ,carmelites3 at each recurrence of plague it was the object of popular adoration4 ,formerly it was covered with a gauze veil1 which caught fire and was destroyed1 but the ,madonna herself escaped any trace of injury4 ,the ,madonna of ,ara ,coeli and the ,madonna of ,s4 ,maria ,maggiore are both accredited deliverers from plague and pestilence in ,rome4 ,florence1 too1 has her miraculous ,madonna in the small village of ,impruneta4 ,this dark panel1 blackened and perished with the lapse of years1 was found1 so the legend goes1 in the soil at ,impruneta1 uttering a cry as the workman's spade struck it4 ,seldom or never exposed to the gaze of the devout1 she has suffered the indignity of an exposure at the hands of the omnipresent photographer4 ,in ,a4,d4 #aebg plague broke out in ,florence in the early summer4 ,on ,june #b1 an enormous festival was celebrated in honour of the ,virgin of the ,annunciation1 that she might be persuaded to succour the ,commonwealth in its troubles4 ,but in ,july and ,august the mortality rose to #aej-bjj a day1 and in the autumn to twice these numbers1 so that all business was at a standstill1 and the city seemed deserted4 ,then the government determined to have recourse to the ,black ,virgin of ,impruneta1 whom the ,commonwealth of ,florence has invoked so often in various crises of its history4 ,of her ,segni#afe says3 #8,to this mother of ,god our city has never publicly applied in vain1 in whatever extremity of distress4 ,it is no light or silly thing1 which ,i am here affirming3 for in time of drought she ever sent rain3 in periods of flood1 she has restored to us fine weather3 from pestilence she has removed the poison3 and in every most grievous ill she has found its appropriate remedy4' ,so the ,black ,virgin was brought from ,impruneta1 and the magistrates of ,florence1 #8barefooted and in mourning1 received her at the gate of the city1 and carried her in solemn and very sad procession to the ,church of the ,servites4 ,forty thousand citizens had died in the month of ,november4 ,but the never-failing ,virgin of ,impruneta prevailed on this occasion also4 ,for with the coming of the cold weather1 the sickness began to abate4 ,and thus the faith of the ,florentines in their charm was more than ever confirmed4' ,the ,black ,virgin still watches over ,florence in time of drought4 ,readers of ,romola will recall that other stirring procession of the ,impruneta ,virgin1 in which ,savonarola strode along defiantly among his company of black and white ,dominicans4 ,throughout ,france and ,italy numerous pictures may be seen1 recording the ministrations of local or locally venerated saints in time of pestilence4 ,such is ,tiepolo's picture in the cathedral at ,este1 showing ,st4 ,tecla liberating ,este from plague4 ,pictures such as this stand midway between the group of votive pictures and the group of actual plague scenes1 of which ,raphael 7,a4,d4 #adhc-aebj7 is the earliest exponent4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xviii 7,face ,page #adf7 ,,the ,,impruneta ,,virgin ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xix ,s4 ,,tecla ,,liberates ,,este ,,from ,,plague ,by ,giovanni ,battista ,tiepolo4 ,photograph by ,naya1 ,venice 7,face ,page #adg7 ,raphael's drawing of #8,plague'1#aff now in the ,uffizi gallery at ,florence1 has become much worn with time4 ,the picture is divided into two parts by a head of the god ,terminus mounted on a lofty pedestal4 ,to the right it is night-time1 but the interior of a house of mourning is shown in vertical section4 ,in its courtyard is a young man1 with a torch in his right hand1 counting the number of stricken animals1 while with his left he prevents one of the sheep from coming near to those that are dead4 ,an ewe lies dead with a young lamb fastened to her dried-up udder4 ,an ox lying down surveys the scene sadly4 ,above this corpse-strewn court a stream of light1 penetrating into the interior of a room1 illumines the figures of two ,sisters of ,charity1 as they minister to the master of the house1 who is dying3 he is stretched on his bed1 lying in a dense shadow--the shadow of impending death4 ,he seems to turn away from them and to reject their help4 ,in the other part of the picture it is day1 and daylight shows up everywhere scenes of suffering1 death1 and desolation4 ,in the foreground lies the body of a woman stretched out in death1 while her child struggles to reach her ice-cold breast4 ,the father bends down hastily to hold the child away1 and1 as he does so1 covers his nose and mouth with his hand1 to keep out the contagion of the pestilence4 ,behind this group an older woman turns away in horror3 before it1 an old man buries his face in his hands against the plinth of the statue in an anguish of sorrow1 while a young man makes off in panic4 ,in the background broken columns and the dead body of a horse serve to intensify the desolation of the scene4 ,raphael's rendering of the scene1 for all the horror of its details1 serves rather to inspire pity than horror4 ,he holds the balance evenly between the horrible realities of the plague and the redeeming spirituality of human nature4 ,compassion and suffering stand side by side4 ,the ox pities his kind passively1 as the ,sisters seek to minister actively to their kind4 ,in the features and attitude of the child ,raphael has depicted the devotion that does not die with death4 ,the deepest note of pathos is touched in the form of the old man in the centre of the picture1 whose grey hairs are brought down in sorrow to the grave4 ,it has been asserted that ,raphael's rendering of the dead mother and the child was inspired by an actual record of ,ambroise ,par1 but as ,par was only born three years before ,raphael died1 the statement falls to the ground4 ,raphael's debt seems to go back as far as to ,aristides of ,thebes1 who flourished about #cdj ,b4,c4 ,pliny#afg mentions a picture by him1 which so impressed ,alexander the ,great1 at the sack of ,thebes1 that he took it for himself1 and ordered that it should be sent to ,pella4 ,according to ,pliny1 the picture represented a wounded mother lying at the point of death1 and her infant child creeping to her breast4 ,fear is written in the expression of her face1 lest the child should draw blood from her breast1 now that her milk is dry4 ,raphael's drawing has been engraved by ,marco ,antonio ,raimondi under the name of #8,il ,morbetto'4 ,in ,delaborde's ,marc-,antoine ,raimondi it is reproduced under the name #8,la ,peste de ,phrygie'1 because on the pedestal are inscribed the words of ,vergil3 ,linquebant dulces animas aut aegra trahebant corpora4#afh ,vergil1 in this brief description of pestilence1 aims at no more than mere poetic effect4 ,it is introduced only to fill up the cup of trouble for the ,trojan wanderers1 and is compressed into a few lines4 ,the ,trojan fleet had just made the land3 ,aeneas had laid the foundations of a new town1 and ,ilium was to live again in ,pergamus4 ,then the plague broke out4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xx ,,plague4 ,a ,,drawing ,,by ,,raphael 7,face ,page #adh7 ,iamque fere sicco subductae littore puppes2 ,connubiis arvisque novis operata iuventus1 44 44 44 44 subito cum tabida membris1 corrupto caeli tractu1 miserandaque venit arboribusque satisque lues et letifer annus4 linquebant dulces animas aut aegra trahebant corpora2 tum steriles exurere ,sirius agros2 arebant herbae1 et victum seges aegra negabat4 ,scarce stand the vessels hauled upon the beach1 ,and bent on marriages the young men vie ,to till new settlements1 while ,i to each ,due law dispense and dwelling place supply4 ,when from a tainted quarter of the sky ,rank vapours1 gathering1 on my comrades seize1 ,and a foul pestilence creeps down from high ,on mortal limbs and standing crops and trees1 ,a season black with death1 and pregnant with disease4 ,sweet life from mortals fled3 they drooped and died4 ,fierce ,sirius scorched the fields1 and herbs and grain ,were parched1 and food the wasting crops denied4 7,,fairfax ,,taylor47 ,as it stands1 this is an outline sketch of a famine-pestilence1 which ,raphael had no intention of depicting1 when he adopted the line4 ,surely ,sisters of ,charity would not figure in a ,phrygian plague1 some thousand years before ,christ6 ,besides pictures1 a few medals exist commemorative of plagues prior to the sixteenth century3 these were sometimes struck as mediums of spiritual consolation4 ,frequent devices on these were representations of ,christ on the ,cross1 or of a ,serpent on a pole4 ,the specimen figured here 7,plate ,i 7#d77 is a ,wittenberg thaler of #aebh4 ,it shows these two devices on the opposite faces of the medal1 each with a descriptive legend4 ,the fifteenth century had drawn to a close in ,italy amid a confusion of epidemics4 ,pintor1 the personal physician of ,pope ,alexander ,,vi1 has left a book in which he says that the morbus ,gallicus first appeared at ,rome in ,march #adic and had claimed numerous victims by the ,august following4 ,then1 after an inundation of the ,tiber in ,december #adie1 plague broke out fiercely in ,rome4 ,pintor states that the touch of certain precious stones was vaunted as a specific4 ,in #adic plague was raging also at ,genoa and ,naples4 ,at the latter city the mortality amounted to #bj1jjj souls4 ,a ,genoese chronicler1 ,seneraga1 attributes the outbreak at ,genoa to pollution of the shore by the dead bodies of the ,jews1 who had sought sanctuary there on their expulsion from ,spain in #adib1 but had died of starvation on the outskirts of the inhospitable city4 ,jewish writers asserted that there was plague in ,spain1 and that it was carried by the fugitives in their ships to ,italy4 ,most of the expelled ,jews found shelter from the persecution of the ,cross under the protection of the ,crescent1 in ,constantinople1 ,salonica1 the ,levant1 and ,northern ,africa4 ,it was this far-reaching epidemic that drove ,charles ,,viii of ,france out of ,florence1 ,rome1 and ,naples in succession1 almost as soon as his army had entered them4 ,,footnotes3 #aeh ,ode #d4 #aei ,bk4 ,i1 ,eleg4 #c4 #afj ,aeneid1 vi4 #fdd4 #afa ,passus xxiii4 #ajj-e4 #afb ,rio1 ,l',art chrtien2 and ,crawfurd1 ,proceedings of ,roy4 ,soc4 of ,med41 #aiac1 vol4 vi1 pp4 #cg-dh4 #afc ,duff ,gordon1 ,story of ,perugia 7translation74 #afd ,pestbltter des xv4 ,jahrhunderts4 #afe ,vol4 i1 ,bk4 ,i1 and ,trollope1 ,history of ,commonwealth of ,florence1 vol4 iv4 #aff ,gruyer1 ,raphael et l',antiquit4 #afg ,nat4 ,hist41 lib4 xxxv4 #afh ,aeneid1 iii4 #adj4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,throughout the sixteenth century plague epidemics follow each other in almost unbroken succession throughout ,central ,europe4 ,in ,rome alone1 during this century1 there were no less than twelve severe outbreaks4 ,the archives of the ,capitol and the registers of contemporary notaries#afi abound in scattered information concerning these visitations4 ,it had become an established custom that at the first appearance of an epidemic the ,pope and his court should escape from ,rome to a place of safety1 leaving the municipality to provide for the situation as best it could4 ,in ,may #addi1 ,nicholas ,v had fled into ,umbria3 in #adfb1 ,pius ,,ii had fled successively to ,viterbo1 ,bolsena1 and ,corsignano4 ,in #adgf1 ,sixtus ,,iv had flitted in like manner from place to place4 ,so in ,april #aebb1 at the height of the epidemic1 it seemed only in accordance with precedent1 when ,adrian ,,vi from his secure seclusion in ,spain sent word to ,rome of the necessity of imposing a fresh tax for supporting a crusade against the ,turks4 ,the ,cardinals seem to have desired to emulate the example of ,adrian1 for in ,june the ,town ,council asked the ,sacred ,college not to forsake their posts4 ,deserted by their spiritual leaders1 the populace lent a ready ear to the imposture of the ,greek necromancer ,demetrius of ,sparta4 ,he persuaded the terrified people that the plague was the work of demons1 and that1 by appeasing them1 it might be brought to an end4 ,so he paraded the streets of the city1 leading by a silken cord a bull that he professed to have tamed by spells1 and sacrificed it in the ,colosseum with full pagan ritual to the hostile demons4 ,as soon as the clergy realized the enormity of the sacrilege they had condoned they instituted a penitential procession1 which marched through the city1 scourging themselves to bleeding and crying ,misericordia4 ,if we may credit ,paolo ,giovio1 chief physician to ,clement ,,vii 7,a4,d4 #aebc-cd71 it was neither prayer nor sacrifice that put an end to the plague1 but a wonderful oil invented by ,gregorio ,caravita1 a physician from ,bologna4 ,the ,oratorio del ,crocifisso1 near the church of ,s4 ,marcello1 is said to have been erected in expiation of this event4 ,this plague lingered on at least till the following year1 ,a4,d4 #aebc1 for ,benvenuto ,cellini#agj records his experience of it in some detail4 ,he says that it dragged on for months1 and that several thousands died daily in ,rome4 ,in not unnatural apprehension on his own account1 he determined to adopt such amusements as would promote cheerfulness of mind1 which many believed to be the best remedy against infection4 ,so he betook himself to shooting pigeons among the ancient monuments of ,rome1 and found the pursuit so beneficial to his health that he succeeded in staving off for a long time the plague1 to which many of his comrades succumbed4 ,but somewhat later1 after spending the night with a young serving girl1 he himself fell a victim and has recorded his initial sensations as follows3 #8,i rose upon the hour of breaking fast1 and felt tired1 for ,i had travelled many miles that night1 and was wanting to take food1 when a crushing headache seized me3 several boils appeared upon my left arm1 together with a carbuncle which showed itself just beyond the palm of the left hand1 where it joins the wrist4 ,everybody in the house was in a panic3 my friend1 the cow ,faustina and the calf the serving girl all fled4 ,left alone there with my poor little prentice1 who refused to abandon me1 ,i felt stifled at the heart1 and made up my mind for certain ,i was a dead man4' ,by the constant ministrations of a male friend and the help of a physician1 whom the apprentice summoned1 ,benvenuto threw off the sickness1 but while the bubo was still open and plugged with lint under a covering of plaster1 went out riding on a little wild pony4 ,benvenuto's account is valuable as the record of the personal sensations and sufferings of a plague-stricken man1 and tells us also something of the treatment to which he was subjected at the hands of sixteenth-century medicine4 ,benvenuto says that the joyous reunion of the survivors1 after the plague was over1 led to the formation by one ,michael ,agnolo1 a sculptor1 of a club of all the leading painters1 sculptors1 and goldsmiths in ,rome4 ,the meetings of the club1 to judge from his descriptions1 seem to have been devoted to merrymaking rather than to artistic discourse4 ,on his return to ,florence he found that his father and most of his household were dead1 and his surviving sister ,liparata1 believing him to have died at ,rome1 swooned at sight of him4 ,but under the mellowing influence of supper1 at which weddings were the main topic of conversation1 sorrow speedily gave place to gaiety4 ,marselius ,galeati of ,padua at the beginning of the fifteenth century had drawn up the first known code of #8,regulations against the ,plague'1 based on the belief that the disease was imported to ,italy by foreign commerce4 ,from the records of the city of ,rome it is possible to gather some idea of the measures adopted by the ,popes and ,town ,council for the suppression of epidemics of plague4 ,there isolation of infected individuals or districts was attempted4 ,all wearing apparel and other materials and articles capable of spreading the infection1 were liable to be destroyed4 ,the city gates were closed1 and every incomer was subjected to strict inspection1 and was frequently rejected4 ,those gates that were left open could only be used from daybreak to nightfall1 when they were locked against all comers4 ,navigation of the ,tiber was sometimes suppressed2 ,lanciani says that an order was issued on ,july #cj1 #aege1 that all the boats on the ,tiber should be scuttled in three days1 because it was found that the boatmen were ferrying passengers across stream for bribes4 ,two transgressors were actually put to the rack for their offence1 which was placarded over them for all to read4 ,on one occasion a wholesale destruction of dried fish was taken in hand4 ,contract medical practice seems to have existed even in these days4 ,lanciani has noted among the city records agreements between physicians or quacks and ,roman families for the provision of medical advice and drugs for a stipulated payment of money4 ,wills were often dictated from windows1 while lawyer and witnesses stood in the street beneath4 ,confraternities for ministering to the sick and removing them to the hospitals existed in ,rome1 though perhaps numerically less than in other great cities of ,italy4 ,the confraternity of the ,piet had been instituted during a plague epidemic1 in the time of ,eugene ,,iv 7#adca-dg71 and still has a nominal existence in ,rome4 ,plague broke out fiercely again in ,rome in #aebg1 at the time of the sack of the city4 ,florence was also involved in this same epidemic4 ,it is this visitation that gave birth to ,machiavelli's ,descrizione della ,peste di ,firenze dell' anno #aebg1 cast in the form of a letter to a friend4 ,in it we find no vivid picture of the awful catastrophe that was overwhelming ,florence1 but in place of that a cold-blooded cynical record of the trivial doings of a loafer sauntering idly through the streets of the plague-stricken city4 ,it is a record that challenges comparison rather with the casual entries of ,pepys's ,diary1 than with the formal descriptions of ,bocaccio and ,manzoni1 his own compatriots4 ,opening with a vapid soulless lamentation1 in the vein of ,petrarch1 over the general demoralization and devastation produced by the plague1 he passes on to describe his own daily mode of living1 from which his correspondent is invited to infer that of the general body of citizens4 ,the liaisons of licentious monks1 the vile ribaldry of infamous buriers1 the vain recourse to preservatives against the plague1 these are the things that are uppermost in his mind1 as he depicts his own amorous intrigues against the dark background of the plague1 with the fidelity of a ,pepys and the light-hearted insouciance of a ,guy de ,maupassant4 ,villari1 ,macaulay1 and others have declined to accept the ,descrizione as an authentic product of ,machiavelli's pen4 ,they cannot reconcile its garrulous obscenity with the stern cold-blooded restraint of the author of the ,principe--the frivolity of the one with the sinewy manhood of the other4 ,they seem to forget that1 so far back as #aejb1 amid the stirring life of the camp of ,caesar ,borgia1 he had found leisure to write similar puerilities to his friends in ,florence4 ,political rectitude1 or if we may not ascribe this to ,machiavelli1 political sagacity is no guarantee of moral righteousness1 and sensuality is not the exclusive property of the young4 ,moral levity1 as the history of pestilence shows1 is a usual product of the constant imminence of danger and death2 and with ,machiavelli political degradation had left moral levity in sole possession of the field4 ,a copy of the discredited production still actually exists in the handwriting of ,machiavelli1 with revisions inserted in the manuscript in that of his friend ,lorenzo di ,filippo ,strozzi4 ,villari advances the strange suggestion1 that ,machiavelli had merely copied out what ,strozzi had composed4 ,is it not equally reasonable to suppose that ,machiavelli had used an actual letter of ,strozzi1 as the basis of a casual composition8 ,this would explain the fact that it is cast in epistolary form1 as well as the apparent discrepancy of style4 ,francesco ,berni 7c4 #adij-aecf71 a contemporary of ,machiavelli1 has apostrophized plague in one of his satirical poems or capitoli4 ,a cleric1 to whom indolent pleasure was the be-all and end-all of existence1 he must surely stand alone among writers as one who would hug the pestilence to him as a friend4 #8,the pestilence time is good--a fig for other times4444 ,firstly1 it carries off the rabble1 it destroys them1 makes holes among them and thins them out--like a housewife among the geese at ,allhallowtide6 ,in the churches there are none to press upon you4 ,besides1 none keep any record of buying or borrowing4 ,yea1 buy and make debts1 for there will be no creditors to trouble you4 ,and if a creditor should come1 tell him that your head aches1 that your arm pricks1 he straight will go away1 and will not turn him round6 ,if you go out1 no one will cross your path3 rather is place yielded to you1 and honour done you1 especially if you are clothed in rags4 ,you are lord of yourself and lord of others4 ,you can watch the folk's strange antics and laugh at others' fear4 ,life has then new laws3 every pleasure is allowed4444 ,above all1 there need be no work done4 ,it is a choice life1 serene and large3 time passes very gaily from dinner time to supper4'#aga ,in ,a4,d4 #aecj there was plague in ,geneva1#agb which is memorable as the occasion of an accusation against certain persons of disseminating the disease by means of concocted poisons4 ,in the spring of the year a dissolute young man1 one ,michael ,caddod1 was seen to throw down a handkerchief near a shop4 ,some one picked it up1 and its foul smell aroused suspicion4 ,caddod was forthwith put to torture1 and in his agony implicated ,jean ,placet1 an unqualified surgeon in charge of the pest-house1 together with his wife1 son1 and servant1 and one ,dom ,jehan ,dufour1 priest and confessor to the pest-house4 ,under the influence of torture1 they were driven to admit1 that they had sworn solemnly on a ,book of ,hours to join in spreading the plague1 so as to enable them to pillage the sick4 ,placet and his wife1 they said1 had prepared the poison from poultices that had been used on discharging buboes1 by drying them to powder and then adding veratrum4 ,caddod and his wife undertook to spread it about the streets1 while ,placet and his wife administered it to patients in the pest-house with promptly fatal results4 ,suspicion fell on ,placet1 and a barber-surgeon1 ,bastian ,granger1 with his assistant1 was instructed to keep an eye on his doings4 ,madame ,placet was equal to the occasion and gave the pair short shrift with a dose of poison in their food4 ,in the end ,placet and ,caddod were convicted4 ,their hands were first cut off in front of the houses of their supposed victims4 ,next their flesh was cruelly lacerated with red-hot pincers1 and finally the headsman's axe put a merciful end to their sufferings4 ,young ,placet's age obtained for him the lenient treatment of hanging1 while ,dufour was first unfrocked and then hanged4 ,a rapid decline of the plague ensued on so acceptable a sacrifice4 ,a few years later1 in ,january #aede1 a recurrence of plague in ,geneva raised anew the phantom of another plague plot4 ,this time the bailiff ordered the arrest of the two men1 ,bernard ,dallinge and ,jehan ,lentille4 ,they were alleged to have cut off the foot of a corpse that had fallen from the gallows1 and used it as an ingredient of a plague ointment that they smeared on the handles of doors4 ,by ,march1 confessions extracted from them by torture had served to implicate no less than forty persons4 ,all were accused of having sworn to spread the disease broadcast1 and of having actually smeared door-handles and locks4 ,when searched1 boxes of ointment were found in their possession4 ,the craze for carrying antipestilential remedies made this an easy matter1 but for all that their guilt was manifest4 ,calvin1 in a letter of ,march #bg1 #aede1 addressed to ,myconius1 seems to credit their guilt1 but the ,state records of ,geneva show that he mercifully advocated strangling instead of mutilation and the stake4 ,as in the case of ,servetus1 he was less concerned about their deaths than the manner of their dying4 ,nineteen men and seven women--,catholics perhaps--profited by his clemency1 and were executed without preliminary torture4 ,the ,nuremberg ,chronicle says that in #adid all the beggars were driven out of ,nuremberg1 because they were believed to spread the plague4 ,the leaders of medicine were no more exempt than the people from the promptings of fanatical fear4 ,ambroise ,par#agc echoes the crude suspicions that ,guy de ,chauliac had expressed at the time of the ,black ,death4 ,this is his advice to the magistrates in time of pestilence3 #8,what shall ,i add8 ,they must keep an eye on certain thieves1 murderers1 poisoners1 worse than inhuman1 who grease and smear the walls and doors of rich houses with matter from buboes and carbuncles and other excretions of the plague-stricken1 so as to infect the houses and thus be enabled to break into them1 pillage and strip them1 and even strangle the poor sick in their beds3 which was done at ,lyons in the year #aefe4 ,god6 what punishment such fellows deserve3 but this ,i leave to the discretion of the magistrates1 who have charge of such duties4' ,par recommended1 as a prophylactic1 the wearing of an amulet of arsenic4 ,it was to be worn over the heart in order that #8the heart might become accustomed to poison1 and so be the less injured when other poisons sought it'4 ,the pandemic of ,a4,d4 #aefe was the occasion of a great impetus to the production of the so-called ,mystery and ,miracle plays1 particularly in the south-east parts of ,france4 ,mystery plays aimed for the most part at setting forth the central mysteries of the ,new ,testament1 such as the ,incarnation1 the ,nativity1 the ,passion1 and the ,redemption4 ,miracle plays dealt with the legends of the great saints of the ,church1 but in practice the distinction of ,miracle and ,mystery came to be ignored in the play4 ,the purpose of each1 in time of plague1 was to appease an angered ,god by glorifying ,his majesty1 either directly or through the medium of ,his saints4 ,the origin and prime purpose of these plays had almost certainly been educational1 for the instruction of a populace unable to read for themselves3 and they originated out of the worship of the ,christian ,church4 ,christianity1 when adopted as the ,state religion1 had dealt the death-blow to the vicious spectacles of the amphitheatre that were all that survived of the ancient classical drama4 ,christianity was also destined to become the parent of the modern drama1 by the introduction into public worship1 not later than the fifth century ,a4,d41 of living pictures to illustrate and expound its teaching4 ,mystery and ,miracle plays alike were evolved from this simple liturgical origin4 ,the transformation had been effected at any rate as early as the twelfth century1 and by ,a4,d4 #achj a complete ,miracle play was produced in the presence of ,charles ,,iv4 ,successive epidemics of plague had led to the adoption of these plays as instruments of intercession1 and the pandemic of #aefe gave a great impetus to this development4 ,when the district of ,maurienne was in the grip of the plague in #aefd1 the people vowed to present in the following year the ,miracle play of their patron saint ,st4 ,martin1 if only their town were spared4 ,no less than seventy-four actors1 all drawn from the working class1 devoted themselves to learning and rehearsing the various parts of the play4 ,money as well as time was freely afforded1 for the people themselves undertook the expenses of staging1 scenery1 and music4 ,the marginal notes of the play1 which has been recently published1 show that the stage was erected beside the wall of a church4 ,later1 as the control of the performances passed out of the hands of the ,church into those of lay associations1 the plays came to be performed away from the churches1 a separation that paved the way for the secularization of the drama by the introduction of a non-religious atmosphere4 ,this play is in dialect and arranged for presentation on two days4 ,at the first performance the central theme was the life of ,st4 ,martin as a soldier1 at the second his life as a bishop1 and with it were shown certain of his miraculous cures4 ,this play is but one of many that have recently been published3 other towns followed the example of ,st4 ,martin de la ,porte4 ,villard-le-,lans vowed and played the #8,mystery of the ,passion' and the #8,miracle of ,saint ,sebastian'3 ,modane the #8,mystery of the ,last ,judgement'3 ,termignan and ,sollires the #8,miracle of ,saint ,laurence'1 and so on4 ,local authors1 commonly the priest or the notary1 compiled the various plays4 ,at ,villard-le-,lans is a chapel of ,st4 ,sebastian4 ,it has no windows1 and a doorway hewn in the rock4 ,it was prepared as a theatre for presenting a ,mystery play in ,a4,d4 #addf4 ,but following the plague of #aefe it was converted1 in fulfilment of a rich man's vow1 into a chapel adorned with frescoes illustrating the story of ,st4 ,sebastian4 ,the frescoes survive to this day1 and have been fully described by ,m4 l',archiviste de ,jussin4 ,if we may credit local legend1 the ,oberammergau ,passion ,play had a similar origin in ,a4,d4 #afcc4 ,one ,gaspard ,schueler1 a native of ,oberammergau1 but living at ,eschenlohe1 where plague was rife1 determined to pay a hasty and surreptitious visit to his wife and children4 ,he did so1 and carried the plague to ,oberammergau1 where he died of it himself4 ,between the day of his death and the festival of ,,ss4 ,simon and ,jude1 thirty-three days later1 eighty-four persons died of plague at ,oberammergau4 ,a meeting of the inhabitants was summoned1 and six women and twelve men took a solemn vow to produce every ten years a play representing the sufferings of ,christ4 ,they were rewarded by the immediate cessation of the plague4 ,,footnotes3 #afi ,lanciani1 ,golden ,days of the ,renaissance4 #agj ,bk4 ,i1 #bg seq4 #aga ,translated by ,miss ,egerton ,castle1 ,italian ,literature4 #agb ,lon ,gautier1 ,la ,mdecine ,genve jusqu' la fin du dix-huitime sicle4 #agc ,livre de la ,peste4 ,,chapter ,x ,throughout the fourteenth and two succeeding centuries ,venice was visited by a constant succession of epidemics of plague4 ,this was the price she was doomed to pay for the enjoyment of her ,oriental commerce4 ,standing1 as she stood1 at the meeting-place of east and west1 so long as the commerce of the east passed to the west by way of ,syria and ,egypt1 ,venice knew no rival but ,genoa1 until the ,turk appeared at ,constantinople to challenge her ascendancy4 ,plague and commerce alike passed through ,venice on their way to the countries of ,central and ,northern ,europe4 ,plague was in some sense the measure of ,venetian opulence1 and with the loss of this opulence the number of her plagues declined4 ,venice had two main trade routes by sea1#agd one to the east and one to the west1 and two land routes to the north4 ,the first maritime route lay down the ,adriatic1 past the ,ionian ,isles1 and round ,cape ,matapan to ,crete1 where it divided into four branch routes3 7a7 northwards to the ,dardanelles1 ,constantinople1 the ,black ,sea1 and the ,sea of ,azov2 7b7 along the shores of the ,morea and through the ,aegean ,islands to the ,dardanelles2 7c7 to the ports of ,asia ,minor1 ,smyrna1 and ,aleppo1 ,cyprus1 ,syria1 ,alexandretta1 and ,beirut2 7d7 to ,alexandria and ,egypt4 ,these two last branches linked ,venice to the caravan routes that led from ,ormuz on the ,persian ,gulf to ,aleppo and ,beirut1 and from ,suez to ,alexandria1 and at their far end penetrated into the heart of ,asia1 ,persia1 ,india1 and ,cathay4 ,the second maritime route lay by way of the ,adriatic westward to ,sicily1 where it divided into two branch routes3 7a7 to ,tunis1 ,tripoli1 and the ports of ,spain2 7b7 through the ,straits of ,gibraltar northwards as far as ,england and ,flanders1 bringing ,london and ,bruges into touch with the east4 ,the land routes from ,venice to ,central ,europe lay for the most part outside the confines of ,venetian territory4 ,one passed by way of the ,ampezzo valley northward to the ,pusterthal and on to ,innsbruck and ,munich2 the other along the ,po to ,brescia and ,bergamo1 and thence by ,lake ,como and the ,splgen ,pass to ,constance4 ,from ,constance trade lines diverged to all parts of ,northern ,europe4 ,a knowledge of these routes is necessary to understand the leading part that ,venice and ,constance played in the carriage and distribution of plague4 ,the discovery of the ,cape route to the east in #adhf1 was the death-blow to the trade monopoly of ,venice4 ,the lines of commerce shifted step by step from the ,mediterranean to the ,atlantic1 and away from the ships of ,venice into those of the ,portuguese1 ,spaniards1 ,english1 and ,dutch4 ,the history of plague in ,venice is in large part written in her public monuments3 her archives tell the rest4 ,venice has virtually no literature of her own3 two or three patriotic diarists1 and that is all4 ,her ,renaissance gave birth to no harvest of men of letters3 painting and architecture sapped all her strength4 ,artists vied with architects to write her history on canvas or on stone1 not for the enjoyment of private patrons1 but for the embellishment of the city of their birth4 ,in ,a4,d4 #adaj plague swept over ,venice and ,chioggia4 ,in #adbc another epidemic was imported from the east4 ,it was this visitation that led the ,venetians to establish a pest-house or lazaretto on the island of ,santa ,maria di ,nazaret for infected persons and goods4 ,it was supplied with food1 medicine1 and medical attendance out of the revenue from salt4 ,this was the first institution of the kind in ,europe1 but it quickly led to the establishment of more elsewhere4 ,the ,government of ,venice was never wont to fold its hands when plague was at its door4 ,so far back as the ,black ,death they had appointed three nobles as provveditori sopra la salute della terra to fight the scourge4 ,in #adfh these were supplemented by the addition of two inhabitants of each sestiere1 and in #adhe this commission was reorganized as a permanent ,board of ,health4 ,so by the end of the fifteenth century ,venice had organized and equipped an efficient defensive system against the constant recurrence of plague4 ,a second lazaretto was established during the plague of #aegf on the island of ,sant' ,erasmo1 and in the same year the ,republic summoned learned professors of medicine from ,padua--,girolamo ,mercuriale and ,giovanni ,capodivacca--to identify the disease1 and it was no fault of the ,republic that they pronounced it not to be plague4 ,a curious evidence of the mutual influence of religion and therapeutics on each other is the fixing of quarantine at forty days1 because this was the period that ,christ dwelt apart in the wilderness4 ,venetian doctors for the most part seem now to have mended their ways and devoted themselves loyally to the service of the sick4 ,in a book published in ,venice in ,a4,d4 #adic1 ,fasciculus medicus ,johannis de ,ketam1 the physician ,pietro da ,fossignano is shown visiting a plague patient4 ,as he feels the pulse1 he holds to his mouth and nostrils a sponge1 steeped in some antipestilential aromatic4 ,pietro's death about ,a4,d4 #adjj helps towards fixing the date of this simple clinical precaution4 ,in later years a special plague dress was devised for doctors1 which was adopted from ,italy by ,france1 and of which several engravings exist of about the time of the #agbj plague of ,marseilles 7see pp4 #bjf-h74 ,ambroise ,par recommends that the material should be camlet1 serge1 satin1 taffeta1 or morocco1 but not cloth1 frieze1 or fur1 which might harbour the poison and carry death to the healthy4 ,venice had also her street ambulance in the brotherhood of ,s4 ,rocco1 instituted for the purpose of conveying the sick to hospital and the dead to burial4 ,their services were sorely taxed in times of plague4 ,a specimen of the working dress of the ,order may still be seen in the ,treasury of the ,scuola di ,san ,rocco4 ,it is a loose white cotton overall with full hanging sleeves4 ,on each side of the chest is an oval white satin badge1 embroidered with red silk and edged with red lace4 ,on one the figure of ,christ is embroidered in silk3 on the other that of ,s4 ,rocco with his dog4 ,it is bound at the waist with a corded girdle of white cotton with heavily ornamented cotton tassels at each end4 ,a deep peaked hood of the same material completely covers the head1 having only slits as apertures for the eyes4 ,white leather gloves complete the costume4 ,a similar dress was worn by many of the charitable confraternities of ,central ,italy1 and is to be seen in several ,sienese pictures 7see ,plate ,,viii74 ,it has its modern counterpart in the operating dress of the aseptic surgeon1 but by a queer turn of the whirligig of time its purpose is no longer to keep infection out1 but to keep it in4 ,the ,guild of ,san ,rocco had come into existence at least as early as ,a4,d4 #adae1 but it was not till #adgh that leave was obtained from the ,government to enlist a confraternity under the standard of ,san ,rocco4 ,its first meeting-place was the church of ,san ,giuliano1 but in #adhe the guild undertook to build a church for the custody of the body of the saint1 which some ,venetians had surreptitiously removed from ,montpellier4 ,five years sufficed to complete the church1 and the saint's body was laid in it with great solemnity4 ,the precious relic was destined to bestow great prestige on its possessors4 ,of the five great charitable guilds of ,venice1 that of ,s4 ,rocco was by far the greatest4 ,from #aeaf to the end of the ,republic each ,doge was enrolled a member1 along with many of the richest merchants of ,venice4 ,in this year the brethren determined to erect a meeting-house adjacent to the church1 which should be an added ornament to the city4 ,so the building of the ,scuola was commenced in #aeag by ,bartolommeo ,bon1 only to be finished in #aeej by ,antonio ,scarpagnino4 ,while the ,scuola was in course of construction1 the original church of ,s4 ,rocco was found to be insecure1 and was rebuilt1 but not in its present form1 which is no older than #agbe4 ,in #aeei the ,confraternity entrusted its decoration to ,tintoretto1 and there are still to be seen there1 on the rare occasions when daylight suffices1 the four pictures in which the artist set himself to illustrate the life of the saint4 ,these are 7#a7 ,st4 ,roch in hospital2 7#b7 ,st4 ,roch healing animals2 7#c7 ,the capture of ,st4 ,roch2 7#d7 ,the appearance of an angel to ,st4 ,roch in prison4 ,the small picture that hangs by a side-altar--the #8,betrayal of ,christ'1 by ,titian--has received all the homage that should have been paid to ,tintoretto's subjects3 indeed1 the offerings rendered to this #8miraculous' picture enabled the guild to rebuild their ,scuola4 ,to this church the ,doge came yearly on ,august #af to implore ,st4 ,roch to ward off plague from the ,republic4 ,in #aefj the growing wealth of the guild induced them to call in competition the leading painters of ,venice to decorate the halls of the ,scuola4 ,andrea ,schiavone1 ,federigo ,zuccaro1 ,giuseppe ,salviati1 ,paolo ,veronese1 and ,tintoretto were all invited to prepare drawings and submit them to the judges on the appointed day4 ,while the others had merely sketched designs1 ,tintoretto had finished a complete picture1 #8,st4 ,roch in glory'1 that now occupies the centre of the ceiling of the refectory4 ,to ensure still further his success1 ,tintoretto presented the picture to the guild4 ,from this time until #aehh the decoration of the ,scuola formed the chief part of ,tintoretto's work4 ,by the beginning of #aeff he had completed the superb #8,crucifixion' in the refectory of the upper hall1 and on its completion he was admitted to the ,confraternity1 and assigned an annual subsidy of #ajj ducats 7about #ej7 in payment for three finished pictures each year4 ,here1 at any rate1 he found scope for the expression of an inexhaustible fancy3 but those who have attempted to study the paintings of the ,scuola will appreciate something of the difficulties he had to surmount owing to the defective light which1 as in the church1 renders the pictures invisible except on the brightest days4 ,as ,michelangelo had done in the ,sistine ,chapel1 so ,tintoretto thought out in advance a comprehensive and harmonious scheme for the entire adornment of the halls4 ,the key-note of it all is the dedication of the ,scuola to ,san ,rocco1 the patron saint of the plague-stricken1 and also of those who ministered to them4 ,so the paintings in the upper hall represent acts of mercy and deliverance1 illustrated in ,christ's life on earth4 ,those in the lower hall of entrance1 eight in number1 setting forth mainly the history of the ,virgin and her infant ,son1 form thus an appropriate prelude to the upper series4 ,giovanni ,marchiori and his pupils have faithfully pursued the scheme in the twenty subjects from the life of ,st4 ,roch carved in the panelling of the upper hall4 ,the great staircase that joins the two halls is decorated with frescoes of plague scenes by ,zanchi 7#afff7 and ,negri 7#afgc71 of little artistic merit4 ,yet another memorial of plague survives in the rows of wooden standard lamps1 set round the upper hall1 which the brethren used to carry in processions to the honour of their patron saint4 ,tintoretto was still at his work in the ,scuola when the appalling plague of #aege-g fell on ,venice1 carrying ,titian to his grave1 within close hail of his centenary4 ,while others were hurried away to obscure burial in the common plague pits of ,sant' ,erasmo and the outlying islands1 the body of the old man1 who had brought so great glory to ,venice1 was accorded the honour of a public funeral by order of the ,signoria4 ,after lying in state it was carried to the beautiful ,gothic church of ,s4 ,maria ,gloriosa dei ,frari1 wearing the insignia of ,imperial ,knighthood1 conferred on him by ,charles ,v1 and placed in a tomb at the foot of the altar of the ,cross4 ,here ,titian sleeps his last sleep unmindful1 be it hoped1 of the outrage in marble inflicted on his memory by ,ferdinand ,i of ,austria1 at the hands of ,luigi and ,pietro ,zandomeneghi4 ,titian's eldest son died with him1 and his second son1 ,pomponio1 a canon of ,milan1 hastened to ,venice1 as soon as he was assured that all danger was past1 and quickly dissipated the fortune that the painter had amassed by the thrift and labour of a lifetime4 ,for three years this plague devastated ,venice1 carrying off no less than #ej1jjj souls1 one quarter of her whole population4 ,the ,doge1 ,luigi ,mocenigo1 displayed throughout the utmost courage and devotion4 ,he himself superintended all the efforts to arrest the plague1 and ministered in person to the sick4 ,he went in solemn procession with all the confraternities of ,venice to the church of ,s4 ,rocco1 to vow the erection of another church1 if only the saint would intercede for them4 ,as ,cyprian and ,gregory had done before him1 he addressed words of consolation and encouragement to his people in the sanctuary of his cathedral church4 ,but ,luigi was dead when the day came for his successor to summon the people of ,venice to ,st4 ,mark's to fulfil ,luigi's vow4 ,picture to yourself ,venice one ,july ,sunday under a cloudless sky4 ,from the pulpit of ,st4 ,mark's some aged patriarch has proclaimed the freedom of the city from plague4 ,out of the coloured gloom of the church files the procession into the dazzling glare of the ,piazza4 ,all ,venice is there3 ,venice is in jubilant mood4 ,st4 ,mark's1 ,ducal ,palace1 ,campanile1 and all the buildings around are gay with carpets and tapestries1 with pictures and gilded shields4 ,banners of gorgeous colours flutter to the crisp sea-breeze from the columns of ,theodore and the ,lion4 ,amid wild shouting of people and roar of cannon1 and ringing of bells the procession wheels to the ,piazzetta4 ,before it lies the lagoon1 stretching over to ,s4 ,giorgio ,maggiore1 and away to the ,lido beyond1 sparkling and shimmering in the sunlight1 like some great scintillating jewel4 ,god and man seem to have joined hands there to create the fairest spot of earth4 ,from ,piazzetta to ,giudecca a bridge of boats has been thrown over1 near half a mile in length4 ,on to the bridge goes the procession4#age ,the guilds and confraternities1 displaying their respective standards and carrying crosses1 images of the ,madonna and saints1 and reliquaries1 lead the way1 followed by magistrates1 nobles1 and their ladies4 ,next come the patriarchs1 the ,church dignitaries1 and canons in their rochets1 the friars1 chanting1 under the banners of their fourteen orders1 the clergy robed in rich copes embroidered with gold and sewn with jewels1 under their eleven banners4 ,last of all1 accompanied by senators and ambassadors1 comes the ,doge1 ,sebastiano ,venier1 hero of ,lepanto1 a noble figure1 robed in white with a splendid mantle of silver brocade hanging from his shoulders4 ,in a temporary wooden oratory built close to the place where the ,redentore ,church was to rise from the plans of ,palladio1 ,mass was sung this day to music by ,giuseppe ,zarlino of ,chioggia1 the ,doge's chief musician4 ,and the sound of this jubilant day has echoed down the ages and may be still heard at the yearly ,festa del ,redentore in ,july1 as the procession passes over its bridges of boats from ,san ,zobenigo to ,zattere1 and ,zattere to ,giudecca1 but shorn of much of its former glory4 ,where stood the wooden chauntry stands now ,palladio's church1 a plague-spot on the face of nature4 ,thophile ,gautier1 nevertheless1 saw beauty in its aspect by the light of the setting sun4 ,within there are no pictures and no memorials of the plague to which it owes its being4 ,a ,venetian medal1 showing the ,doge with the banner of ,st4 ,mark kneeling before ,christ1 commemorates this plague4 ,venice has other churches to commemorate her plagues besides ,san ,rocco and the ,redentore2 oldest of all1 ,s4 ,giobbe1 church and convent1 built in the middle of the fifteenth century 7#adfb-ga7 by ,doge ,cristoforo ,moro1 the friend of ,s4 ,bernardino1 and dedicated to the ,job of ,scripture who was plagued with all manner of diseases4 ,over the high altar was once the famous picture by ,giovanni ,bellini1 now in the ,accademia1 of the ,madonna and ,child enthroned between ,st4 ,job1 ,st4 ,john ,baptist1 ,st4 ,sebastian1 ,st4 ,francis1 and ,st4 ,louis of ,toulouse4 ,venice brought the cult of ,s4 ,giobbe along with plague from the east3 he is hardly known elsewhere in ,italy4 ,only a few years later 7#aejf-ah7 another plague church1 that of ,s4 ,sebastiano1 was built for the ,order of ,st4 ,jerome by the two architects1 ,f4 da ,castiglione and ,a4 ,scarpagnino4 ,it is the burial-place of ,veronese1 to whom most of its decoration is due4 ,the ceilings of both church and sacristy are enriched with his pictures1 set in deep gilded mouldings4 ,over the high altar is an #8,apotheosis of ,st4 ,sebastian'1 to whom the ,madonna appears in heaven1 along with ,st4 ,mark1 ,st4 ,jerome1 ,st4 ,john ,baptist1 and ,st4 ,catharine of ,alexandria4 ,to the left of the altar is ,veronese's famous #8,martyrdom of ,marcus and ,marcellinus'4 ,while this church was building ,giorgione died of plague4 ,about his four and thirtieth year he had become wildly enamoured of a young woman1 and when the plague seized her he still paid her secret visits1 and taking the sickness from her lips with her kisses1 he paid for his love with his life4 ,last1 but best known of all1 is the church of ,s4 ,maria della ,salute1 begun by ,baldassare ,longhena in #afcb1 to commemorate the plague of #afcj-a1 which carried off #df1dij in ,venice1 and #id1bce in the whole lagoons4 ,doge ,niccol ,contarini had vowed a church to the ,madonna of ,health1 if she would deliver the ,republic from the plague4 ,during its building a temporary wooden oratory was built on a piece of land1 which the ,knights ,templar had bestowed on the ,republic1 and ,doge1 ,council1 nobles1 and people crossed over the ,grand ,canal by a bridge of boats to hear a solemn ,mass4 ,in the sacristy of ,longhena's church are two seventeenth century prints1 one showing the procession as it crosses the pontoon bridge1 the other1 as it files up into the church4 ,each year in ,november the procession starts from ,st4 ,mark's and crosses the ,grand ,canal by the ,redentore route1 and circles round the church to the entrance facing the ,canal4 ,modern ,venice has transformed a solemn pageant into a fancy fair4 ,these prints show the church as it now stands1 on a platform at the top of a great flight of stairs leading up from the ,grand ,canal1 but a statue of the ,madonna has replaced the ,angel of ,pestilence on the summit of its larger dome4 ,s4 ,maria della ,salute contains many memorials of plague4 ,over the high altar is a heavy group of marble statuary by ,giusto il ,corto4 ,in the centre sits the ,madonna holding her ,child1 with cherubs at her feet4 ,on one side kneels a woman entreating her aid3 on the other a cherub with flaming torch expels a plague demon of human form4 ,in the vault of the choir is a ceiling painting by ,fiammingo showing ,venice imploring liberation from plague4 ,in the sacristy is ,titian's picture of ,st4 ,mark with ,st4 ,sebastian1 ,st4 ,roch1 ,cosmas1 and ,st4 ,damian1 commemorating the plague of #aeab1 in which ,giorgione perished 7see ,plate ,,ix74 ,here1 too1 is ,marco ,basaiti's 7second half of fifteenth century7 votive picture of ,st4 ,sebastian1 a fine figure in a beautiful ,umbrian landscape1 but not the peer of ,sodoma's saint3 and yet another picture of ,st4 ,roch1 ,st4 ,sebastian1 and ,st4 ,jerome by ,girolamo da ,treviso 7#adig-aedd74 ,,footnotes3 #agd ,horatio ,brown1 ,the ,venetian ,republic4 #age ,molmenti1 ,venezia4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,milan had suffered from the ,black ,death far less than other cities of ,italy3 maybe she had acquired a transient immunity4 ,for the three succeeding centuries her history is one long catalogue of plagues1 of which two claim special notice4 ,in #aegf plague broke out in late ,july4 ,carlo ,borromeo was archbishop at the time4 ,the son of ,ghiberto ,borromeo1 ,count of ,arona1 and ,mary de ,medici1 ,carlo was of noble parentage4 ,his influence gained for him in early life the archbishopric of ,milan4 ,amid all his wealth his own personal life was ordered with temperance and humility4 ,stern1 or as some say cruel1 to track out and repress all the abuses that had invaded the ,church in his diocese1 he earned the jealous dislike of his clergy and of the religious orders4 ,the ,brothers of ,humility made open attempt on his life1 but by a miracle he escaped them4 ,carlo was away at ,lodi when news reached him that plague had broken out in ,milan4 ,hastening back to the city he found that the governor1 many officials1 and all the rich had fled4 ,all was in chaos4 ,the people turned in despair to their spiritual father1 and entrusted the care of the town to him4 ,he set them to work at once to adapt the great hospital of ,st4 ,gregory for the reception of the sick1 and later to build six lazarettos of wood outside the walls4 ,all these he equipped and furnished with linen from his own palace4 ,for its better administration he divided the city into four quarters1 and put over each an overseer with a staff of helpers4 ,his example of courage and personal devotion served to attract many of the secular clergy1 monks1 and nuns to the service of the sick4 ,even lay men and women organized a nursing guild among themselves4 ,carlo himself went everywhere1 giving directions for housing the sick and burying the dead4 ,he visited even those parishes beyond the walls1 where the disease was raging1 providing for the sick1 feeding the needy1 and rousing the clergy to the loyal discharge of their duty4 ,famine soon came to add another horror to pestilence4 ,borromeo collected all the destitute into an encampment and arranged the supply of food4 ,first he had all his own silver plate melted down to provide the necessary money4 ,when this ran out1 he begged it from door to door1 and finally incurred huge debts on his own personal security4 ,beyond such material aids as these1 ,carlo ,borromeo brought to the stricken ,milanese the spiritual comforts of religion4 ,from the pulpit of his cathedral he expounded to them the ,lamentations of ,jeremiah1 showing them how they applied to ,milan4 ,from the altar steps he chanted with quivering voice the penitential psalms1 and kneeling before the altar offered himself to ,god as a sacrifice for his people4 ,through the streets of the city he marched at the head of penitential processions with bare feet and the rope of the criminal around his neck4 ,but through it all he passed unscathed1 himself and his eight-and-twenty attendant priests4 ,only #ag1jjj died in ,milan1 and #h1jjj in the districts round about3 that so few died out of so vast a multitude of sick was attributed to the ministrations of their archbishop4 ,as the traveller comes down from the ,alps1 skirting the shores of ,lago ,maggiore1 where gardens are radiant in spring with camellias1 magnolias1 mimosa1 and myrtle1 one feature only blurs the faultless landscape4 ,on a ridge1 high over the lake at ,arona1 towers on its pedestal the statue of ,carlo ,borromeo1 a senseless1 soulless colossus1 in copper and bronze1 mocking the skies4 ,your guide-book tells you you may go up inside its body4 ,if you do so on a hot day you may learn something of the sufferings of ,phalaris1 roasted in the belly of his own brazen bull4 ,but perhaps you will do as well to stay beneath and pray that something rather of the spirit oi ,borromeo may enter into your soul4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxi ,,procession ,,to ,s4 ,,maria ,,della ,,salute1 ,,venice ,from a seventeenth century engraving 7,face ,page #agb7 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxii 7,face ,page #agc7 ,,carlo ,,borromeo4 ,,by ,,annibale ,,carracci ,religion has canonized ,s4 ,carlo ,borromeo2 ,art has ensured him immortality4 ,in the churches and galleries of ,milan he figures as patron saint against plague1 sometimes alone1 sometimes conjointly with ,st4 ,roch4 ,in ,venice he gives place to ,st4 ,roch1 in ,florence to ,st4 ,sebastian4 ,in parts of ,central ,italy ,s4 ,carlo reappears1 attended often by local saints1 interceding with the ,madonna4 ,in the church of ,s4 ,dominico in ,perugia a picture shows him along with ,s4 ,catharine of ,siena1 supplicating the ,virgin4 ,at ,s4 ,carlo in ,corso at ,rome1 along with ,s4 ,ambrose1 he intercedes with ,christ1 and another picture in the same church represents his apotheosis4 ,memorials of ,borromeo are innumerable4 ,the sacristy of ,milan ,cathedral contains a life-size effigy in mitre and robes1 all in wrought silver3 also a gilded wooden cross1 on which the various emblems of the ,passion are carved in relief1 which he carried in plague processions3 also a silk embroidered portrait of him in his mitre4 ,s4 ,carlo ,catinari at ,rome has one of his mitres1 and part of the rope that he wore as a halter4 ,beneath the floor of ,milan ,cathedral1 below the dome and in front of the choir1 is the ,cappella of ,carlo ,borromeo4 ,his remains lie in a silver coffin1 supported on a silver altar1 each elaborately engraved and embossed4 ,the hexagonal chamber has the whole surface of its walls coated with plates of silver1 on which are reliefs representing a series of scenes from his life4 ,in one he is giving alms to the plague-stricken3 in a second he is baptizing children in a plague hospital3 in a third he is walking with feet and head bare1 and with a halter round his neck1 in a plague procession1 preceding the sacred relics that are carried beneath a canopy4 ,portraits of ,s4 ,carlo in ,milan1 those in the ,cathedral1 in the ,borromeo ,palace and elsewhere1 all in profile1 show the prominent nose and receding forehead and a degree of ugliness that would almost seem to forbid enrolment in the catalogue of the saints4 ,a rugged full-faced portrait by ,annibale ,carracci 7#aefj-afji71 now in the ,hermitage at ,st4 ,petersburg1 seems less discordant with the halo4 ,pietro da ,cortona 7#aeif-affi7 painted a picture of ,borromeo heading a plague procession1 which is one of the best of its kind4 ,it is now over the altar of ,s4 ,carlo ,catinari at ,rome1 but hidden from view by a brazen symbol of rays of glory4 ,the familiar theme of innumerable pictures both in ,italy and ,france is ,carlo ,borromeo carrying the ,sacrament to the plague-stricken4 ,some of the best known are those by ,jakob van ,oost 7le ,vieux7 7#afjj-ga7 in the ,louvre3 by ,lemonnier in the ,muse at ,rouen3 by ,cigoli 7#aeei-afac7 in the church of ,santa ,maria ,nuova at ,cortona3 by ,francesco ,gossi in the church of ,poveri at ,bologna3 and by ,baldassare ,franceschini in the church of the ,barnabites at ,pescia4 ,the ,flemish painter ,gaspard de ,crayer 7#aehe-affi7 has varied somewhat the hackneyed features of the subject4 ,in his picture1 ,carlo ,borromeo1 in red episcopal robes1 followed by two acolytes carrying the taper and cross1 bends down and offers the ,sacrament to a dying man1 who kneels before him with head bandaged and shirt thrown open over his bare chest4 ,behind the man are two women1 one of whom supports his body1 while the other in the shadow of a doorway carries a glass of water in her hand4 ,kneeling beside the man1 with hands joined in prayer1 a little boy awaits the ,sacrament3 in the foreground lies a dead child4 ,before this little corpse a man is seated on the ground1 supporting his head1 his legs bare and covered with ulcers4 ,behind him are two women1 one of whom covers her mouth with a handkerchief1 while the other stretches out her hands to an attendant deacon1 who is distributing alms4 ,the background is a street of ,milan with a vista of open country beyond4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxiii 7,face ,page #agd7 ,,borromeo ,,leading ,a ,,plague ,,procession ,by ,pietro da ,cortona ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxiv 7,face ,page #age7 ,,borromeo ,,interceding ,,for ,,the ,,plague-,,stricken ,a marble bas-relief by ,p4 ,puget ,puget 7#afbb-id7 has represented the same subject in a marble bas-relief1 now in the ,sant at ,marseilles4 ,borromeo kneels in earnest supplication amid a group of dead and dying4 ,his eyes are fixed on a cross borne aloft by cherubs4 ,he is attended by acolytes1 who carry a cross and chalice1 and a child clings to his robes4 ,in the foreground a convict drags off a corpse for burial4 ,in the background a woman bends in wild despair over a bed1 on which a dead man is stretched4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in #afcj occurred the ,great ,plague of ,milan1 well known to many by the description of ,manzoni 7#aghe-ahgc7 in his ,promessi ,sposi4 ,for his information he has drawn on many sources1 and not least on the contemporary record of ,canon ,ripamonti1 written by request of the ,magistracy as a supplement to his ,history of ,milan4 ,this volume on the plague bears an emblematic engraving on the title-page4 ,a skeleton holds in his hands weapons1 armour1 bones1 and books all strung together4 ,the toes of his feet protrude from beneath a carpet on which lies a plague-stricken man4 ,in front of the skeleton is an altar1 on which stand taper and crucifix4 ,beside the altar sits a woman1 a drawn sword in her right hand1 her left arm embracing a stork3 a naked child is by her side4 ,on the frontal of the altar is the title of the book3 #8,josephi ,ripamontii1 ,canonici ,scalensis ,chronistae ,urbis ,mediolani1 ,de ,peste ,quae ,fuit ,anno c,i,icxxx ,libri ,v1 ,desumpti ,ex ,annalibus ,urbis ,quos ,,lx ,decurionum ,autoritate ,scribebat4' ,in his ,storia della ,colonna ,infame1 published in #ahdj1 ,manzoni has told the trial and punishment of the two ,untori1 accused of spreading the plague by means of ointments4 ,the home of one of them was destroyed by order of the ,state1 and the ground on which it stood declared accursed4 ,on it a stone column was erected in #afcj1 bearing the following inscription3#agf #8,here1 where this plot of ground extends1 formerly stood the shop of the barber1 ,giangiacomo ,mora1 who had conspired with ,guglielmo ,piazza1 ,commissary of the ,public ,health1 and with others1 while a frightful plague exercised its ravages1 by means of deadly ointments spread on all sides1 to hurl many citizens to a cruel death4 ,for this1 the ,senate1 having declared them both to be enemies of their country1 decreed that1 placed on an elevated car1 their flesh should be torn with red-hot pincers1 their right hands be cut off1 and their bones be broken3 that they should be extended on the wheel1 and at the end of six hours be put to death and burnt4 ,then1 and that there might remain no trace of these guilty men1 their possessions should be sold at public sale1 and their ashes be thrown into the river2 and to perpetuate the memory of their deed the ,senate wills1 that the house in which the crime was projected shall be razed to the ground1 shall never be rebuilt1 and that in its place a column shall be erected1 which shall be called ,infamous4 ,keep afar off1 then1 afar off1 good citizens1 lest this accursed ground should pollute you with its infamy4 ,august #afcj4' ,this cursing of the site recalls the curse of ,joshua#agg on the site of ,jericho after its capture3 #8,cursed be the man before the ,lord1 that riseth up and buildeth this city ,jericho3 he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born1 and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it4' ,and the ,constitutions of ,moses#agh pronounced a similar curse on cities that turned aside from the true religion4 ,in #aggg ,count ,pietro ,verri1 ,counsellor of ,state in the service of ,maria ,theresa1 published a treatise on ,torture1 in which special reference was made to this case at ,milan in #afcj4 ,his work1 however1 did not see the light till #ahjd4 ,then in #ahci the ,processo originate degli ,untori nella peste del #afcj was issued in ,milan1 giving a full official account of the trial of these ,anointers4 ,fletcher1 in #ahie1 drew up a summary of evidence from all the sources in his ,tragedy of the ,great ,plague of ,milan4 ,early in the morning of ,june #ba1 #afcj1 one ,catarina ,rosa1 a woman of the lower classes1 saw from the balcony of her house a man going down the street writing on a sheet of paper4 ,he stopped to wipe his fingers on the wall of a house1 probably to get rid of ink-stains1 but the woman's fear at once conjured up the superstitious image of a deadly ointment smeared on the walls to spread the plague4 ,a crowd of excited women flocked to the ,council ,chamber to inform the ,senate1 who at once ordered the man's arrest4 ,henceforth no one dared touch a wall4 ,ripamonti tells how three young ,french travellers fared1 who in admiring the marble of a temple unsuspectingly ventured to touch it4 ,someone saw them do it1 and raised the alarm4 ,forthwith they were savagely set upon and hurled into gaol1 and only released when it was found that there was no vestige of evidence to suggest anything but innocent curiosity4 ,again1 an old man of eighty was seen to dust a bench in the church of ,st4 ,anthony with his cloak before sitting down4 ,immediately the women cried out that he was anointing the benches1 and the worshippers set on him there and then in the church1 and after beating him brutally dragged him before the magistrates4 ,ripamonti believes that he died of his injuries4 ,the search for the suspected ,anointer resulted in the arrest of one ,guglielmo ,piazza1 a scrivener who carried an ink-horn at his belt4 ,he was also a commissioner of health1 that is to say1 a petty official employed to report cases of plague4 ,throughout two applications of torture he stoutly denied the offence1 but in his cell1 broken with suffering and fearing a renewal of torture1 he yielded to the suggestions of those around him4 ,he confessed his guilt1 and declared that he obtained the deadly ointment from the barber ,giangiacomo ,mora4 ,this man was straightway arrested and carried to the court1 but there vehemently asserted his innocence and vowed that he had never seen ,piazza4 ,under torture1 however1 he gave way1 and vied with the unhappy ,mora in concocting falsehoods4 ,among others1 they implicated ,count ,padilla1 son of the ,commandant of the ,castle1 but in the end he was acquitted1 and it is from the notes of his trial that ,verri obtained the material for the narrative of ,piazza and ,mora4 ,mora1 like most barbers of his day1 dabbled in medicine1 so that medicinal jars and vessels were found in his shop4 ,these1 he asserted1 contained preservatives against the plague1 and probably with truth1 for during epidemics of plague they were in great demand4 ,ambroise ,par gives an elaborate formula for a preservative water1 with which to wash the body frequently and rinse the mouth1 and a few drops of it were to be placed as well in the nostrils and ears4 ,similar nostrums were in great demand during the ,great ,plague of ,london and that of ,marseilles in #agbj4 ,piazza had occasionally visited ,mora's shop as a customer of the barber1 and both stated that ,mora had undertaken to prepare a pot of his preservative for ,piazza4 ,on this innocent transaction was to be built up a charge of wholesale murder4 ,mora was induced by torture to admit that ,piazza had supplied him with foam from the mouths of plague victims to mix with his ointment4 ,in the intervals of torture ,mora and ,piazza more than once recanted and declared that their confessions were false1 but a renewal of torture soon induced them to retract4 ,the ignorant ferocity of the populace called aloud for satisfaction4 ,at the conclusion of their examination the unhappy victims were carried off for the execution of a terrible sentence1 in spite of the pledge of impunity4 ,with the merciful prospect of death before them1 they openly asserted that all their admissions incriminating others were false and had been extracted from them by their terror of further torture4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxv ,,torture ,,and ,,execution ,,of ,,the ,,anointers 7,face ,page #agi7 ,at the end of the ,processo originale degl' ,untori is a folded plate representing in all its details the execution of ,piazza and ,mora4 ,it is a rough reproduction of an older undated engraving1 which ,fletcher has reproduced from a copy in the collection of medical prints and engravings in the library of the ,surgeon-,general's ,office at ,washington4 ,the engraver of this was ,orazio ,colombo1 and it was published in ,rome by the authority of the ,nuncio of the ,roman ,college4 ,on the top of the engraving is its title1 which may be translated1 #8,the sentence pronounced on those1 who had poisoned many persons in ,milan in the year #afcj4' ,fletcher appends this further description3 #8,this is followed by the names of the ,magnificos1 who sat in judgement1 and the particulars of the punishment decreed4 ,each scene in the picture has its letter1 which is referred to in an explanatory legend below4 ,the entire disregard of the unities of time and place1 which characterized such productions1 is well displayed in this curious engraving4 ,on the right is the shop of the barber ,mora1 and in front of it the 8,column of ,infamy0 is already erected4 ,a large platform car1 drawn by two oxen1 exhibits the victims1 executioners1 and priests4 ,a brazier of live charcoal contains the pincers with which the flesh was to be torn4 ,the barber's right hand is on the block1 and a chopper held over the wrist is about to be struck down by a mallet held aloft by the executioner4 ,further on is seen a large platform1 on which the two victims are having their limbs broken by an iron bar1 preparatory to their exposure on the wheel for six hours4 ,the wheels are also displayed1 one of them already on a pole1 with the men bound upon them4 ,still further on are the fires consuming the bodies1 and1 last scene of all1 on the extreme left is a fussy little stream1 foaming under bridges1 which is supposed to be a river1 and into it a man is throwing the ashes of the two malefactors4' ,one dark night in #aghh ,nature for very shame let loose a storm that wrecked the ,column3 her minion ,man then tardily demolished the monument of his own infamy4 ,the balcony of ,catarina ,rosa's house was also taken down1 so that no structure stands to call to mind the hideous tragedy4 ,the corner-house of the ,vedra de' ,cittadini1 on the left hand as one comes from the ,corso di ,porta ,ticinese1 occupies the site of poor ,mora's house4 ,a dwelling has rested on the accursed site since #ahjc4 ,it is surprising to find that not only does not ,ripamonti deny the guilt of the victims1 but now and again he seems to hint at its reality4 ,it has to be borne in mind that in his position as official historiographer of ,milan it was hardly permissible for him to express sentiments opposed to popular conviction and the decisions of the courts of justice4 ,as late as #ahcb1 during an epidemic of cholera in ,st4 ,petersburg1 the most circumstantial statements of miscreants putting poison in the food and drink of the people were in every mouth4 ,manzoni's ,colonna ,infame is a simple unadorned narrative of the trial and execution of the two ,anointers1 quite different in literary form from his ,promessi ,sposi4 ,it is written with a definite purpose in view4 ,verri had introduced the story into his ,observations on ,torture1 merely as an illustration of the way in which the confession of a crime1 both physically and morally impossible1 may be extracted by torture4 ,manzoni retells the tale1 in the interest of humanity at large1 to show that no matter how deep may have been the belief in the efficacy of ointments1 and despite the existence of a legislature that countenanced and approved torture1 it was competent to the judges to convict them1 only by recourse to artifices and expedients1 of the injustice of which they were perfectly well aware4 ,manzoni's ,promessi ,sposi is a happy blend of antiquarian research and imaginative description1 and the incidents of the plague are dexterously woven into the fabric of his story4 ,manzoni wrote at a time when literature1 freed from the trammels of convention1 was being slowly brought into harmony with the outlook of modern thought4 ,though an aristocrat by birth1 his upbringing had taught him to regard life with the eyes of the peasant1 and not with those of his overlord4 ,in his genius for romance and in his reverence for the past ,manzoni has much in common with ,scott1 but with this difference1 that ,scott sees the social fabric from above1 ,manzoni from below4 ,to ,scott life was a pageant in which knights of chivalry and courtly dames shared all the leading parts3 ,manzoni's stage is filled with men struggling to be rid of the yoke of feudal oppression4 ,the plague of ,milan1 falling alike on rich and poor1 afforded him the text from which to preach the essential equality of all men4 ,his whole narrative is so moulded as to throw into striking contrast the vices of the rich with the virtues of the poor4 ,the plague scenes1 too1 give him scope for his remarkable insight into the psychology of crowds1 and for his skill in marshalling men in masses1 a gift in which he rivals ,tintoretto4 ,it is the genius of ,manzoni that he persuades without preaching4 ,the total mortality of this pestilence in ,milan has been estimated roughly at #aej1jjj persons4 ,the ,sanit1 or ,board of ,health1 profiting by the lessons of the previous plague1 seem to have acted with sense and energy1 though hampered by the ignorant obstinacy of the ,senate1 the ,council of ,decurions1 and the ,magistrates1 who were afraid of driving away trade1 if the presence of plague were admitted4 ,one strange remedial measure was the organization of an immense procession through the streets in honour of ,san ,carlo4 ,during the procession all the sequestered houses were fastened up with nails to prevent the infected inmates from joining in it4 ,deaths were so numerous at the height of the plague that the burial-pits were filled1 and bodies lay putrefying in the houses and streets4 ,the ,sanit sought the help of two priests1 who undertook to dispose of all the corpses in four days4 ,with the assistance of peasants1 whom they summoned from the country in the name of religion1 three immense pits were dug4 ,the ,sanit employed monatti to bring out the dead and cart them to the pits1 and the priests accomplished their task within the appointed time4 ,besides the monatti they appointed apparitores1 or summoners1 who went in advance of the monatti ringing a bell to warn the people to bring out their dead4 ,commissari supervised both apparitores and monatti4 ,piazza was one of these overseers4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the plagues of the seventeenth century have left behind them very many memorials both in literature and in art3 among them the great plague of ,milan is only one of many4 ,southern ,france was attacked again and again1 and in #afdc plague raged fiercely at ,lyons4 ,over the portico of the church of ,notre-,dame de ,fourvire1 which stands high up on the precipitous hill that overhangs the town1 is a frieze commemorating this plague4 ,in ,italy1 city after city succumbed4 ,guido's picture1 #8,il ,pallione del ,voto1' reminds us that ,bologna suffered along with ,milan4 ,venice suffered too1 and out of her ruin rose the church of ,s4 ,maria della ,salute4 ,florence retains in the ,bargello a hideous reminiscence of her visitation in a wax representation of #8,pestilenza' by ,zumbo ,gaetano ,giulio 7#afef-agja74 ,corpses are lying about in various stages of decomposition3 among them lies a dead mother beside her infant child4 ,a man1 whose nostrils are covered with a bandage1 attempts to carry away a corpse4 ,in the background great bonfires are burning4 ,the modelling of the carcases is anatomically exact1 but the production as a whole is utterly repulsive4 ,in #afef ,naples assumes the leading rle in this hideous ,dance of ,death4 ,soldiers brought the plague on a transport from ,sardinia4 ,at first the viceroy attempted to disguise the true character of the disease4 ,the first doctor who dared to pronounce the sickness plague was promptly put in prison4 ,malcontents spread the report that the ,spaniards had designedly introduced the plague1 and were employing people to go through the city in disguise1 sowing broadcast poisoned dust4 ,the infuriated populace turned on the ,spanish soldiery1 who sought safety by transferring the accusation to the ,french4 ,nothing but blood would satisfy the mob1 and ,angelucci di ,tivoli1 reputed author of the plague powder1 was broken on the wheel as a peace-offering to their bloodt-hirsty fury4 ,the ,spaniards were accused also of poisoning the holy water in the churches by means of the deadly powder4 ,superstition was rampant in every form4 ,one said that he had been miraculously cured by drinking holy water before an image of the ,virgin4 ,another saw a marble statue of the ,madonna and ,child in the church of ,s4 ,severo covered with sweat1 and the faces of both livid and marked by the plague4 ,a doctor1 ,francesco ,mosca1 who printed a formula for curing the plague1 was honourably entitled ,protomedico4 ,a nun prophesied that the building of a convent on the hill of ,st4 ,martin for her sisterhood would bring to an end the pestilence4 ,the building was taken in hand in eager haste1 rich and poor vying in bodily labour1 but in spite of all their efforts the mortality grew apace4 ,by a strange perversity of reasoning penitential processions paraded both day and night the very streets in which priests1 in terror of the contagion1 were administering the ,sacrament on the end of a stick4 ,the death-roll of six months was #djj1jjj lives4 ,various writers have described this plague1 among them ,muratori1 ,giannone1 and de ,renzi in his ,naples in the year #afef1 published in #affg4 ,the ,papal ,nuncio in ,naples at the time thought fit to write a pamphlet on it1 and of modern writers ,shorthouse has made poor use of it in his ,john ,inglesant4 ,micco ,spadara 7#afab-gi71 who actually witnessed this plague1 has left a picture of it1 which is now in the ,national ,museum at ,naples4 ,it represents the ,piazza ,mercatello1 a veritable pandemonium of dead and dying4 ,monatti1 drawn from the galley-slaves1 are dragging the corpses with hooks to carts in which to carry them to the burial-pits4 ,here and there sedan chairs are seen4 ,these were used to carry the sick to the lazarettos4 ,at first chair-bearers were selected from the citizens who volunteered for the task1 but when all these were dead1 galley-slaves and convicts took their place4 ,in the plague of ,marseilles in #agbj sedans were put at the disposal of the doctors1 #8for their more easy conveyance everywhere'1 by order of the ,town ,council4 ,there was plague in ,rome as well as ,naples in #afef4 ,nicolas ,poussin 7#aeid-affe7 was resident in ,rome1 and has left the testimony of an eye-witness in his picture1 #8,the ,plague of ,rome1' now in the ,czernin ,collection at ,vienna4 ,it is a landscape with architectural features1 of which ,denio#agi gives this brief notice3 #8,two men are seen dragging a corpse to the mouth of a vault1 whose opening is already barred by dead bodies4 ,a man1 enveloped in a white mantle1 directs the bearers where to go3 by his side is a jackal-like dog4 ,on the high platform of the receptacle we notice a group of six men4 ,broken columns take the place of the half-seen trees in other works1 while sarcophagi and tombs indicate a cemetery4 ,beyond the arch stretches the ,campagna4' ,poussin has introduced into the picture the ,castle of ,s4 ,angelo1 mindful1 no doubt1 of the legend of ,gregory's vision4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxvi ,,plague ,,of ,,naples1 #afef4 ,,by ,,micco ,,spadara ,photograph by ,brogi1 ,florence 7,face ,page #ahd7 ,the church of ,santa ,maria in ,campitelli at ,rome was rebuilt1 in its present form1 in #afei1 by ,carlo ,rainaldi1 to accommodate a miraculous image of the ,virgin1 to which the cessation of the plague of #afef was ascribed4 ,the church is sometimes called ,s4 ,maria in ,portico1 because of the neighbouring ,portico of ,octavia4 ,the miraculous ,madonna is placed now beneath the canopy over the high altar4 ,it is still believed to protect ,rome from the contagion of pestilence4 ,here1 too1 came constantly the ,elder ,pretender and his son ,henry1 who took his ,cardinal's title from this church1 to offer prayers to this self-same image of the ,madonna1 for the liberation of ,england from the plague of ,protestant apostasy4 ,to this end ,james instituted in perpetuity an office of prayer1 and ordained that every ,saturday ,mass should be said at #aa of the morning before the picture1 with the ,sacrament exposed1 and that after recital of the prayers a blessing should be given along with the ,sacrament4 ,this ceremony has ever since been regularly performed4 ,in the sacristy is a framed engraving of the miraculous ,madonna1 dated #agdg4 ,it is surrounded by a series of small pictures1 one of which shows the appearance of the image to ,s4 ,galla in the pontificate of ,john ,i 7#ebc-f71 as she ministered to the wants of twelve poor men in her house4 ,another shows ,pope ,john dedicating the miraculous picture in the oratory of ,s4 ,galla1 which was transformed later into the church of ,s4 ,maria in ,campitelli4 ,the remaining pictures represent scenes in successive pontificates1 in which this miraculous ,madonna brought about a cessation of plague4 ,a brief explanation in ,latin is attached to each4 ,the plague of #afef occurred in the pontificate of ,alexander ,,vii4 ,this ,pope did much to atone for the craven spirit of his papal predecessors by his courage and devotion to his people throughout the epidemic4 ,it is surprising that no memorial has been erected to commemorate his services4 ,two rare contemporary prints represent scenes in the course of this visitation4 ,one is figured by ,lanciani in his ,golden ,days of the ,renaissance3#ahj the other is reproduced here4#aha ,both were to be seen in the ,medical ,exhibition in the ,castel ,s4 ,angelo in the spring of #aiab4 ,lanciani's print shows the following scenes3 #a4 ,inspection of the city gates by ,prince ,chigi4 #b4 ,barge-loads of corpses from the lazaretto on the island of ,s4 ,bartolommeo4 #c-e4 ,various methods of fighting the plague in infected districts4 #f4 ,the #8,field of ,death' near ,st4 ,paul-outside-the-,walls4 ,the second print is of even greater interest than this3 the first two rows of plates give some idea of the character of the lazarettos1 and show how they were guarded by palisades and sentries3 they also show the carts for transport of the sick attended by armed soldiers4 ,the disinfection of the books and personal ornaments of the sick1 a dead dog being dragged away to be thrown into the river1 and a sick-cart marked with a cross1 are other details of interest4 ,the third row indicates the removal of infected goods to places outside the city1 where they were either washed or cleansed2 places where other things were deposited2 a country residence of the ,popes converted into a convalescent home2 and the ruined palace of the ,antonines1 where woollen goods were taken for disinfection4 ,the fourth row represents chiefly wash-houses and washing-places1 to which clothes and bedding were removed for cleansing4 ,the fifth row1 the execution of those who transgressed the sanitary regulations1 the shooting of sick criminals1 and the various measures taken to restrict the river traffic4 ,a cable is thrown across the river1 and palisades are erected on the shores1 so as to break all contact between the city and boats bringing in provisions4 ,the huts are shown1 in which soldiers and officials were lodged1 whose duty it was to compel obedience to the prescribed regulations4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxvii ,,plague ,,scenes ,,in ,,rome1 #afef ,from an old engraving 7,face ,page #ahf7 ,,footnotes3 #agf ,translated in ,a ,tragedy of the ,great ,plague of ,milan1 ,r4 ,fletcher1 ,m4,d4 #ahie4 #agg ,joshua vi4 #bf4 #agh ,deuteronomy xiii4 #ae-ah4 #agi ,nicolas ,poussin1 p4 #acd4 #ahj p4 #hd4 #aha ,from an engraving in the author's possession4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,the ,great ,plague of ,london1 which reached its height in #affe1 has left an abundant aftermath both in literature and art4 ,the main story of its ravages is too well known to call for repetition4 ,there were still some ready to see in the plague1 as they were in the case of the fire1 evidence of the handiwork of malevolent ,jews4 ,since their expulsion from ,england by ,edward ,i1 the ,jews had never yet obtained the legal right of re-entry1 their open petition to ,cromwell having failed4 ,with the restoration of ,charles ,,ii to the throne1 they seem to have taken the matter into their own hands and found their way quietly back1 so that at the time of the plague there were many resident in ,london1 to the great advantage of trade and to the relief of an ever-needy ,government4 ,but three centuries of plague1 punctuated by fierce outbreaks at regularly recurring intervals1 had served to unravel much of the mystery of pestilence1 and the people had learnt that it was not to be exorcised by a holocaust of ,jews1 or by the brutal murder of imaginary poisoners4 ,celestial portents were not lacking to presage the plague4 ,a blazing comet appeared for several months before the plague4 ,men affected to see1 in its dull colour and slow solemn movement1 a prediction of the heavy punishment of pestilence2 whereas that which preceded the fire was swift and flaming and foretold a rapid retribution4 ,superstition raked up images afresh from the scrap-heap of discarded fancies4 ,women saw flaming swords in the heavens1 some even saw angels brandishing them over their heads4 ,astrologers had strange tales of malignant conjunctions of the planets4 ,medical opinion was still divided along the same lines of cleavage1 as it had been for #b1jjj years before4 ,there were those who referred the disease to some occult poison1 and those who referred it to an excess of some manifest quality1 such as heat1 or cold1 or moisture1 in each case corrupting the body humours4 ,speculation was rife as to the nature of the causal poison4 ,some1 as ,lucretius had done1 conceived it to be pestiferous corpuscles of atomic character1 outside the range of human vision1 generated either in the heavens by a malignant conjunction of planets1 or in the soil1 and so often liberated by the agency of earthquakes4 ,these poisons1 however generated1 found their way into the human body through the medium of the distempered atmosphere4 ,some had noticed an unusual absence of birds before the epidemic1 as ,thucydides and ,livy had done in their times4 ,boyle observed a great diminution of flies in #affe1 ,boghurst a superabundance of flies and ants in #affd4 ,sir ,george ,ent and others attributed the disease to minute invisible insects1 but ,blackmore conceived these to be rather a consequence than a cause4 ,insects1 so-called1 had been vaguely associated with pestilence from remote antiquity1 more especially flies1 lice1 and locusts2 but in the medical literature of the sixteenth century and after they are assigned a much more definite role4 ,mercurialis#ahb states that huge numbers of caterpillars paraded the streets of ,venice during the plague of #aegf4 ,goclenus#ahc mentions swarms of spiders during the plague of ,hesse in #afab1 and ,hildanus swarms of flies and caterpillars this same year in plague-stricken ,lausanne4 ,bacon speaks of flies and locusts1 as characteristic of pestilential years1 and ,diemerbroeck#ahd of flies1 gnats1 butterflies1 beetles1 grasshoppers1 and hornets in the same connexion4 ,gottwald#ahe reported the presence of multitudes of spiders during the plague of ,dantzig in #agji4 ,arabian physicians considered the putrefaction of swarms of dead locusts an important cause of pestilence4 ,hancock1#ahf as late as #ahba1 argued that locusts caused famine by destroying the crops1 and so prepared the way for human pestilence4 ,talismans1 amulets1 reliquaries1 and all the stock-in-trade of magic were in brisk demand among the populace4 ,quack vendors of antipestilential remedies innumerable effectively replaced physicians1 most of whom took refuge in flight4 ,all honour to those who stood fast at their posts and reclaimed for medicine what ,galen had renounced1 the captaincy of its own soul4 ,these are the men who had no fear for #8the pestilence that walketh in darkness or the arrow that flieth by day'3 #a4 ,dr4 ,francis ,glisson ,presidents of the ,royal ,college #b4 ,sir ,thomas ,witherley of ,physicians4 #c4 ,dr4 ,nicholas ,davys #d4 ,dr4 ,edward ,deantry #e4 ,dr4 ,thomas ,allen #f4 ,sir ,john ,baber #g4 ,dr4 ,peter ,barwick #h4 ,dr4 ,humphrey ,brooks ,fellows of the ,royal ,college #i4 ,dr4 ,alexander ,burnett of ,physicians4 #aj4 ,dr4 ,elisha ,coysh #aa4 ,dr4 ,john ,glover #ab4 ,dr4 ,nathaniel ,hodges #ac4 ,dr4 ,nathan ,paget #ad4 ,dr4 ,thomas ,wharton #ae4 ,dr4 ,william ,conyers ,member of the ,royal ,college of ,physicians4 #af4 ,dr4 ,o',dowd #ag4 ,dr4 ,samuel ,peck #ah4 ,john ,fife #ai4 ,thomas ,gray ,members of ,barber-,surgeons' ,company4 #bj4 ,edward ,hannan #ba4 ,edward ,higgs ,and yet a few beside these1 whose names are inscribed on no human document1 but whose deeds are imprinted in imperishable type on the deathless record of righteous human endeavour4 ,nathaniel ,hodges#ahg shows us something of the daily life of a physician in the course of this plague4 ,he himself rose early1 took his antipestilential dose1 attended to the affairs of his household1 and then repaired to his consulting room1 where crowds awaited him4 ,some1 who were sick1 he treated1 others he reassured and sent away4 ,breakfast followed1 then visits to patients at their homes4 ,on entering a house he would vaporize some aromatic disinfectant on a charcoal brazier3 if he arrived out of breath1 he would rest a while1 and then place a lozenge in his mouth1 before proceeding to the examination of his patients4 ,after a round of several hours' duration1 he would return home1 drink a glass of sack1 and then dine on roast meat and pickles or some similar condiments1 all of which were reputed antidotal4 ,more wine followed the preliminary curtain-raiser4 ,afternoon and evening1 till eight or nine o'clock1 were devoted to a second round of visits4 ,his late hours he spent at home1 a stranger to noxious fumes of tobacco1 quaffing sack1 to ensure cheerfulness and certainty of sleep4 ,twice the fatal infection seemed to have slipped past his outposts1 but ,hodges had still his remedy3 he merely doubled the dose4 ,of all the literature of pestilence none has been more widely read than ,defoe's ,journal of the ,plague ,year3 all later records take their colour from ,defoe4 ,nevertheless1 a careful study and comparison of other contemporary accounts leaves little room for doubt that ,defoe's picture does not accurately represent the general state of ,london during the plague4 ,his picture is far more true of ,marseilles in #agbj than of ,london in #affe1 and in this connexion one should remember that he had sedulously collected materials for a diary of the plague of ,marseilles1 which have been printed in some editions of his works4 ,these can hardly have failed to colour his ,journal1 which was not submitted to the public till #agbb1 two years after the plague of ,marseilles4 ,defoe himself was but six years old at the time of the plague1 so that his own childish memories can have aided him but little in his task4 ,he will have had1 at most1 a dim recollection of some hideous catastrophe1 round which ranged tales of parents and friends in his boyhood4 ,to these he will have added facts and incidents borrowed from the chief records available in print4 ,intrinsic evidence goes to show that these were three3 ,london's ,dreadful ,visitation1 ,hodges's ,loimologia1 and ,vincent's ,god's ,terrible ,voice in the ,city4 ,the first of these will have given him the ,bills of ,mortality and other general information3 the second1 the aspect of the plague from a physician's point of view3 the third1 a vision of the plague as it appealed to popular imagination4 ,that ,defoe intended to write history and not fiction1 there is no reason to doubt4 ,judged only by the accuracy of his facts it is history1 but it is in the facts that he omits1 just because he had never heard of them1 that he unconsciously lapses into fiction4 ,comparison of details and incidents with the unimpeachable record of ,pepys confirms his accuracy1 but it shows also that1 by separating incidents from their surroundings and by compressing his description to the exclusion of all but selected incidents1 the picture1 as a whole1 does not accurately represent the aspect of the city1 as it was4 ,pepys1 who was an actual eye-witness1 has noted not only the most striking events but those of everyday commonplace interest1 so that his narrative is far more true to life4 ,defoe1 on the other hand1 has removed his picture from its setting4 ,pepys shows us that1 though the spectre of plague was everywhere1 everyday life went on1 though in subdued fashion4 ,defoe would have us believe that all activity was paralysed4 ,for all this1 however1 as one reads the ,journal the narrative has such an air of verisimilitude1 that one instinctively pictures the writer as describing what he has seen with his own eyes1 so perfect is the illusion4 ,mead1 indeed1 himself an authority on the plague and so soon after the event1 believed that the ,journal was the authentic record of an eye-witness4 ,defoe's faculty of visualizing what he has not seen is inferior only to the vividness with which he describes what he has visualized4 ,what is the secret of this vividness8 ,more than all else1 extreme simplicity of language4 ,the simple style was ,defoe's natural style1 and for that reason his use of it is fluent and easy1 and knowing this he fitly puts his story into the mouth of a simple saddler4 ,defoe wrote for a growing class of readers of a lowly social order4 ,he is the apostle of the common people3 that is why he imitates their way of speaking4 ,not only is his narrative colloquial1 but it deliberately affects the language a saddler would use in reciting to his intimates the memories of what he had lived through4 ,there is no striving for dramatic effect1 no drawing of lurid pictures1 no literary artifice1 but always the same sustained simplicity of diction1 even in describing the most appalling occurrences4 ,there must be no chance of missing the smallest point1 so he even does such thinking as is necessary by running comments on his own story4 ,the educated reader1 particularly in these days1 when even literature is administered in tabloid form1 must needs be wearied by the prolixity1 and irritated by the redundancy of the narrative4 ,but again it must be pleaded in extenuation that these very defects are deliberate4 ,constant repetition1 as every teacher knows1 sooner or later penetrates the densest brain4 ,but the ,journal is something more than a mere chronicle1 vivid enough at that1 of what happened1 and how men behaved1 during the plague4 ,defoe regards the plague as the judgement of ,god1 and this attitude imparts a strong moral purpose to the work4 ,this is why he dwells so much on the mental and moral effects of the catastrophe1 inculcating his lesson without the appearance of undue insistence4 ,pepys1 as we know1 could find heart to make merry during the plague1 just as ,boccaccio depicted his company of ,florentines3 to ,defoe the mere idea of merriment is revolting4 ,pepys1 on ,new ,year's ,eve1 as he looked back over the abomination of desolation1 could make this entry in his ,diary3 #8,december #ca1 #affe4 ,i have never lived so merrily 7besides that ,i never got so much7 as ,i have done this plague time 444 and great store of dancings we have had at my cost 7which ,i am willing to indulge myself and wife7 at my lodgings4 ,the great evil of this year1 and the only one indeed1 is the fall of my ,lord of ,sandwich1 whose mistake about the prizes hath undone him4' ,pepys was a stranger to imagination3 his pleasures and his griefs were things of the surface and matters of the moment4 ,his creed is egoistic hedonism in all its naked brutishness4 ,he is far more concerned over the fire1 where there is a chance of losing his property1 than over the plague where the chance is of losing his life4 ,his ,new ,year's ,eve retrospect is not the only glimpse he gives us of callous indifference to the horrors of the plague4 ,look at ,september #cj1 #affe1 when the fiercest spell was only just past3 #8,so to sleep with a good deal of content1 and saving only this night and a day or two about the same business a month or six weeks ago1 ,i do end this month with the greatest content1 and may say that these three months1 for joy1 health1 and profit1 have been much the greatest that ever ,i received in all my life1 having nothing upon me but the consideration of the sicklinesse of the season during this great plague to mortify mee4 ,for all which the ,lord ,god be praised6' ,it was not that ,pepys was unconscious of the terrible scenes of suffering around him1 only that he was unmoved by them4 ,into one short letter to ,lady ,cartaret1 at the height of the plague1 he compresses all the grim details that fill a volume for ,defoe4 ,historians frequently lay it down that the fire of ,london swept away the plague4 ,as a fact it probably had little to do with its departure4 ,several ,english towns were as hard hit as ,london1 and yet in the absence of any conflagration subsidence and disappearance of plague followed the same course as in ,london4 ,at ,salonica1#ahh about ,a4,d4 #aejj1 a fire which destroyed #h1jjj houses was actually followed by an outbreak of plague4 ,it was a common contemporary belief that the departure of plague from ,london was hastened by the coming of pit-coal into general use1 so that the atmosphere was constantly permeated by sulphurous fumes4 ,records in art of the ,great ,plague of ,london1 though numerous1 are mostly unimportant4 ,generally artists have been content to illustrate its copious literature4 ,in #ahfc ,frederic ,shields commenced an intended series of illustrations of the ,journal of ,defoe4 ,ruskin lavished great praise on the woodcuts1 for their imaginative power and for the superlative excellence of the design4 ,proofs of six of these woodcuts were to be seen at the ,memorial ,exhibition of the works of ,shields 7,alpine ,club1 ,september-,october #aiaa74 ,the set of six comprised the following scenes3 #a4 ,the ,decision of ,faith ,a man is seated at a table1 on which lies a ,bill of ,mortality1 with his ,bible open before him4 ,he says to himself1 #8,well ,i know not what to do1 ,lord direct me4' ,his finger points to the answer in the open ,bible3 #8,because thou hast made the ,lord1 which is my refuge1 even the most ,high1 thy habitation3 there shall no evil befall thee1 neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling4' #b4 ,the ,death of the ,first-born ,a youth lies in convulsions on a bed1 while a woman kneels beside it4 ,in the background are bearers carrying away a corpse3 both are smoking pipes4 ,on the ground lies an hour-glass4 #c4 ,solomon ,eagle warning the ,impenitent ,solomon ,eagle stands with a brazier of live coals on his head in a fierce preaching attitude before a group of lewd young women at an open window4 #d4 ,the ,end of a ,refugee ,a man with a long hooked pole is dragging a corpse along4 ,beside him stands a grave-digger with spade1 dog1 and dinner-basket4 #e4 ,the ,plague-,pit ,bodies are being shot from a cart into a pit by the light of a torch1 which a man is holding4 #f4 ,escape of an ,imprisoned ,family ,the door of a house has been hacked down1 and is lying on a dead body4 ,george ,cruickshank contributed four plates to ,brayley's edition of the ,journal of the ,plague ,year4 ,three of them1 the #8,dead ,cart'1 the #8,great ,pit in ,aldgate'1 and #8,solomon ,eagle' are vivid and powerful2 the fourth1 #8,the ,water-man's ,wife'1 feeble and commonplace4 ,the preaching of ,solomon ,eagle is the subject of a picture by ,p4 ,f4 ,poole1 ,r4,a41 in the ,mappin ,gallery at ,sheffield4 ,the scene depicted is taken from ,harrison ,ainsworth's novel ,old ,saint ,paul's4 ,it shows ,solomon ,eagle1 with the brazier of live coals on his head1 nude but for a loin-cloth2 and discoursing to the terrified citizens outside old ,st ,paul's ,cathedral1 during the plague4 ,all around are strewn bodies of dead and dying3 a house displays the damning red cross and the words #8,lord have mercy upon us'4 ,in the background bearers are carrying away a corpse to burial4 ,an incident1 that ,pepys describes in his ,diary under ,september #c1 #affe1 as follows1 is represented in a modern picture by ,miss ,florence ,reason4 #8,among other stories1 one was very passionate1 methought1 of a complaint brought against a man in the towne for taking a child from ,london from an infected house4 ,alderman ,hooker told us it was the child of a very able citizen in ,gracious ,street1 a saddler1 who had buried all the rest of his children of the plague1 and himself and his wife now being shut up and in despair of escaping1 did desire only to save the life of this little child3 and so prevailed to have it received stark-naked into the arms of a friend1 who brought it 7having put it into new fresh clothes7 to ,greenwich2 where1 upon hearing the story1 we did agree it should be permitted to be received and kept in the towne4' ,in #afgi a terrible epidemic of plague broke out in ,vienna1 then an opulent city1 with a population of some #baj1jjj1 and the seat of ,leopold1 the ,holy ,roman ,emperor4 ,our chief knowledge of the visitation is derived from ,sorbait 7,consilium medicum oder freundliches ,gesprch71 ,abraham a ,st4 ,clara 7,merk's ,wien71 and ,fuhrmann 7,alt- und ,neu-,wien74 ,the disease was preceded by an epidemic of the #8,hot ,sickness'1 7,hitzige ,krankheit71 which was very fatal4 ,bubonic plague followed in its wake and ,vienna presented the spectacle of one huge lazaretto for the sick1 one gigantic plague-pit for the dead4 ,convicts1 as at ,naples1 were employed both to nurse the sick and bury the dead4 ,clothing1 furniture1 and bedding lay littered in the streets mixed with the dead and dying4 ,when carts failed1 the bodies were thrown into the ,danube4 ,a ,plague ,committee strove in vain to shut up all infected houses and segregate the inmates in lazarettos and stations of quarantine4 ,death by public hanging was the penalty of disobedience4 ,some of the royal princes1 and foremost among them ,prince ,ferdinand of ,schwartzenburg1 together with many of the nobility1 devoted themselves courageously to fighting the plague1 undertaking even the most menial duties4 ,but many of the citizens and the ,emperor himself fled4 ,leopold conceived his obligations to his people discharged by a pilgrimage to ,maria-,zell to pray for cessation of the plague4 ,then he moved his court to ,prague1 whence plague drove him to ,linz4 ,during the plague the ,viennese set up a wooden column1 to which frequent processions were made1 observing the ancient ritual of the ,flagellants4 ,at the end of the plague ,leopold made a vow at ,st4 ,stephan's to replace it by a marble column1 which was duly erected in the ,graben between #afhg-ic4 ,an incident of this plague1 the story of the street-singer ,augustin1 who was thrown alive1 but drunk1 into the plague-pit1 but escaped none the worse for his experience1 recalls the like occurrence in ,defoe4 ,the man is said to have composed the familiar #8,o du lieber ,augustin' in a beer-house on the very night he was thrown into the plague-pit4 ,amulets of various kinds were extensively employed in the seventeenth century4 ,in ,south ,germany a common form was the so-called ,pest ,penny4 ,these had on one face1 as a rule1 the figure of ,st4 ,benedict or ,st4 ,zacharias1 and on the reverse some formula of exorcism4 ,vienna#ahi fell a victim to outbreak after outbreak of plague1 but the experience gained in the visitation of #afgi enabled the authorities to stamp out the infection in #afia and #agji1 before it had grown out of hand4 ,but in #agac all preventive measures failed to check its spread4 ,then1 in the month of ,may1 processions and litanies were organized to the plague column4 ,the ,emperor ,charles ,,vi remained in ,vienna1 and pronounced a solemn vow in ,st4 ,stephan's1 that if the plague ceased he would erect a church as a thank-offering4 ,such was the origin of the ,karlskirche4 ,this church is a rich square edifice with a huge dome4 ,it is the chef-d'uvre of ,j4 ,b4 ,fischer von ,erlach1 commenced in #agae4 ,the ravages of the plague are portrayed in relief1 by ,stanetti1 in the tympanum4 ,flanking the portico are two domed belfries1 resembling ,trajan's column1 #ajh feet high1 with reliefs from the life of ,s4 ,carlo ,borromeo by ,mader and ,schletter4 ,in ,march #agad1 when the plague died out after a total mortality of #abj1jjj1 a thanksgiving ,te ,deum was sung in ,st4 ,stephan's1 at which the emperor was present4 ,two series of memorial coins were struck1 the one showing the votive column1 the other the church dedicated to ,s4 ,carlo ,borromeo4 ,the ,plague ,regulations1 published in separate form at ,vienna at the time of this epidemic1 give a good idea of current popular opinion as to the nature of plague4 ,there was no lack of adherents for each belief of every preceding period4 ,there were those who regarded it as a signal evidence of ,god's displeasure4 ,there were those who attributed it to poison in the air or food1 generated in the stars and spread by the malice of grave-diggers for their own purposes4 ,even the ,jews were incriminated4 ,there were those who read its origin in the conjunction of certain stars4 ,others ascribed it to famines1 to poisonous fumes set free by earthquakes1 to comets1 and even to dry seasons through the multiplication of insects4 ,come how it might1 clouds taking the form of biers and funeral processions1 noises in churchyards1 and dreary sounds in the air foretold its coming4 ,on infected bodies the virus was often visible as blue sulphurous fumes4 ,there were clearly also some who conceived a natural origin4 ,a doctor1 named ,gregorovius1 dissected three dead bodies in search of the cause1 but failed to find it4 ,his intrepid zeal was duly rewarded by the ,emperor and by the ,faculty of ,medicine in ,vienna4 ,conformably with the varying conceptions of cause1 remedies were varied and multifarious4 ,some pinned their faith to a devout life1 aided by processions and penitential sermons4 ,some lit fires to cleanse the air1 at times adding sulphur4 ,a host of herbs1 chief among them ,angelica1 enjoyed repute as antipestilential remedies4 ,the simple life appealed to some1 purgatives and blood-letting to others4 ,but side by side with this ill-assorted medley of measures1 a code of sanitary precautions had slowly grown up4 ,early notification by the doctors1 quarantine of suspects and segregation of the sick1 cleanliness and disinfection were all recommended and sedulously executed1 and supplied in embryo the essential principles of modern sanitary science4 ,doctors were enjoined to keep sober1 to fumigate themselves1 and to wear silk or taffetas1 to which the virus would not cling4 ,we have arrived indeed at the parting of the ways1 and henceforth the stream of medical science1 polluted less and less by the surface waters of superstition1 flows on clear and full in its appointed channel4 ,the sun of science emerges at length from its protracted winter solstice4 ,,footnotes3 #ahb ,de ,peste4 #ahc ,de ,peste4 #ahd ,de ,peste4 #ahe ,reports to ,royal ,society4 #ahf ,researches into the ,laws and ,phenomena of ,pestilence4 #ahg ,loimologia1 and ,dict4 of ,nat4 ,biog4 #ahh ,rabbi ,joshua1 ii4 #djc4 #ahi ,krafft-,ebing1 ,geschichte der ,pest in ,wien4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,in the year #agbj plague found its way to ,marseilles4 ,it was believed to have been brought by a ship1 the ,grand-,saint-,antoine1 which arrived on ,may #be from the ,levant4 ,as usual1 the attempt was made to hush it up for the sake of trade4 ,at the beginning of ,august something had to be done1 so on the advice of two physicians1 ,sicard1 father and son1 it was decided to light bonfires throughout the city4 ,for lack of firewood this was not done1 but also for lack of faith1 for it was found that despite their vaunted specific1 the ,sicards had fled the city4 ,so sulphur was served out to the poor instead1 wherewith to #8perfume' their houses4 ,as early as ,august #b the ,town ,council found it necessary to adopt special measures to keep physicians and surgeons to their task4 ,accordingly1 they decided that the city should pay them a fixed salary in place of fees from the sick1 and allow them smocks of oiled cloth1 and sedan chairs to carry them on their rounds4 ,there are several illustrations extant of the dress adopted by doctors in the plague of ,marseilles4 ,the same dress1 with trifling variations1 was worn elsewhere in ,france1 in ,switzerland1 and in ,germany1 and had originated in ,italy4 ,it is shown in an old ,venetian woodcut of ,a4,d4 #adic1 from the works of ,joannes de ,ketham 7,fasciculus ,medicinae1 #adic74 ,this woodcut shows a physician in a long overall1 but wearing only a skull-cap on his head1 visiting a plague patient in bed4 ,he is accompanied by attendants who carry lighted torches1 while he himself holds a medicated sponge before his mouth and nose1 as he feels the pulse4 ,grillot figured the dress as the frontispiece of his ,lyon afflig de la peste #afbi1 and ,manget#aij has borrowed it from him4 ,from his description it would seem that the mantle1 breeches1 shirt1 boots1 gloves1 and hat were all of morocco leather4 ,the beak attached to the mask was filled with aromatics1 over which the air passed in respiration1 and had an aperture for each eye1 fitted with a disk of crystal4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxviii1 #a4 ,,dress ,,of ,a ,,marseilles ,,doctor1 #agbj ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxviii1 #b4 ,,german ,,caricature ,,of ,,the ,,same 7,face ,page #bjj7 ,m4 ,reber#aia describes an engraving by ,john ,melchior ,fuesslin1 representing a doctor in the plague of ,marseilles4 ,the legend beneath it1 in ,german1 is 7translated7 #8,sketch of a ,cordovan-leather-clad doctor of ,marseilles1 having also a nose-case filled with smoking material to keep off the plague4 ,with the wand he is to feel the pulse4' ,reber's and ,manget's plates are both reproduced in the ,bristol ,medico-,chirurgical ,journal1 ,march #ahih1 from the ,janus blocks4 ,gaffarel#aib gives the costumes both of a doctor and of a hospital attendant3 they closely resemble the dress of the ,italian charitable guilds of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries4 ,by ,august #i some of the physicians and almost all the master-surgeons had fled1 and an ordinance was issued demanding their return1 or in default their expulsion from their respective corporations1 and other special penalties as well4 ,two physicians named ,gayon volunteered their services for the ,hpital des ,convalescents1 but forthwith paid the penalty with their lives4 ,in the absence of sufficient physicians in ,marseilles1 others were summoned from ,montpellier1 ,paris1 and elsewhere4 ,these exhausted their energies in a dispute over the contagious character of plague4 ,chicoyneau and ,chirac maintained that it was not contagious4 ,deidier proved1 by successfully inoculating dogs with bile taken from plague subjects1 that at any rate it was communicable4 ,each subsequently expounded his views in a formal discourse before the ,school of ,montpellier4 ,existing hospital accommodation was quite unequal to the needs4 ,emergency tents were erected outside the town1 with mattresses for the sick4 ,chevalier ,rose equipped and maintained a hospital in the district entrusted to him1 at his own expense4 ,a large temporary hospital of timber covered with sail-cloth was hurriedly erected1 but when almost finished towards the end of ,september it was blown down by a gale1 and was not rebuilt till ,october #d4 ,this hospital1 together with the ,hpital ,gnral de la ,charit of #hjj beds1 provided ultimately sufficient accommodation1 so that none need remain in the streets4 ,from the first the mortality was such that it was wellnigh impossible to bury the dead4 ,on ,august #h the ,assembly resolved that carts should be used to carry the dead to burial1 and that pits should be dug in which the bodies could be buried in lime4 ,so two huge pits were dug outside the walls1 between the gate of ,aix and that of ,joliette1 ,m4 ,moustier overseeing the diggers and compelling them to work4 ,chevalier ,rose also had pits dug and organized a corps of buriers in his own district4 ,the duties of burial were at first entrusted to sturdy beggars1 but in a brief space of time the supply of these failed1 so that bodies began to accumulate in the houses and streets4 ,then convicts were requisitioned in relays from time to time4 ,these convicts were promised their liberty1 to excite them to work--a promise that was never fulfilled in the case of the few who survived the task4 ,their ignorance of the management of carts and horses1 their idleness and lust of robbery rendered them so unfit for the task1 that ,moustier and the other sheriffs and ,chevalier ,rose were compelled to be always present on horseback1 to superintend the work4 ,by ,august #ba corpses had already begun to accumulate in old parts of the city1 where the streets were too narrow and steep for the carts to go4 ,accordingly1 an order was issued that the vaults of the churches in the upper town should be used for burials in quicklime1 and that1 when full1 they should be sealed up with cement4 ,by the end of ,august the streets were literally strewn with dead bodies1 some in an advanced stage of putrefaction1 mingled with cats and dogs that had been killed1 and bedding thrown out from the houses4 ,the square in front of the building called the ,loge1 as also the ,palissadoes of the port1 were filled with bodies brought ashore from ships in the roadstead1 to which whole families had fled in the belief that plague would not reach them on the water4 ,by ,september #f more than #b1jjj dead bodies were lying in the streets1 exclusive of those in the houses4 ,on the esplanade called ,la ,tourette1 lying towards the sea between the houses and the rampart1 #a1jjj corpses had lain rotting for weeks in the sun and emitting a frightful stench4 ,they were too rotten even to be lifted into carts1 and too foul to be carried to distant pits4 ,chevalier ,rose1 mindful maybe of ,procopius1 conceived the idea of throwing them into two huge vaults in the old bastions close to the esplanade1 after breaking in their roofs4 ,the task was carried out in fierce haste by #ajj galley-slaves1 who tied handkerchiefs dipped in vinegar over their mouths and noses4 ,at the same time fishermen netted #aj1jjj dead dogs floating in the port and towed them out to sea4 ,in the parish of ,st4 ,ferriol1 the finest quarter of the city1 ,michel ,serre the painter undertook to see to the burial of the dead1 with carts and galley-slaves placed at his disposal1 himself providing food and lodging for the workers4 ,a grateful city has repaid him by hanging his two large pictures of ,marseilles during the plague close beneath the ceiling of an underground cellar1 where it is impossible to decipher their details4 ,when all the bodies were disposed of1 the sheriffs employed the galley-slaves to clear the filth from the streets and throw it into barges1 which carried it out to sea4 ,in the early days of the epidemic1 the sheriffs had forbidden the annual procession on ,august #af1 in honour of ,st4 ,roch1 at which the saint's bust and relics were carried through the streets2 but the people raised such an outcry that the procession was celebrated1 the sheriffs attending with their halberdiers to prevent a crowd following4 ,by ,september #g even the civil authorities had come to regard the plague as an instrument of ,god's wrath1 and the magistrates1 to appease it1 vowed that every year the city should give #b1jjj livres to a ,house of ,charity1 to be established under the protection of our ,lady of ,good ,help1 for orphans of the province4 ,at the height of the plague many parish priests and some of the monks fled3 the services of the ,church were mostly suspended4 ,but many secular clergy and monks remained and devoted themselves unflinchingly to the sick4 ,the bishop1 ,belsunce1 nobly played his part4 ,wherever the poorest lay1 there he went confessing1 consoling1 and exhorting them to patience4 ,to the dying he carried the ,sacrament1 to the destitute the whole of his money in alms4 ,though plague invaded his palace and carried off those about him1 it spared him4 ,it is of him that ,pope#aic asks1 ,why drew ,marseilles' good ,bishop purer breath ,when nature sickened1 and each gale was death8 ,on ,all ,saints' ,day1 ,belsunce headed a procession through the streets from his palace1 walking barefoot1 as ,borromeo of old1 with a halter about his neck1 and carrying the cross in his arms4 ,he wished to appear among his people as a scapegoat laden with their sins1 and as a victim destined to expiate them4 ,accompanied by the priests and canons of the ,church he led the way to a place where an altar had been erected4 ,there1 after exhorting the people to repentance1 he celebrated ,mass before them all4 ,then he solemnly consecrated the city to the ,sacred ,heart of ,jesus1 in honour of which he had instituted a yearly festival4 ,the tears coursing down his face as he spoke moved all to cry aloud to the ,lord for mercy4 ,on ,november #af ,belsunce was emboldened to exorcise the waning plague4 ,calling together all that remained of the clergy to the church of ,acoulles1 he read all the prayers that the ,pope had prescribed for deliverance from plague4 ,then after an eloquent and moving exhortation he carried up the ,holy ,sacrament to the cathedral's roof1 and there1 under the open sky1 with all the city lying before him1 uttered a solemn benediction1 and performed the full ritual of exorcism according to the forms of the ,roman ,catholic ,church4 ,belsunce was not the first human scapegoat to tread the streets of ,marseilles in voluntary expiation for its people4 ,in times of pestilence1 in the old ,greek colony of ,massilia1 one of the lower orders offered himself on behalf of his fellow citizens4 ,dressed in sacred garments and decked with sacred boughs he was led through the streets1 amid the prayers of the people that their ills might fall on him1 and then cast out of the city4 ,there stands this day on a lofty crest of land in the open square1 right in front of the episcopal palace of ,marseilles1 a statue of ,belsunce in bronze1 by ,ramus4 ,the stone pedestal bears a commemorative inscription and two reliefs in bronze4 ,in one1 ,marseilles in woman's form is lying among her stricken children1 while ,belsunce and his attendant priests implore the ,sacred ,heart to stay the plague4 ,in the other1 ,belsunce bears the ,sacrament to sick and dying4 ,the statue of ,belsunce1 clad in full episcopal robes1 stands with face raised and arms outstretched to heaven1 in attitude of earnest supplication4 ,before him ,nature has set a landscape of surpassing beauty3 sea1 earth1 and sky give freely of their best4 ,far down below a polyglot people move hither and thither around the harbour quays1 like ants1 at their appointed tasks4 ,beyond it spreads a matchless expanse of ,mediterranean sea1 now smooth and silvery as a mirror1 now fretful with the rising tide4 ,away over the sea and over the low land that bounds the bay1 the evening sun lights up the face of ,belsunce with a last lingering radiance1 as it goes down to its setting in a glory of golden hues4 ,if man's graven image may enjoy the perfect happiness denied to man1 then surely ,belsunce has his reward4 ,marseilles is rich in reminiscence of her bishop4 ,in the ,bureau d',intendance ,sanitaire hangs a pleasing portrait of ,belsunce by ,gobert2 while in the ,muse may be seen a poor picture1 by ,mansian1 of him giving the ,sacrament to the victims of the plague4 ,franois ,grard 7#aggj-ahcg7 presented his #8,peste de ,marseille' to the ,bureau d',intendance ,sanitaire1 where now it hangs4 ,the wan dismal colouring of the picture accords ill with the striking vigour of the composition4 ,in the foreground is set forth the whole tragedy of a family stricken with plague4 ,on the ground lies the father writhing with agony3 his hands are clenched1 his eyes are starting from their sockets3 the dressing in the right armpit indicates one site of the disease4 ,the mother1 seated on a chest1 clasps to her body her elder boy1 wrapped in a blanket1 too weak to stand3 the younger child leans against his mother1 his eyes fixed in terror on his dying father4 ,anguish is depicted in the death-like pallor of the mother's face4 ,in the background ,belsunce in full robes distributes to the sick and starving poor the bread which an attendant is carrying4 ,to the left of the foreground bodies of the dead are lying huddled up beneath an awning1 while to the right convicts are dragging corpses away for burial4 ,the sublime serenity of the good bishop seems to bring to his stricken people in their anguish some promise of that peace which passeth all understanding4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxix 7,face ,page #bjf7 ,,peste ,,de ,,marseille4 ,,by ,,fran,,ois ,g,,rard ,photograph by ,giraudon1 ,paris ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxx ,,la ,,peste ,,dans ,,la ,,ville ,,de ,,marseille ,,en #agbj ,by ,j4 ,f4 de ,troy 7,face ,page #bjg7 ,j4 ,f4 de ,troy the younger 7#afgi-ageb71 himself an eye-witness of this plague1 painted a masterly picture1 which is now in the city ,muse4 ,it was executed for ,chevalier ,rose in #agbb4 ,it depicts him seated on a white horse calmly directing the work of the convicts1 who have been assigned to him1 as they clear the esplanade of ,la ,tourette of the accumulation of decomposing corpses4 ,the sheriffs1 also on horseback1 aid the ,chevalier in his task4 ,the ground is strewn with corpses1 which the convicts seize and hurl into the gaping mouths of the open vaults in the bastions4 ,they work in furious haste1 impelled by the foul odour of the bodies and the knowledge of the hazard of their task4 ,ferocity is depicted in their faces1 haste in all the movements of their bodies4 ,the whole scene is full of life and movement and spirit4 ,in the sky hover angels shaking flaming torches4 ,the colouring has been managed with wonderful effect to convey the feeling that sky and earth alike are filled with a poisonous and sickly miasma4 ,in another picture in the ,sant at ,marseilles ,gurin has treated the same subject in a dull conventional manner4 ,chevalier ,rose1 bearing the dead body of a woman1 fills the centre of the picture4 ,behind him a ludicrous boy is holding a white horse with one hand1 and his nose with the other1 and is bestowing on his nose a tenacious grip that would have been more appropriately bestowed on the horse4 ,convicts are dragging away the dead bodies that litter the ground4 ,the two large pictures by ,michel ,serre are of interest rather as pictorial records of old ,marseilles1 than as contributions to the artistic presentation of plague4 ,one represents the ,cours de ,marseille1 now known as the ,cours ,belsunce1 during the plague4 ,it is a handsome boulevard bordered on either side by trees1 beneath which are seen tents hastily erected as temporary dwellings by those who have fled from their plague-contaminated dwellings to the shelter of the streets4 ,death and disease have followed them and are rampant on every side4 ,buriers are seen collecting the dead and carrying them off in carts4 ,this picture has been engraved by ,rigaud1 and is figured in ,crowle's ,illustrated ,pennant's ,london1 vol4 x1 p4 #ic2 also in ,gaffarel's ,la ,peste de #agbj1 p4 #cjd4 ,the other picture by ,serre shows the open space in front of the ,htel de ,ville together with part of the port of ,marseilles4 ,the scenes resemble those of his other picture1 and we are reminded also that many took refuge in boats and anchored off the harbour1 in the vain belief that plague could not reach them there4 ,the space before the ,town ,hall became one heap of decomposing bodies that were landed from the boats or had drifted ashore from the waters of the harbour4 ,crowle#aid figures this picture as well as the preceding1 so1 too1 does ,gaffarel4#aie ,with the departure of plague from ,marseilles1 the disease had wellnigh disappeared from ,europe4 ,in the ,levant it still flourished for a while4 ,patrick ,russell1 physician to the ,british factory at ,aleppo1 wrote a treatise on an epidemic that occurred during his residence there from #agfj-b4 ,again1 in #agga it gained a footing at ,moscow1 claiming there no less than #hj1jjj victims4 ,it was in vain that the people thronged the miraculous ikon of the ,virgin at the ,varvarka gate4 ,fearing the great concourse1 the archbishop had the ikon removed to the ,chudok monastery1 but such was the fury of the maddened people1 that they threatened to raze the building to the ground if the ikon were not restored4 ,the archbishop yielded1 but too late1 for the mob dragged him from his monastery and massacred him in the open street4 ,from that day the plague began to wane4 ,so plague was banished from ,europe by the worship of a picture1 and with dramatic appropriateness the curtain fell on the final act in a scene of human sacrifice4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xxxi ,,les ,,pestif,r,s ,,de ,,jaffa ,by ,baron ,gros 7,face ,page #bjh7 ,the celebrated picture #8,les ,pestifrs de ,jaffa' by ,baron ,gros1 now in the ,louvre1 has been the subject of much acrimonious controversy4 ,the picture was ordered by ,napoleon when ,first ,consul1 and excited extravagant enthusiasm on its exhibition in the ,salon in #ahjd4 ,artists placed a palm-branch over it1 and the public covered the whole frame with wreaths4 ,it is1 in fact1 a large unattractive canvas1 devoid of any exceptional merit either of composition or colour4 ,it shows ,napoleon accompanied by some of his staff standing among the plague-stricken soldiers in the interior of a mosque4 ,one of the men is raising his right arm1 so as to expose the bubo in his armpit1 and ,napoleon is laying his fingers on it4 ,there is also in existence a rough sketch1#aif which shows that ,gros at the outset intended to present his subject differently4 ,napoleon1 like ,st4 ,louis in the modern fresco in ,st4 ,sulpice1 holds in his arms the body of a plague victim1 which an ,arab helps him to support4 ,the general's impassive features contrast strongly with the frightened appearance of his attendants4 ,each of these two representations would seem to be actual historical occurrences during ,napoleon's campaign in ,syria4 ,plague had broken out among the troops in ,jaffa1 where ,napoleon had established a large hospital1 and the generals had issued an alarming report as to its spread4 ,it was ,napoleon's purpose to restore the moral of his army1 which had been seriously affected by the outbreak4 ,norvin#aig represents ,napoleon as visiting all the wards1 accompanied by the generals ,berthier and ,bezzires1 the director-general ,daure1 and the head doctor ,desgenettes4 ,napoleon spoke to the sick1 encouraged them1 and touched their wounds1 saying1 #8,you see1 it is nothing4' ,when he left the hospital1 they blamed his imprudence4 ,he replied coldly1 #8,it is my duty1 ,i am the general-in-chief4' ,this studied indifference to the contagion1 coupled with the fine behaviour of the head doctor ,desgenettes1 who inoculated himself with plague in the presence of the soldiers and applied to himself the same remedies as he prescribed for them1 successfully accomplished ,napoleon's purpose4 ,the account of the incident given in a letter#aih by ,comte d',aure is slightly different4 ,it runs1 #8,he did more than touch the buboes3 assisted by a ,turkish orderly1 ,general ,buonaparte picked up and carried away a plague patient1 who was lying across a doorway of one of the wards3 we were much frightened at his acting thus1 because the sick man's clothing was covered with foam and the disgusting discharge from a broken bubo4 ,the general continued his visit unmoved and interested1 spoke to the sick1 and sought in addressing them with words of consolation1 to dissipate the panic that the plague was casting on their spirits4' ,bourrienne1#aii ,napoleon's secretary1 however1 says1 #8,i walked by the general's side1 and ,i assert that ,i never saw him touch any of the infected4' ,the ,duc de ,rovigo in his ,memoirs practically corroborates the ,comte d',aure4 ,he says3 #8,in order to convince them by the most obvious proof that their apprehensions were groundless1 he desired that the bleeding tumour of one of his soldiers should be uncovered before him1 and pressed it with his own hands4' ,desgenettes and ,general ,androssy1 who were both present1 confirm ,rovigo and ,comte d',aure as against ,bourrienne4 ,napoleon's secretary carries the narrative a stage further4 ,he says that only sixty of those in the hospital had plague1 and that as their removal involved a risk of infecting the whole army1 ,napoleon deliberated with his staff and the medical men1 and decided to put them out of their misery by poison4 ,bourrienne says that he does not know who administered the poison1 but that there was no question of their destruction4 ,bourrienne's statements on any subject1 as is generally recognized1 need careful sifting1 but out of the mass of conflicting testimony the plain fact would seem to emerge1 that ,napoleon did suggest that the death of some seven or eight1 who were bound to die1 should be accelerated1 so that they might not infect the whole army4 ,napoleon himself1 at ,st4 ,helena1 did not deny this1 and defended his action on the ground of humanity1 stigmatizing the story of wholesale poisoning as an invention4 ,,footnotes3 #aij ,trait de la ,peste1 #b vols41 ,genve1 #agba2 ,johns ,hopkins ,hospital ,bulletin1 ,august #ahih4 #aia ,janus1 #ahig1 p4 #big2 and ,johns ,hopkins ,hospital ,bulletin4 #aib ,la ,peste de #agbj1 p4 #if4 #aic ,essay on ,man1 iv4 #ajg-h4 #aid vol4 x1 p4 #ia4 #aie p4 #bad4 #aif ,richer1 ,l',art et la mdecine4 #aig ,histoire de ,napolon1 ed4 #ahcd1 vol4 i1 p4 #ced4 #aih ,bourrienne et ses erreurs4 #aii ,mmoires sur ,napolon4 ,,appendix#bjj ,the statement of ,thucydides1 that all other diseases took on the similitude of the dominating pestilence1 is one that reappears constantly in the literature of epidemic disease4 ,we have already noted the frequent concurrence of plague and typhus1 leading such acute observers as ,diemerbroeck and ,sydenham to believe that the one disease might be transformed into the other4 ,the same close association of relapsing fever and typhus was constantly noted1 and we know now that the explanation lies in the fact that each disease is transmitted by the body-louse1 as plague is transmitted by the flea4 ,bearing in mind the close and constant association of these and other acute infectious fevers it is no matter for surprise that they should have been regarded as states and stages of one pestilential process1 differing from one another1 not in kind1 but only in degree4 ,as ,bacon says1 #8putrefaction rises not to its height at once4' ,the acute1 often abrupt1 onset of the ,athenian pestilence1 with profound depression1 severe headache1 and suffused conjunctivae1 though met with in a moiety of cases of plague1 is eminently characteristic of typhus4 ,the striking appearance of the bloodshot eyeballs has led to much confusion between the two diseases4 ,the aspect of the tongue and fauces inclines rather to the side of typhus4 ,in each disease the tongue is at first heavily coated with a thick white fur1 and tends later to become dry and parched4 ,but in typhus there is a special tendency1 as the disease advances1 for the tongue to bleed from fissures at the edges4 ,so frequently is this the case1 that this feature has been regarded as of diagnostic value in the presence of an outbreak of typhus4 ,a boggy reddened appearance of the fauces is usual in typhus1 and is seen also in a proportion of plague patients4 ,unnatural and even foetid breath may be met with in any acute infectious fever1 but foetor is in no way characteristic of any4 ,doubtless it was far more common in times when the alphabet of oral hygiene had not yet found acceptance as a necessary detail of medical regimen4 ,murchison describes the breath of typhus patients as foetid1 and in addition it is well known that a repulsive odour may be given off from their bodies4 ,salius ,diversus mentioned it three centuries ago1 and it has been a commonplace of many subsequent writers4 ,curschmann failed to detect it1 and attributed its absence to the free ventilation of the sick wards4 ,a layman1 as ,thucydides was1 might well ascribe to the breath a foetor permeating the whole atmosphere around the patient4 ,sneezing has long been associated in popular tradition with plague1 and an old legend refers the association to the plague of ,rome at the commencement of the pontificate of ,gregory the ,great1 when it is said that those who sneezed died4 ,the most careful and observant of modern physicians do not1 however confirm the connexion4 ,russell states that he was on the look out for it during the plague of ,aleppo and did not observe it3 ,simpson does not even mention it4 ,nor does it appear to be noteworthy as a symptom either of typhus or of any other acute infectious fever1 though it would be in accord with the swollen and congested state of the nasal mucosa in typhus1 to which ,curschmann has drawn special attention4 ,perhaps the tradition is a mere old wives' tale1 for sneezing has been regarded as an ominous sign from great antiquity1 and as far back at least as the composition of the ,odyssey4 ,aristotle frankly confessed himself unable to explain the connexion4 ,curschmann met with hoarseness and laryngeal catarrh commonly in typhus1 but though catarrh of the whole respiratory tract may occur in plague1 it is not an outstanding feature4 ,cough is frequent in either disease2 so also is vomiting1 often of great severity3 and if protracted will exhibit a succession of changes of colour1 such as ,thucydides has described1 first the food contents of the stomach1 then green bilious vomit1 and finally blood1 either red or altered to brown or black4 ,hiccough and empty retching are liable to ensue on severe vomiting from any enduring cause4 ,it is not clear to what ,thucydides appropriates the term 3 the context would suggest that spasm of the diaphragm1 such as accompanies protracted vomiting1 is indicated4 ,but it may also signify true convulsions1 which are an occasional complication of both diseases4 ,convulsive tremor of the limbs1 and indeed of the whole body1 is habitual at the height of typhus1 and is not infrequent in plague4 ,we should naturally look to the appearance of the skin and of the eruption to afford criteria for a sure diagnosis1 but such is not the case4 ,true1 there is a remarkable resemblance to ,murchison's description of the skin of typhus patients1 in an ,english hospital4 #8,the face'1 he says1 #8is often flushed4 ,the flushing is general over the entire face4 ,it is never pink3 sometimes it is reddish or reddish brown1 but more commonly it is of a dusky1 earthy1 or leaden hue3 in grave cases it may be livid4' ,no corresponding appearance of the skin is to be seen in plague4 ,thucydides has described the eruption as consisting of 1 words that have generally been rendered as #8small blisters and ulcers'1 and for this reason have been held to exclude positively a diagnosis of typhus fever4 ,so certain a conclusion is hardly justified by the facts4 ,outbreaks of gangrenous dermatitis1 in which multiple bullae or blisters1 leaving an ulcerated base1 have broken out over the body surface1 have been not uncommon features of a typhus epidemic1 and from their virulently contagious character such outbreaks would have been more prone to occur amid all the neglect and destitution of a beleaguered garrison4 ,murchison has described the resulting appearances in the following words3 #8,i have seen bullae filled with light or dark fluid1 or large pustules appear on various parts of the body during the progress of the fever4 ,stokes has observed bullae of this description followed after bursting by deep ulcers with sharp margins4' ,but extensive ulceration such as this must inevitably have left permanent scarring1 at least as marked as the #8pitting' produced by small-pox1 and we can hardly presume that this could have escaped the critical ,greek eye of so keen an observer as ,thucydides4 ,the whole question arises of the exact significance of the words and 4 ,in his treatise ,hippocrates uses the term not only for open wounds and ulcers1 but also for burns1 wheals1 and wounds in general4 ,homer uses it for wounds of every kind4 ,it so happens that the wounds of the ,iliad are almost all the open wounds produced by spear and arrow1 but ,homer also uses it for the bite of a snake#bja and for the wound inflicted by lightning4#bjb ,bion#bjc uses it in consecutive lines for the wound caused by a spear1 and in the generic sense3 1 1 ' 4 ,aeschylus#bjd and ,sophocles#bje use it also in the wider sense1 as in and ' 2 ,the inference to be drawn from these passages is that 1 although usually indicating an open wound1 is used with no precise significance4 ,the same difficulty attaches to the word 4 ,though ,hippocrates uses the word frequently1 there is no single passage in which the precise significance is clear beyond all doubt4 ,he applies it to chilblains1#bjf to an eruption on the skin of subjects of empyema1#bjg to lesions appearing on the tongue in fatal septic cases1 and so on4 ,in one passage1 in which he speaks of a arising from rubbing the skin with vinegar1 he seems to indicate a blister4 ,the first clear definition of the term we have is from the pen of ,celsus1 who defines it as a discoloured pustule that breaks and leaves an ulcerated base 7#8genus pustularum1 cum plures similes varis oriuntur nonnunquam maiores1 lividae aut pallidae aut nigrae aut aliter naturali colore mutato3 subestque iis humor1 ubi hae ruptae sunt1 infra quasi exulcerata caro apparet'74 ,there are several passages in ,aristophanes1 which indicate that he at any rate applied the term as we do to a blister lesion3 but at the same time1 there are other passages in which this exclusive use is by no means so sure4 ,the lesion resulting from rowing#bjh or carrying a lance#bji cannot well be other than a blister4 ,and there is a passage in the ,ecclesiazusae1#baj which seems even clearer3 ' 1 #8,some vampire bloated with blood like a blister4' ,the image must be that of a vampire1 so bloated with blood1 that its body seems actually enveloped in it1 simulating a blood-blister4 ,aristotle applies the term to the bite of a shrew-mouse1 which would presumably produce a solid local swelling1 and not a blister4 ,procopius uses for the black cutaneous lesions of ,oriental plague1 known nowadays as pustules3 he says1 too1 that they were of the size of a lentil1 but does not mention terminal ulceration4 ,procopius is so precise in his medical terminology1 that it is improbable he borrowed the term from ,thucydides without appreciating its exact significance3 far more likely he adopted it from the medical terminology of his day4 ,there is something to be said for appropriating the terms used by ,thucydides to the pustular lesions of ,oriental plague4 ,many writers1 ancient as well as modern1 have described the so-called pustules as commencing in some cases as blisters and terminating in eroding ulcers4 ,but1 on the other hand1 we know nothing of epidemics of plague without a considerable proportion of bubonic cases1 while we do know from the narrative of ,procopius that plague has maintained its characters unchanged for #a1ejj years4 ,in an epidemic of plague1 in which death did not supervene till the seventh or ninth day the presence of buboes would be the outstanding feature of the disease1 and ,thucydides does not even mention them4 ,assuming that typhus fever also has maintained its characters unchanged1 and that the external manifestations of the ,athenian pestilence were not of the exceptional type we have alluded to1 but of the type habitually associated with the disease1 can it reasonably be contended that the terms and are applicable to these8 ,murchison says that #8according to its colour1 the eruption may be said to pass through three stages1 viz4 #a1 ,pale dirty pink or florid2 #b1 reddish brown or rusty2 #c1 livid or petechial'4 ,in the first stage1 it is generally admitted that except on careful observation1 and in a good light1 the faint diffuse maculae 7spots7 are apt to escape detection1 so that the impression is of a general suffusion of the skin--what in fact ,thucydides terms 4 ,in the second stage1 the deeper coloration of the spots throws them into relief as individual lesions against the paler background of general suffusion of the skin4 ,can it be that this is indicated by the vague term 8 ,be it remembered that ,thucydides was a layman1 describing1 as he says1 the lesions of a hitherto unknown disease4 ,every physician is well aware of the restricted terminology that the laity possess for the description of multifarious lesions4 ,medicine itself is not exempt from the same confusion1 for when physicians glibly speak of the subcutaneous haemorrhages of typhus as petechiae they forget that the word throws back to petigo 7a scab74 ,there remains then for the third stage of the eruption--the haemorrhagic stage--the term 1 a generic term applicable to almost any lesion1 and having no philological affinity to the ,latin ulcus1 and the ,english #8ulcer'1 with which medical usage has confused it4 ,reviewing1 then1 all the facts1 it cannot be held that the description of the eruption1 as given by ,thucydides1 is sufficient to negative a diagnosis of typhus fever1 which disease is otherwise depicted to the life in all else that he says of its clinical course and characters4 ,thucydides was so impressed with the intensity of the internal fever1 that he expected certainly to find a corresponding temperature of the body surface3 hence his surprise is obvious at finding it not excessively hot4 ,for all that1 sufferers were ready to cast off every shred of clothing1 till they were naked1 and longed to throw themselves into cold water4 ,some did actually plunge into cisterns1 but no amount of water sufficed to slake their thirst4 ,procopius mentions this same fierce longing to fling themselves into water among the plague victims of ,byzantium1 but raving delirium of this kind is far more characteristic of typhus than of plague4 ,curschmann depicts the fierce medley of wild ravings1 mingled with frantic efforts at self-destruction1 which give an unmistakable character to a ward of typhus patients4 ,murchison1 quoting from ,bancroft1 says3 #8,some leaving their beds would beat their keepers or nurses and drive them from their presence3 others1 like madmen1 would run about the streets1 markets1 lanes1 and other places3 and some again would leap headlong into deep waters4' ,intolerable restlessness and insomnia fill up the cup of misery to overflowing4 ,curschmann confirms the observation of ,thucydides1 that typhus cadavers exhibit very little emaciation1 but this does not help to differentiate typhus from other acute fevers of equally brief duration4 ,death commonly occurred on the seventh or the ninth day4 ,one recognizes here submission to the authoritative doctrine of critical days4 ,hippocrates#baa defined them on the basis of equal and unequal numbers3 ,equal--#d1 #f1 #h1 #aj1 #ad1 #bh1 #cj1 #dh1 #fj1 #hj1 #ajj4 ,unequal--#e1 #g1 #i1 #aa1 #ag1 #ba1 #bg1 #ca4 ,taking the mean of the numbers1 the plague of ,athens claimed its victims for the most part about the eighth day of the disease4 ,a layman would hardly have had the opportunity1 or indeed the inclination1 to make an exact statistical computation1 and in this fact perhaps lies this unexpected lapse of ,thucydides into subservience to medical orthodoxy4 ,with regard to the day of death in typhus fever1 ,curschmann says3 #8,when death is caused simply by the severity of the disease1 it occurs usually in the middle or second half of the second week4 ,a fatal termination before the ninth day1 or as early as the fifth or sixth day1 occurs only in the most severe forms of the disease1 or in individuals with little resisting power4' ,now1 not only was the ,athenian pestilence severe in type1 but there was also an almost complete absence of the nursing and medical regimen that will have served to prolong the duration of cases1 that have ultimately proved fatal1 in recent epidemics4 ,in plague death usually occurs between the second and sixth days1 seldom later1 and few patients survive to the seventh or ninth day without the appearance of buboes4 ,if the victims survived this period1 the disease fastened on the bowels and produced violent ulceration 774 ,initial constipation1 followed1 as the disease develops1 by diarrhoea1 which is sometimes profuse and intractable1 is met with both in typhus and plague4 ,the disease began in the head and gradually passed through the whole body4 ,if the sufferer survived so long1 it would often seize the extremities and make its mark1 attacking the privy parts and fingers and toes4 ,some escaped with the loss of these and with the loss of their eyes4 ,this terminal gangrene of the extremities is of frequent occurrence in typhus1 but is rare in plague1 and very rare in other acute infectious fevers4 ,curschmann says3 #8,many patients continue to suffer for some time after defervescence 7of typhus fever7 from gangrene of the ears1 fingers1 toes1 tip of the nose1 and skin of the penis and scrotum1 arising during the febrile period4' ,gangrenous changes around a carbuncle are occasional in plague1 but not as an independent affection of the extremities4 ,neglected plague buboes1 even nowadays in ,indian epidemics1 do exceptionally become gangrenous1 as the result of an intercurrent erysipelas4 ,necrotic ulceration of the eyeballs is well authenticated as a complication of typhus as well as of plague4 ,some recovered from the disease1 but with complete loss of memory4 ,this again is a frequent consequence1 usually temporary1 but sometimes permanent1 of typhus4 ,according to ,curschmann1 #8the patient's recollection of his illness is almost always very limited in severe or moderately severe cases4 ,true psychoses appear to be rare during convalescence4 ,mild melancholia and hallucinations are sometimes seen1 and even mania has been observed4' ,the combination of gangrene with mental symptoms inevitably suggests the thought of ergotism 7poisoning by a fungus of rye-grain71 and ,read and ,kobert have expended much ingenuity in support of this hypothesis4 ,one of the ,athenian corn routes did actually tap the northern shores of the ,euxine1 and southern ,russia has been one of the chief centres of epidemics of ergotism4 ,but there is no need to invoke this condition1 to explain symptoms which are commonly encountered in typhus1 and no warrant either for so doing1 seeing that the clinical features of the visitation had little in common with ergotism4 ,kobert's ingenious arguments in favour of ergotism1 superimposed on some other unidentified disease1 merely substitute one impasse for another4 ,thucydides observes that one feature distinguished the ,athenian pestilence from ordinary diseases4 ,birds and beasts of prey1 which feed on human flesh1 would not as a rule touch the bodies1 but1 if they did1 they died4 ,in fact1 the birds of prey disappeared altogether1 and were not to be seen either about the bodies or anywhere else4 ,in the case of the dogs this was particularly noticeable1 because they live with man4 ,the paragraph is curiously involved1 but contains three statements of fact3 #a4 ,that vultures were nowhere to be seen4 #b4 ,that dogs avoided the dead bodies1 as a rule1 but that1 when they did not1 they took the disease4 #c4 ,that other animals1 which feed on carrion1 and within the walls of ,athens these can hardly have been other than rats and cats1 and possibly pigs1 were affected like the dogs4 ,there is no evidence as to the effect on cattle1 horses1 sheep1 and goats1 because all these had been removed to ,euboea4 ,the phenomenon of the disappearance of birds of prey before and during outbreaks of epidemic pestilence has been asserted again and again in literature4 ,yet it is very doubtful if the observation rests on any sure evidence4 ,search has brought to light only one occasion on which the truth of the fact has been deliberately tested1 and then it was directly contradicted4 ,russell says that at the commencement of the plague of ,aleppo1 in which true plague was ushered in by typhus1 no desertion of birds was observed1 and no mortality among cattle4 ,the old-time fancy that pestilence engendered in the clouds distempered the atmosphere almost necessarily involved the presumption that the feathered inhabitants of the air would be the first to feel its ill effects4 ,in the same way the belief that pestilence might reach the atmosphere in the exhalations from marshes1 led to similar fables attaching themselves to the marsh-dwelling frog4 ,aristotle alludes to the increased number of frogs in pestilential years1 and ,bacon and ,horstius repeat his statement4 ,these children of the marsh are conceived of as products of its undue activity4 ,horstius went so far as to assert the same of snails4 ,livy#bab clearly asserts the disappearance of vultures from ,rome before and during the epidemic of #agd ,b4,c4 #8,cadavera1 intacta a canibus et vulturibus1 tabes absumebat3 satisque constabat1 nec illo1 nec priore anno1 in tanta strage boum hominumque vulturium usquam visum4' ,dead bodies rotted away1 untouched by dogs and vultures3 and it was generally agreed that no vultures were to be seen either in that or the preceding year in spite of so great a mortality of men and cattle4 ,in this instance1 then1 it was not that they scented death from afar and held aloof1 but that they disappeared beforehand4 ,if some undetected epizootic--say of rats--had preceded the outbreak among cattle and men1 the vultures may well have perished at the outset from feeding on infected material4 ,other authors extend the observation to birds in general1 and not only to birds of prey1 as though their affection was truly epizootic4 ,thus ,schenkius#bac says that in the plagues of #aeje and #aebb birds deserted their nests and young ones4 ,goclenius says the same of the plague of #afab1 and that they fell suddenly to the ground dead4 ,mercurialis says that ,venice was deserted by birds in #aegf1 and ,short repeats this of ,dantzig in #agji4 ,diemerbroeck says that cage-birds died in the epidemics of #afce and #afcf1 and ,sorbait records the same fact of the ,viennese pestilence of #afgi4 ,most1 if not all this succession of epidemics1 were unquestionably true ,oriental plague1 with or without typhus4 ,at present there is very little evidence of any extensive affection of the lower animals by typhus4 ,mosler1 many years ago1 failed to communicate it to dogs by injecting fresh typhus blood into their veins1 or by feeding them on fresh typhus excreta1 although death with typhoid symptoms followed1 when the blood and stools had first been allowed to decompose4 ,in the last few years experimenters have succeeded in communicating the disease to various monkeys by the agency of lice1 but dogs1 rats1 and guinea-pigs have hitherto proved refractory to infection4 ,on the other hand1 there is abundant evidence of animal infection with ,oriental plague4 ,epizootics among rats and cats are well known4 ,boccaccio asserted the susceptibility of pigs1 and ,michoud confirmed the observation in the ,yunnan epidemic of #ahic4 ,dogs1 poultry1 deer1 cattle1 monkeys1 squirrels1 and marmots have all been shown by various observers to be prone to contagion4 ,before accepting the evidence of ,thucydides as to the disappearance of birds as weighty evidence in favour of the presence of true plague1 one must consider the state of the country district around ,athens1 devastated by fire and the sword1 and denuded of all its stock1 so as to offer no promise of sustenance to bird visitors4 ,but even so1 one is still confronted by his statement as to the domestic dogs1 which are known to be susceptible to plague and not known to be susceptible to typhus4 ,thucydides says that no one was attacked a second time1 or if he were the result was not fatal4 ,immunity of this kind1 comparatively complete1 is alike characteristic of typhus and plague3 the question is one that has provoked considerable controversy right down to modern times4 ,both ,curschmann and ,murchison are agreed as to the extreme rarity of relapses and reinfections in typhus3 curiously1 ,murchison himself had two typical severe attacks4 ,in the case of plague1 ,alexander ,massaria1#bad from his experience at ,vicenza1 came to the conclusion that one attack rendered a man immune with very few exceptions1 but that a second attack might be mortal4 ,mercurialis and ,van ,helmont were in agreement as to the rarity of second attacks4 ,diemerbroeck#bae recorded two cases of reinfection in the same year of the plague at ,nymwegen1 and several cases at an interval of a few years4 ,during the plague of ,marseilles in #agbj1 various writers observed cases of reinfection1 and relapse was also said to be frequent4 ,in the plague of #agga at ,moscow1 ,samilowitz1 prejudiced by his own advocacy of inoculation1 denied the existence of reinfection1 and suffered retribution for his dogmatism by three relapses in his own person4 ,in the same plague both ,mertens and ,orraeus recorded cases of reinfection4 ,in the plague of ,aleppo1 ,russell noted #bh cases of reinfection within three years among #d1djj victims of plague4 ,thus the idea of complete immunity1 so prevalent popularly both in ,europe and the ,levant1 must be accepted with some reservation4 ,,oxford3 ,,horace ,,hart ,m4,a4 ,,printer ,,to ,,the ,,university ,,footnotes3 #bjj ,curschmann's contribution1 in ,nothnagel's ,encyclopaedia of ,practical ,medicine1 is perhaps the most graphic and succinct account of ,typhus ,fever in modern medical literature4 ,the record of ,thucydides should be studied closely side by side with this4 ,murchison's article1 in his ,treatise on ,continued ,fever1 though admirable1 is so diffuse as to make comparison difficult4 #bja ,iliad ii4 #gbc4 #bjb ,iliad viii4 #dje and #dai4 #bjc ,adonis1 #af-ag4 #bjd ,agamemnon1 #fde4 #bje ,antigone1 #feb4 #bjf ,on ,ancient ,medicine1 #af4 #bjg ,coacae ,praenotiones1 #cif4 #bjh ,frogs1 #bcf4 #bji ,wasps1 #aaai4 #baj ,ecclesiazusae1 #ajeg4 #baa ,epidemics1 iii4 #bab xli4 #ba4 #bac ,obs4 p4 #hgj4 #bad ,tract4 de ,peste1 ed4 #affi1 p4 #eji4 #bae ,de ,peste1 ,lib4 ,,iv4 ,hist4 #cg4 #de4