Impact of Diseases
Many diseases like Malaria contributed to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
Malarial mosquitoes are one of the few pathogens that developed and spread throughout the far
flung networks of communications and exchange. The trade in goods and the exchange of
people both played a key role in the spread of Malaria too.
Malaria is a mosquito borne fever caused by a protozoan parasite, which thrives in warm
marshy areas like river valleys. One particular type of malaria that is considered to be the most
serious and dangerous is known as Plasmodium falciparum, which spread through Rome during
the time of christ. This type causes miscarriage in the human body that leads to infant death.
Most recently, an american archeologist named David Soren explored and dug several sites
around the Mediterranean area only to be invited ten years later to a hill town called Lugnano,
north of Rome. There he found a storage room filled with pottery jars that each contained the
skeleton of a baby. A total of forty seven children were found in the room, all three years old or
younger that most likely died in their mothers womb. Near the skeletons were signs of burnt plant
offerings identified as honeysuckle, a plant used by the Romans in order to treat many fevers.
This proves that Malaria did in fact play a huge role in the decline of the Roman Empire.
Malarias origin came from Africa, which later spread to Rome based on ideas by
Professor Mario Coluzzi from the university of Rome. Passengers on a cargo ship traveling to
Italy carried Malaria in their bloodstream without realizing it until symptoms started showing like
fevers, chills, and sweat. This was caused by a water barrel that was on board contaminated by
mosquito larvae. Evidence of these ideas were found at the ancient harbour of Olbia, on the
island of Sardinia. Sixteen cargo ships from Rome were buried deep in the mud that each
contained a supply of pottery. This also proves that North Africa and Rome were trading back
and forth with each other, most likely starting with Sardinia, (an island in Italy) “a stepping stone
for the disease before it reached the mainland.
All of these discoveries and facts prove that Malaria was one of the few major diseases to
kill off the Roman Empire, an area with a population of fifty six point eight million people at the
time it started. Though, Malaria wasn't really a problem to begin with, it did result in a huge
decline, especially since Plasmodium falciparum caused the many deaths of women and their
children. Communicating with each other just spreads it more and more,causing it to not stop
and destroy each others territories. Any disease can do this in the blink of an eye. .
Malarial mosquitoes are one of the few pathogens that developed and spread throughout the far
flung networks of communications and exchange. The trade in goods and the exchange of
people both played a key role in the spread of Malaria too.
Malaria is a mosquito borne fever caused by a protozoan parasite, which thrives in warm
marshy areas like river valleys. One particular type of malaria that is considered to be the most
serious and dangerous is known as Plasmodium falciparum, which spread through Rome during
the time of christ. This type causes miscarriage in the human body that leads to infant death.
Most recently, an american archeologist named David Soren explored and dug several sites
around the Mediterranean area only to be invited ten years later to a hill town called Lugnano,
north of Rome. There he found a storage room filled with pottery jars that each contained the
skeleton of a baby. A total of forty seven children were found in the room, all three years old or
younger that most likely died in their mothers womb. Near the skeletons were signs of burnt plant
offerings identified as honeysuckle, a plant used by the Romans in order to treat many fevers.
This proves that Malaria did in fact play a huge role in the decline of the Roman Empire.
Malarias origin came from Africa, which later spread to Rome based on ideas by
Professor Mario Coluzzi from the university of Rome. Passengers on a cargo ship traveling to
Italy carried Malaria in their bloodstream without realizing it until symptoms started showing like
fevers, chills, and sweat. This was caused by a water barrel that was on board contaminated by
mosquito larvae. Evidence of these ideas were found at the ancient harbour of Olbia, on the
island of Sardinia. Sixteen cargo ships from Rome were buried deep in the mud that each
contained a supply of pottery. This also proves that North Africa and Rome were trading back
and forth with each other, most likely starting with Sardinia, (an island in Italy) “a stepping stone
for the disease before it reached the mainland.
All of these discoveries and facts prove that Malaria was one of the few major diseases to
kill off the Roman Empire, an area with a population of fifty six point eight million people at the
time it started. Though, Malaria wasn't really a problem to begin with, it did result in a huge
decline, especially since Plasmodium falciparum caused the many deaths of women and their
children. Communicating with each other just spreads it more and more,causing it to not stop
and destroy each others territories. Any disease can do this in the blink of an eye. .