16. Devastating the Eastern Roman Empire the Plague of Justinian stands among the most deadly of global pandemics, responsible for the deaths of tens of millions
Afflicting the Eastern Roman Empire, in particular its capital, Constantinople, as well as the port cities of the Mediterranean Sea, the Plague of Justinian was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. Named for Emperor Justinian I, the Byzantine Emperor during an outbreak in 541 and 542 CE, the pandemic, viewed by some historians as worldwide in scope, bears significant parallels in impact to the Black Death centuries later. Over the course of a series of outbreaks spanning two centuries, the plague was responsible for the deaths of an estimated twenty-five to fifty million people, representing thirteen to twenty-six percent of the global population.
Killing as many as 5,000 people per day in Constantinople at the height of the outbreak, the imperial city lost as much as forty percent of its population. Never truly recovering its former glory, the social and cultural impact of the plague was devastating. After sustained investigation, in 2013 medical researchers finally isolated the bacterium responsible for the plague: Yersinia pestis. Believed to originate from the Tian Shan mountain ranges on the border of China, the Plague of Justinian reflects the potential negative consequences of the opening up of the Silk Road and the increased inter-connectivity of the world.