- Jul 2011
- 274
- Ga, USA
The plague described in the history of the Peloponnesian War is largely held to be a contagion but the possibility of poison shouldn't be ruled out in my opinion. Although Thucydides mentions that people contracted the disease when caring for and coming into contact with those who had the disease (a very astute observation that deviates from the Hippocratic thinking based on diseases being contracted by miasma), it's still possible that while caring for the people dying - food in the house was ingested by those caring for the sick.
I find myself leaning towards poison as the source of the plague and am also entertaining the possibility of a disease striking at about the same time.
Warranted: the conditions are perfect for an outbreak of a contagious disease but the spread of the disease is almost non existent. Also, animals died of the disease - the disease must be able to reside in numerous hosts, whereas a poison could easily adversely affect many different animals.
Also under consideration: mass importation of grain, limited water supply, close proximity of livestock to humans, and the common sharing of it all by a large population (capable of supporting a poorly adapted contagion which kills its host).
The fact that the population was large enough to support the disease and that I have not found any other cases of poison leads me towards contagion, I guess.
Any thoughts?
I find myself leaning towards poison as the source of the plague and am also entertaining the possibility of a disease striking at about the same time.
Warranted: the conditions are perfect for an outbreak of a contagious disease but the spread of the disease is almost non existent. Also, animals died of the disease - the disease must be able to reside in numerous hosts, whereas a poison could easily adversely affect many different animals.
Also under consideration: mass importation of grain, limited water supply, close proximity of livestock to humans, and the common sharing of it all by a large population (capable of supporting a poorly adapted contagion which kills its host).
The fact that the population was large enough to support the disease and that I have not found any other cases of poison leads me towards contagion, I guess.
Any thoughts?