What Caused Many People To Die Inside The City Of Athens?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Typhus, typhoid, smallpox, bubonic plague, and a combination of

the aforementioned were all offered as the culprit. For nearly 2500 years, historians & scholars have attempted to identify exactly what disease swept Athens resulting in so many deaths.

What event killed a lot of the city-state of Athens?


The Plague of Athens

(Ancient Greek: Λοιμὸς τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, Loimos tôn Athênôn) was an epidemic that devastated the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece during the second year (430 BC) of the Peloponnesian War when an Athenian victory still seemed within reach.

What caused the Athens plague?


Typhoid fever

Few features suggest that typhoid fever was the cause of the plague of Athens. Fever and diarrhea are the only two key clinical features consistent with a diagnosis of enteric fever.

What was the disease that killed so many people of Athens?

In 430 BC,

a plague

struck the city of Athens, which was then under siege by Sparta during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). In the next 3 years, most of the population was infected, and perhaps as many as 75,000 to 100,000 people, 25% of the city’s population, died.

What causes Pericles the leader of Athens to die?

The cause of the plague of Athens in 430BC, which devastated the city and killed up to one-third of the population, including its leader, Pericles, was

typhoid fever

, scientists believe.

How did Black Death End?

The most popular theory of how the plague ended is

through the implementation of quarantines

. The uninfected would typically remain in their homes and only leave when it was necessary, while those who could afford to do so would leave the more densely populated areas and live in greater isolation.

How many people died from the plague?

How many people died during the Black Death? It is not known for certain how many people died during the Black Death.

About 25 million people

are estimated to have died in Europe from the plague between 1347 and 1351.

Who lost the Syracuse battle?

Sicilian Expedition Destruction of the

Athenian army

at Syracuse
Date 415–413 BC Location Sicily, Italy Result Decisive Spartan/Syracusan victory Athenian expeditionary force completely destroyed Belligerents Athens Allies: Delian League Segesta Sparta Allies: Peloponnesian League Corinth Syracuse

What were the names of the two cities allied with Sparta?

Sparta acquired two powerful allies, Corinth and Elis (also city-states), by ridding Corinth of tyranny, and helping Elis secure control of the Olympic Games. Sparta continued to use aggressively a combination of foreign policy and military intervention to gain other allies.

Did Thucydides get the plague?

A seasoned, hard-bitten warrior, he was, for once, at a loss: “Words indeed fail one when one tries to give a general picture of this disease; and as for the suffering of individuals, they seemed almost beyond the capacity of human nature to endure.”

Thucydides himself got the plague but survived, as he coolly notes in

Who destroyed Athens?

The Achaemenid destruction of Athens was accomplished by

the Achaemenid Army of Xerxes I

during the Second Persian invasion of Greece, and occurred in two phases over a period of two years, in 480–479 BCE.

How did Hippocrates cure the plague?

he

fought the epidemic by building a great fire

, which corrected the unhealthy atmosphere that caused the outbreak. Thucydides’ silence about this remarkable achievement of Hippocrates and the late date of the sources reporting it are strong witnesses against its historicity.

Who is the king of Sparta?


Leonidas I
Marble statue, possibly of Leonidas, (5th century BC), Sparta, Archæological Museum of Sparta, Greece King of Sparta Reign 489–480 BC Predecessor Cleomenes I

Does Pericles die?

Pericles was briefly deposed in 430, but after the Athenians’ efforts to negotiate with Sparta failed, he was quickly reinstated. … A few months later,

Pericles himself succumbed

. His death was, according to Thucydides, disastrous for Athens.

What is the longest pandemic in history?


The Great Plague of 1665

was the last and one of the worst of the centuries-long outbreaks, killing 100,000 Londoners in just seven months. All public entertainment was banned and victims were forcibly shut into their homes to prevent the spread of the disease.

Diane Mitchell
Author
Diane Mitchell
Diane Mitchell is an animal lover and trainer with over 15 years of experience working with a variety of animals, including dogs, cats, birds, and horses. She has worked with leading animal welfare organizations. Diane is passionate about promoting responsible pet ownership and educating pet owners on the best practices for training and caring for their furry friends.