Plague of Athens

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Plague of Athens
Plague in an Ancient City, Michiel Sweerts, c. 1652–1654
Location	Greece
Date	430–426 BC
Deaths	75,000–100,000

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. The plague killed an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people, around 25% of the population, and is believed to have entered Athens through Piraeus, the city's port and sole source of food and supplies.^[1] Thucydides, an Athenian survivor, wrote that much of the eastern Mediterranean also saw an outbreak of the disease, albeit with less impact.^[2]

The war, along with the plague, had lasting effects on Athenian society. Short-term, there was civil disorder, and violations of usual funerary practices. Thucydides describes a decrease in traditional religious practices and increase in superstitious explanations. He estimates that it took 15 years for the Athenian population to recover. Long-term, the high death toll drastically redistributed wealth within Athenian society, and weakened Athens politically.

The plague returned in 429, and a third time in the winter of 427/426 BC.^[3] Thucydides left a detailed account of the plague's symptoms and epidemiology. Some 30 pathogens have been suggested as having caused the plague.^[4]