Plague of Cyprian

The Plague of Cyprian was a pandemic that afflicted the Roman Empire from about AD 249 to 262,^[1][2] or 251/2 to 270.^[3] The plague is thought to have caused widespread manpower shortages for food production and the Roman army, severely weakening the empire during the Crisis of the Third Century.^[2][4][5] Its modern name commemorates St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, an early Christian writer who witnessed and described the plague.^[2] The agent of the plague is highly speculative because of sparse sourcing, but suspects have included smallpox, measles, and viral haemorrhagic fever (filoviruses) like the Ebola virus.^[1][2]