Abstract

The present article aims at showing the way Greek and Roman historians saw epidemics. and what role these epidemics served.. The causes, treatment and prevention of epidemics are also shown in various historical and literary source. The first paragraph presents epidemics as shown in Greek literature. To start with, epidemic in Athens in 429 BC described by Thucydides is shown. The same paragraph deals also with epidemics in ancient Rome under the guid­ance of Titus Livius and his History of Rome and descriptions of epidemics in Natural history by Plinius the Older. The biggest epidemics in Rome from the 2^nd and 3^rd century AD are presented on the basis of Life of Constantine and Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea. The only saved description of Galen’s Antonine Plague in Clavdi Galeni Opera Omnia, editionem cvravit C. G. Kuhn, tom X, Hildesheim 1965 is shown. Next, the description of epidemic witnessed by Cyprian of Carthage and included in his treatise On Mortality. Also based on the description by Eusebius of Caesarea, the epidemic from 312 AD is men­tioned. Epidemic in Amid appears thanks to the materials by Ammianus Mar­cellinus in The Roman History. The 6^th century is dominated by the epidemic called ‘Plague of Justinian’ which was described by Procopius of Caesarea in History of the Wars, John of Ephesus in Ecclesiastical History , Evagrius Scho­lasticus also in Ecclesiastical History and Agathias in The Histories.The scope of this epidemic is also observed in the description by Gregory of Tours in The History of the Franks. Each of the epidemics is presented together with the pre­ceding and accompanying events. To explain why problems of this kind are used in this article, M.Grmk’s word can be used. To present all the important problems connected with this subject: The history of contagiou sdiseaseswould be the size of an epic. Legions of the deadwould have to be described together with inexpressible pain, great variety of micro-organisms, their biological changeability, the role of popula­tion density etc.