Fate of Rome
Reading about this pandemic and the overall health of these people during the Roman Empire brought up so many connections to our current pandemic. I am currently in a microbiology class and we discussed some of the exact same ways diseases spread during ancient Rome and how they are the same as our current pandemic. That was something that really struck me from The Fate of Rome because I had not considered before this how even ancient cities have problems sharing pathogens. The idea that the connectedness of Rome, which was a strength, also created the ability for these microbes to be carried across the empire on ships or road seemed to be the ultimate downfall of many citizens of the empire.
In connection with Aristides works that we read, the idea that within the city there was no escape from the horrible diseases was really frightening. It reminded me a lot of American cities were immigrants worked in poor and unsanitary conditions. And, when it became hot and the sewage system was so poor, rich Americans would flock to the countryside. This seemed to be the same strategy that rich Romans implemented. This brought me back to our conversation during last class about the cycle of history. I think that this example of the poor being left to suffer in close quarters with disease while others can flee is like the metaphor of being able to look the "ghost" in the eye and seeing ourselves in it.