Malaria in Rome
Within chapter 3 of Kyle Harper's writing he talks a lot about the death rates with certain seasons and age brackets in Rome. In the late summer to fall seasons the death rate spikes for all age brackets especially working adults, and in the winter older citizens face another spike. Harper writes in great detail about how malaria is likely the biggest reason for the deaths due to the swampy wet areas near Rome that made it a hot spot for mosquitos and the large population of citizens.
The current world pandemic can be can easily be compared to the situation faced by the Romans. In Rome working aged citizens had the largest upticks in death similar to how currently our workers are the most at risk to catch the disease even if its not necessarily as lethal as malaria was. Both diseases could not singularly cause their respective nations to fail, but they do both highlight issues within their systems. Malaria in Rome showed how unhealthy and dangerous changing the surrounding nature of the city (cutting down forests) could be. Covid 19 has shown many issues with Americas healthcare, education system, political climate, and treatment of workers.