Pandemics and epidemics of plague throughout history have been associated with, causing social disorder and panic. The people’s reactions to these pandemics differed over the centuries. Ancient history records that people did not make any provisions before a pandemic arrived in their city. For example, the individuals of Constantinople, although being aware of the existence of the plague of Justinian in the near east, which was there for more than two years they did not think of it as their issue (Mark & Mark, 2020). The paper will discuss some of the cultural responses of the ancient pandemics: the Antonine plague and the plague of Justinian.
During the rule of Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius, the Antonine plague hit the Roman Empire. When the ailment struck, the individuals felt submerged as they believed that what had happened to others would not happen to them. Since no one was aware of how these outbreaks spread or what caused them, they were associated with the fury of God or the gods and supernatural cause (Mark & Mark, 2020). According to the notes by Galen, the individuals were naturally having experiences of high-level frustration, as well as anxiety over how the plague could be treated or stopped. He also noted that what was happening caused anger among the people (Mark & Mark, 2020). The negative feelings were caused by the economic impacts of the ailment, which in turn caused a decline in the food supply. Even though there is no particular record, the people also directed their anger towards the gods (Mark & Mark, 2020).
In ancient times Roman, the state was the one that sponsored religion. On the other hand, the people sacrificed to and worshiped the gods, while the gods’ responsibility was to take care of the people (Mark & Mark, 2020). During the Antonine plague, it was clear that the gods had failed to fulfill their half of the arrangement. The Aurelius responded to the pandemic by blaming the Christians; because they believed that they were the once discarding religious rituals, thus angering the gods. For this reason, they started to persecute Christians (Mark & Mark, 2020). On the other hand, Christians responded by taking care of the dying and sick, which indicated that they did not fear death. Their faith gave them an unconditional assurance of an everlasting life that surpassed their current existence (Mark & Mark, 2020). Due to the courage displayed by the Christians in the presence of the widespread death and ailment, there were many converts into Christianity. As a result, the state religion weakened, also causing the state to weaken in turn (Mark & Mark, 2020).
One of the first recorded cases of bubonic plague is the plague of Justinian. It is thought to have hit the near east, mostly Persia before it spread to Constantinople. The outbreak of the ailment was associated with supernatural causes, particularly the anger of God towards Justinian I, due to his incompetent and unjust ruling (Mark & Mark, 2020). The plague encouraged the people to respond by devoting to Christianity because by the time the faith was fully-developed. Once a person was infected, they had to react in two ways either seek medical treatment or apply home remedies. On the other hand, the medical personnel responded by engaging in a training course at Alexandria (Horgan & Horgan, 2014). Due to the lack of physicians, the people mostly opted for home remedies. Rosen noted several approaches applied by individuals to treat the plague, such as magic rings and amulets, cold-water baths, and blessed powders by saints (Horgan & Horgan, 2014). Quarantining and social distancing was one of the most effective responses by the people; they did this voluntarily (Mark & Mark, 2020).
The plague lasted for about four months in Byzantium, and at the beginning, the deaths were a bit more reasonable. The mortality rate would then rise to higher rates; at this point, the dead were buried by their family, but this custom would change afterward (Alfani, 2017). As a response to the high death rates as a result of the plague, the emperor commissioned some of his soldiers to take charge of burying the dead. However, the deaths continued to increase, and thus they had to respond by charging the custom of burying the dead in the tombs. They opted to dig up all the areas around the city and lay the dead there (Alfani, 2017). Finally, the customary rites of funerals were overlooked; that is, the dead would no longer be moved out accompanied by a procession as the custom required. The members of the population who previously were part of discord had to put aside their enmity; and help one another bury the died even if they had no connections (Alfani, 2017).
The outbreak of the plague of Justinian and the Antonine plague caused the citizens to overlook most of their cultural practices. In addition, they had to adopt new cultural practices to control pandemics. The causes of the pandemics were mostly attributed to supernatural beings like God and the gods. The paper acknowledges that more research should be undertaken to come up with more cultural responses to these pandemics.