History’s Deadliest Pandemics: How Germs Destroyed Civilizations

28th August 2025

black-death, cholera, civilizational-collapse, covid-19, epidemics, history-of-diseases, pandemics, plagues, smallpox, spanish-flu

Introduction

A pandemic can be defined as the event when a disease affects a large region, country or even the whole world. In the history of mankind, pandemics have occurred again and again after years, centuries or millennia to create havoc in life, society and civilizations. This blog talks about 8 such big pandemics which destroyed civilizations if not altered the entire world. It also shows how pandemics such as Justinian’s Plague and the Black Death are the true invisible conquerors before which even the emperors and their empire bow down.

Chapter 1: The Plague of Athens (430-426 BCE)

The plague erupted in the second year of the Peloponnesian War, 430 BCE in Athens through the city’s port of Piraeus. The illness spread throughout Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean until 426 BCE. The plague killed around 250,000 to 300,000 people which was around one third of the entire population of that region. The origin of the disease is considered to be the sub saharan region of Ethiopia. The disease also spread to parts of Persia and Egypt. Thucydides, in the History of the Peloponnesian War described the plague in great detail. According to him the patients preferred to be naked than to be wearing any clothes that touched their skin, some even submerged themselves in cold water. They were also observed to have an uncontrollable thirst that can not be satisfied even after consuming a large quantity of liquids. They also suffered from ulcers and severe diarrhea which resulted in their deaths. The survivors had disfigurement in their genitals, fingers and toes, blindness and even memory loss. It took nearly 15 years for the population to completely recover. The Plague killed Pericles, the leader of the Delian League (led by Athens), and shifted balance to the Spartan side and played an indirect role in the victory of the Peloponnesians. This was the first recorded disease to completely change the politics of a region.

Chapter 2: Antonine Plague (165-180 CE)

Also known as the Plague of Galen, this plague arrived at the height of the Roman Empire under Marcus Aurelius. It was a small pox like disease causing deaths of more than 10,000,000 people. The plague is thought to have arrived with the travelers and soldiers returning from the Near East. Its symptoms include fever, diarrhea, vomiting, thirstiness, swollen throat and coughing. Also the diarrhea appeared to be blackish which suggested gastrointestinal bleeding. There were also rashes throughout the bodies distinguished by red and black eruptions. Those who survived developed immunity from the disease. This epidemic was a starting point for the beginning of decline of the Roman Empire in the west as suggested by many historians.

Chapter 3: Justinian Plague (541-750 CE)

It occurred during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. The plague arrived at the Mediterranean from its outskirts and continued to torment and kill people for nearly 220 years. The plague originated in China and Northeast India, was carried to the African territories of the Byzantine Empire through trade routes from where it spread to the heart of the empire, Constantinople. The plague transmitted through black rats mostly found in China and India that travelled to Europe through ships carrying rations for the empire. The rats affected the food grains who in turn devastated the Eastern Roman Empire. It was a type of Bubonic plague (discussed in the next chapter), that wiped out more than 50,000,000 people or half the empire. The symptoms include delusions, nightmares, fevers and swelling in regions like groin, armpits and behind the ears. Even the emperor caught the fever but he somehow survived. This pandemic weakened the empire to a great extent but completely destroyed areas like Egypt and Libya and ultimately indirectly opened space for the spread of the religion of Islam.

Chapter 4: The Black Death (1347-1351)

The Black Death was a Bubonic Plague that killed almost one third of the entire population of Europe – about 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 people. The disease originated in Central Asia and was brought to Europe by Mongol warriors and traders. The disease was caused by a bacterium- Yersinia pestis, carried by rodents like rats and rabbits and also parasites like lice. It was called black death because it turned the skin black and symptoms included fevers,joint pains, nausea and vomiting. The effect of the plague was so high that it took Europe more than 200 years to recover both socially and economically. The plague also affected China, India, the Middle East through the silk road in turn the plague also reached Africa, thus affecting most of the Old World. The Black Death can also be called the first recorded Global Pandemic. This disease caused the indirect collapse of many dynasties and kingdoms across the old world.

Chapter 5: Smallpox in the Americas (16th Century – 18th Century)

Smallpox arrived in America in 1520 via a slave accompanying Spanish troops a few decades after Columbus discovered America. Its symptoms include fever, headache, back pain and an eruption in the skin leaving the skin with pockmarks or pox. It spread like wildfire and annihilated the Aztec Civilization in Mexico, the Inca Civilization in Peru and also the whole Caribbean Islands. The disease killed nearly half of the native populations in the Americas and remained for more than a century with frequent deadly outbreaks with the highest being the Great Smallpox Epidemic of the 1770s where millions of people died. This plague is a classic example of how a common disease at a certain place (old world in this case) destroys an entire continent (new world in this case).

Chapter 6: Cholera Pandemics (19th Century – Present)

Cholera is an infection in the small intestine by a bacterium called Vibrio cholarae. It causes symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps, dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. It also causes sunken eyes and crayotic skin in many cases. It spreads mainly through unsafe water and foods and is still present in today’s world. This Cholera caused 6 to 7 pandemics in the 19th to 20th century causing heavy damages in the near past. The first pandemic (1917-1824) began in Jessore,India. It quickly spread to areas like Indonesia, Philippines and finally to Europe through Turkey. Hundreds of millions of people died in the first cholera pandemic. The second pandemic(1826-37) happened when the disease reached Russia and caused havoc in Russia, Hungary and Germany. It also reached Britain, France and America claiming millions of lives. The third pandemic (1846-1860) is considered the most deadly of the cholera pandemics as it devastated the entire Russian Empire, Iran, British India, China, African nations of Ethiopia and Uganda, and also the nations of USA and other parts of Northern America. The fourth(1863 -1875) and fifth(1881-1896) are considered the least deadly, killing only a few millions around the world compared to previous ones. The sixth pandemic(1899-1923) was lethal to mainly India and Egypt killing about 10,000,000 people in total. There is still an ongoing seventh pandemic(1961-present) in the regions of South East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. The World Health Organization(WHO) defines it as a current pandemic as of March 2022. In 2017 Who announced a global strategy aimed at ending the pandemic by reducing its death toll by 90% by 2030.

Chapter 7: Spanish Flu (1918-1920)

Also known as the Great Influenza Epidemic was a deadly global pandemic caused by H1N1 subtype of Influenza A Virus. This occurred right after the First World War causing the death of 25,000,000 to 50,000,000 lives. It occurred in four waves between 1918 to 1920. This wave caused heavily the polity of Europe which further affected the world order especially in Germany and Russia. Other affected regions include British India, British Caribbean and New Zealand. The symptoms of this disease include sore throat, headache and fever, and also blackened skins and nose bleeds in some cases. After the pandemic, the flu continues to be known as “Seasonal Flu”.

Chapter 8: Covid – 19 (2019-Present)

Coronavirus Disease 2019 or Covid-19 is a disease spread by Coronavirus SARS-C0V-2. The disease began in December 2019 in China and quickly spread to all over the world by March 2020 causing a global pandemic. The symptoms of this disease include fever, fatigue, cough, breathing difficulties, loss of smell and loss of taste. As of August 2025, the Covid-19 has caused 7,000,000 confirmed deaths and about 33,000,000 estimated deaths. Most affected countries include Italy, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Lithuania, England, Australia and New Zealand. As of the present time it has five variants namely- Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Omicron detected first in the United Kingdom, South Africa, India, Brazil and Botswana respectively. Vaccines have been developed by India, USA, Russia and other countries to counter the disease, the pandemic has slowed down significantly but caused a significant change in the society. The pandemic followed by lockdowns accelerated the digital growth all over the world and also the transfer of work place from office to home at a significant percentage. It indirectly boosted the reliance of human beings on the internet for both education and entertainment. The disease still continues to grow although now in a much controlled state.

Conclusion

From the blog we can understand how germs, diseases and pandemics affected human lives in a civilizational manner- whether collapsing an empire or by changing the structure of a society. Technologies improve from time to time but the vulnerability remains. History teaches us that Empires and Countries don’t just fall to swords and guns- they cough, they fall ill and they collapse. That’s all from this blog, please like and share if you like it. Also comment what you feel about the idea of pandemics affecting human culture.