ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: BOOK IV 229

at the faith of the Christians he retired to his own land.76 [177] They
say that at his ¢nal breath he indeed was honoured with the sacred
rebirth.77

29 I will also give a description concerning the disease which struck and
has remained strong and spread over the whole earth in this its 52nd
year, a thing never before reported. For, two years after the city of Antio-
chus was captured by the Persians, a pestilent a¥iction took up resi-
dence, in some respects comparable to that related by Thucydides but in
others very di¡erent. It was said, and still is now, to have begun from
Ethiopia.78 In turn it overran the whole universe, leaving none among

76 For comprehensive discussion of the development of the cult of Sergius, the martyr
shrines and the site of Sergiopolis (Resafa) in general, see Elizabeth Fowden, Plain ch. 3; its
location at the intersection of several long-distance routes was of considerable economic
and strategic signi¢cance, and the devotion of the Ghassanid Arabs to Sergius increased
its importance further. Khusro’s attack on Sergiopolis in 542 is described by Procopius,
Wars ii.20.5^16: Candidus, the city’s bishop, had agreed to ransom the captives from Sura
in 540, but had been unable to provide the money; he now told Khusro to take the treasures
from Sergius’ shrine, but these proved insu⁄cient to satisfy the king so that an army was
sent to capture Sergiopolis; although there were only 200 soldiers inside the city, the Per-
sians were unable to penetrate the defences and had to abandon the attack when their
water ran out. Discussion of defences in Whitby, ‘Notes’ 102^5, and for the water supply
see also Elizabeth Fowden, Plain 71^3, 94^5.
Evagrius’ account is rather di¡erent, and clearly does not depend on Procopius; the
central point of his story is the vision of the supernatural defenders, a miracle which can be
paralleled from other city-protecting saints, e.g. Demetrius of Thessalonica (Miracula ii.3,
‰222), or Alexander of Drizipera (Theophylact vi.5.6^7).
According to Procopius, Khusro continued his invasion after leaving Sergiopolis, with
the intention of ravaging Palestine, but was persuaded to retire when Belisarius threatened
his line of retreat (Wars ii.21).
77 Khusro’s high regard for the Christian faith is described by John of Ephesus (EH
vi.20; cf. also Sebeos 2); John of Nikiu records that late in life he was baptized at a bath
house (ch. 95.23^5). For Khusro II’s interest in Christianity, see vi.18 with n. 63 below.
78 Bubonic plague ¢rst appeared in the empire in Egypt in autumn 541, and in the follow-
ing year spread to the Near East and Constantinople; Evagrius concluded his history in
593/4 (vi.22), the 52nd year from 542. Procopius (Wars ii.22^3) described at length the
impact of the plague, especially at Constantinople, where the enormous problem of the dis-
posal of corpses attracted his attention, as it did that of John of Ephesus (EH, fragments of
part ii: a summary of John’s information is most readily available in Conrad, ‘Plague’ 144^
7), but Evagrius’ account was based on his own personal experience (see below). The plague
continued to recur for about two centuries, until a ¢nal major attack in 747.
The plague at Athens in 430 BC was described by Thucydides ii.47^54; his account served
as a literary model for Procopius so that resemblances between the a¥ictions, and more
230 EVAGRIUS

men without some experience of the disease. And whereas some cities
were stricken to such an extent that they were completely emptied of
inhabitants, there were parts where the misfortune touched more lightly
and moved on. And neither did it strike according to a ¢xed interval,
nor having struck did it depart in the same manner: but it took hold of
some places at the beginning of winter, others while spring was in full
swing, others in the summer time, and in some places even when
autumn was advancing.79 And there were places where it a¡ected one
part of the city but kept clear of the other parts, and often one could see
in a city that was not diseased certain households that were comprehen-
sively destroyed. And there are places where, although one or two house-
holds were destroyed, the rest of the city has remained una¡ected; but as
we have recognized from precise investigation, the households which
remained una¡ected have been the only ones to su¡er in the following
year.80 But what is more extraordinary than everything is that if it
happened that inhabitants of a¥icted cities were living somewhere else
where the misfortune had not struck, those people alone caught the

especially in the reactions of the stricken population, might creep into the tradition. The
Athenian plague, however, was not bubonic (and indeed its identity is much disputed).
Procopius (Wars ii.22.6) says that the plague began in Pelusium in Egypt. Allen, Evagrius
190, suggests that the connection with Ethiopia re£ects traditional prejudice about the
origins of diseases, but this may be too sceptical; Zinsser, Rats 145, whom Allen cites in
support, merely refers to ‘a sort of ancient and traditional suspicion’, without documenta-
tion. As parallels for a southern origin, Dio lxxvi.13.1 records that in 200 Septimius Severus
was prevented from crossing from Egypt to Ethiopia by plague; Zonaras xii.21 (vol. II.
590:9^13) describes a plague which spread from Ethiopia to the whole empire in the 250s.
For discussion of Central/East Africa as one of the major natural reservoirs of plague in the
ancient world, and of the factors which contributed to its eruption in the 540s, see Keys,
Catastrophe ch. 2.
There is a large literature on the sixth-century plague: in addition to Conrad, ‘Plague’ and
Keys, Catastrophe, see Allen, ‘Plague’, Evagrius 190^4; Sallares, Ecology 263^71; Whitby,
‘Recruitment’ 93^9.
79 Evagrius may here be tacitly correcting Procopius, who said that the plague seemed
to move by ¢xed arrangement, and to remain for a speci¢ed time in each region (Wars
ii.22.7). The £ea which carries bubonic plague is most active in warm and humid condi-
tions, so that in the Mediterranean plague tends to be most virulent in summer (Sallares,
Ecology 270).
80 Cf. Procopius,Wars ii.22.8, for the plague returning to places which it had only lightly
touched ¢rst time round.
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: BOOK IV 231

misfortune ^ namely those people from cities that had been overcome
who were resident in the una¡ected cities.81
And often this occurred to cities and other places in the rotations of
the cycles that are called indictions. But an almost complete extermina-
tion [178] struck mankind especially in the ¢rst or second year of the
¢fteen-year cycle. This indeed befell me, who has composed these
things ^ for I decided to interweave my own a¡airs also into the narra-
tive, attaching appropriate matters where appropriate. And so at the
outset of this great misfortune I was a¡ected by what are called
buboes while I was still attending the elementary teacher, but in the
various subsequent visitations of these great misfortunes I lost many
of my o¡spring and my wife and other relatives, and numerous servants
and estate dwellers, as if the indictional cycles divided out the misfor-
tunes for me. Thus as I write this, while in the 58th year of my life, not
more than two years previously while for the fourth time now the
misfortune struck Antioch, when the fourth cycle from its outset had
elapsed, I lost a daughter and the son she had produced, quite apart
from the earlier losses.82
The misfortune was composed of di¡erent ailments. For in some it
began with the head, making eyes bloodshot and face swollen, went
down to the throat, and dispatched the victim from among men. In
others a £ux of the stomach occurred. While in some buboes swelled
up, and thereafter violent fevers; and on the second or third day they
died, with intellect and bodily constitution the same as those who had
su¡ered nothing. Others became demented and put aside life. And
indeed carbuncles sprang up and obliterated men. And there are cases

81 There is no con¢rmation for this rather surprising assertion, which is not in Proco-
pius; the phenomenon would support Evagrius’ belief that the plague was under divine
control.
82 Recurrences of bubonic plague of varying intensity were to be expected as new gen-
erations became accessible to the disease. In the century after its ¢rst outbreak the plague
returned, on average, about once every 14 years (evidence usefully collected in Conrad,
‘Plague’ 149^51), which is surprisingly close to Evagrius’ correlation with the indictional
cycle. There is, however, little to support his contention that the ¢rst two years of each
cycle were the most at risk, since the plague ¢rst struck in a ¢fth indiction (541/2) and the
fourth occurrence at Antioch was in a tenth indiction (591/2); counting inclusively, the most
recent episode was in the fourth indiction cycle (537^52; 552^67; 567^82; 582^97) from the
¢rst outbreak. Evagrius will have been about six when he caught the plague; like the
emperor Justinian he was one of the fortunate survivors.
232 EVAGRIUS

where men were a¥icted once or twice and escaped, but perished when
a¥icted again.83
And the ways in which it was passed on were various and unaccoun-
table.84 For some were destroyed merely by being and living together,
others too merely by touching, others again when inside their bed-
chamber, and others in [179] the public square. And some who have £ed
from diseased cities have remained una¡ected, while passing on the
disease to those who were not sick. Others have not caught it at all, even
though they associated with many who were sick, and touched many
not only who were sick, but even after their death. Others who were
indeed eager to perish because of the utter destruction of their children
or household, and for this reason made a point of keeping company
with the sick, nevertheless were not a¥icted, as if the disease was
contending against their wish. So then, as I have said, this misfortune
has been prevalent up to the present for 52 years, surpassing all previous
ones. For Philostratus is amazed that the plague in his time prevailed
for ¢fteen years.85 And what will follow is unclear, since it moves to the
place where God will ordain, since He knows both the causes and where
they lead. But I will return to my point of departure, and will tell the rest
of the events under Justinian.

30 Justinian was insatiable for money and was so extraordinarily enam-

oured of the possessions of others that he even sold all his subjects for
gold, to those who administer the o⁄ces, and who collect taxes, and
who without any reason wish to stitch together plots against men.
Many, indeed innumerable, men of substantial property he deprived of
all their possessions, painting on excuses without excuse. If even a prosti-
tute, casting envious eyes, invented some relationship or intercourse with
someone, immediately all legal matters were set aside and by taking

83 Procopius describes the symptoms and course of the disease at greater length (Wars
ii.22.10^39), emphasizing the prevalence of bubonic swellings and mentioning the charac-
teristic black pustules of the plague. Evagrius’ evidence suggests that the plague, although
predominantly bubonic, also had septicaemic and pneumonic strains, which would have
caused death quite rapidly and without the tell-tale buboes.
84 Cf. Procopius, Wars ii.22.33^4, for the causes of the disease being unfathomable for
human reasoning.
85 This is probably a reference to the Philostratus who composed the Life of Apollonius
and Lives of the Sophists in the late second or early third century; he was presumably refer-
ring to the epidemic which swept the empire during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, from 166/
7 onwards.