Episode 4
"title": "The Plague That Shattered an Empire",
# The Plague That Shattered an Empire ### How the Antonine Pandemic Revealed Rome's Fatal Weakness ## The Return of the Legions Marcus Aurelius stood at the gates of Rome in the summer of 166 CE, watching his victorious legions march home from the Parthian campaign. The emperor's satisfaction at their triumph quickly turned to horror as he noticed something was terribly wrong. Many soldiers stumbled as they walked, their faces covered in angry pustules. Others bore dark lesions on their skin, their eyes bloodshot and feverish. What should have been a celebration of Roman might instead became the beginning of a nightmare that would shake the empire to its foundations. The mysterious disease spreading through the returning troops would soon be known as the Antonine Plague, named for the ruling Antonine dynasty. Within days, the streets of Rome echoed with the wails of the afflicted and the lamentations of those who lost loved ones. The emperor could only watch as death swept throug...