Plague of Athens

Schoental R Mycotoxins in food and the plague of Athens. J Nutr Med 1994 4 83-85. 

Anthrax has plagued man and beast since early recorded history. Scholars have attributed several plagues in antiquity to anthrax. The Plague of Athens (430 27 BC) and two of the plagues of Egypt (the fifth - death of hvestock - and sixth plagues - boils), during the time of the Israehtes captivity... 

After this time, plague became established in the countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea.2 In 430 bc, Sparta won the Peloponnesian War partly because of the plague of Athens.3 Some scholars believe that this was the bubonic plague, but others suggest that it may have been due to other bacterial or viral diseases.4... 

Boerhaave, as we shall see, uses the same argument in his chemistry and medicine, for it would bring man to a closer understanding of God s will with the world. Moreover, Boerhaave also stresses the importance of namral philosophy for the prosperity of the nation. For example, the introduction of his chemistry textbook consists mainly of a description of the use of chemistry in disciplines relevant for the building of the Republic, such as the mechanical arts, medicine and natural philosophy. Furthermore, in his praise of Hippocrates, he states that Hippocrates did not theorise medicine, but he applied it in practice, in service of the people of Athens and Thessalia, who were suffering from the plague. Boerhaave also directly linked the work of the physician to the work of Christ when stating ... 

Plants producing essential oils were used in medicine, both externally and orally. Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460 BC—c. 370 BC) recorded that scented plants were burned during a plague in Athens. Today, it is clear that several essential oils are active against bacteria, but the plague was not stamped out because... 

Progress in immunological science has been driven by the need to understand and exploit the generation of immune states exemplified now by the use of modern vaccines. From almost the first recorded observations, it was recognized that persons who had contracted and recovered from certain infectious diseases were not susceptible (i.e. were immune) to the effects of the same disease when re-exposed to the infection. Thucydides, over 2500 years ago, described in detail an epidemic in Athens (which could have been typhus or plague) and noted that sufferers were touched by the pitying... 

Immunitas originally referred to the freedom from taxes among ancient Romans. The medical concept of freedom from disease—immunity—was described by the Greek historian Thucydides, who in his description of the plague (actually probably a typhoid fever epidemic) in Athens in 430 b.c.e. noted that individuals who survived were never attacked twice. ... 

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