Archaeologists in the catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter on the Via Labicana found rooms packed with hundreds of bodies, apparently buried during a plague. The scale fits what ancient writers described: over 30,000 deaths in a few months under Nero, and up to 2,000 deaths a day during the Antonine plague, which soldiers seem to have carried across the empire. 🦠⚰️ Truly sobering.
Mass plague burials found in the catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter
MaltaBioarchaeology
Key facts
- In the catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter, archaeologists found rooms stacked with hundreds of bodies, apparently victims of a pestilence.
- A plague in the reign of Nero killed more than 30,000 people within a few months.
- During the Antonine plague, as many as 2,000 deaths a day were recorded, and the plague was initially spread through the empire by soldiers.
- Marcus Aurelius may have died of the plague at the legionary fort of Vindabona, while the Senate left Rome in September and October when malaria was most prevalent.
- Pliny the Elder reported that leprosy had recently arrived from Egypt together with a facial infection called lichen, said to be transmitted by kissing.
Sources
(PDF) A mass grave from the catacomb of Saints Peter and ...researchgate.net
Investigations in a catacomb revealed an early mass grave, in which the bodies were bound tightly with plaster and textile in a type of ...
Catacomb of Sts. Marcellinus and Petercatacombeditalia.va
St Marcellinus and St Peter were slain during the persecution of 304 AC - beheaded, in Rome. Before being killed, however, they were forced to dig their tomb
catacomb of saint peter and saint marcellinus tourromeanditaly.com
Catacombs of Saint Peter and Saint Marcellinus martyrs in Rome are an half day guided tour. · Catacombs of saint Peter and saint Marcellinus was excavated ...
Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs - FaithNDfaith.nd.edu
Peter and Marcellinus were both martyrs from the early Church who are still honored today in the Eucharistic prayer that we offer at Mass.
The catacombs of Rome: thousands of victims of an epidemicinrap.fr
The catacomb of saints Marcellinus and Peter in Rome has been undergoing systematic excavation since 2005. Between 20,000 and 25,000 deceased ...
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