Post-Plague Constantinople

Although during the horrific events of the first recorded appearance of the Bubonic Plague during the time of Justinian we read that rivals put aside their differences, the aftermath did not usher in a golden age of humanity.

A chief chronicler of that time, Procopius, tells us that people started changing the course of their lives and acted according to their "better angels":

Nay, more, those who in times past used to take delight in devoting themselves to pursuits both shameful and base, shook off the unrighteousness of their daily lives and practiced the duties of religion with diligence, not so much because they had learned wisdom at last nor because they had become all of a sudden lovers of virtue, as it were—for when qualities have become fixed in men by nature or by the training of a long period of time, it is impossible for them to lay them aside thus lightly, except, indeed, some divine influence for good has breathed upon them—but then all, so to speak, being thoroughly terrified by the things which were happening, and supposing that they would die immediately, did, as was natural, learn respectability for a season by sheer necessity.

This virtuous behavior did not last in those who turned to it simply because they feared they were dying:

Therefore, as soon as they were rid of the disease and were saved, and already supposed that they were in security, since the curse had moved on to other peoples, then they turned sharply about and reverted once more to their baseness of hearts.

Still, the status quo would have been manageable, except that more had changed than just behavior:

And work of every description ceased, and all the trades were abandoned by the artisans, and all other work as well, such as each had in hand. Indeed, in a city which was simply abounding in all good things, starvation almost absolute was running riot. Certainly, it seemed a difficult and very notable thing to have a sufficiency of bread or of anything else; so that with some of the sick it appeared that the end of life came about sooner than it should have come by reason of the lack of the necessities of life.

Justinian couldn't raise the taxes he needed to continue his building projects—particularly the churches he wanted to build to appease God. He also couldn't maintain a military presence as he would prefer, and lost much of northern Italy to the Lombards, after just recently conquering it from the Ostrogoths.

In fact, let us return to northern Italy at this time and see how the plague affected the fighting there. To do this, we'll accompany General Belisarius, who had been so successful just a couple years earlier.