From 430 BC to 427 BC, there was a great plague in Athens, nearly half of the population died and the whole Athens was almost destroyed.

Some experts believe that this epidemic is a plague. Symptoms include high fever, thirst, congestion of throat and tongue, swelling of skin, etc.

When the plague occurred, during the Second Peloponnesian War, the Athenians invested a lot of manpower and material resources in military operations, and did not seriously prevent and control the spread of the disease, which led to the tragedy.

2. The "Antony Plague" in ancient Rome:

In A.D. 164- 180, Roman soldiers came back from the battlefield and brought smallpox and measles, which infected Anthony's people.

At that time, an average of 2000 people died of illness in Rome every day, even the Roman emperor was not spared. Both Verus the Great and Anthony the Great died of illness.

According to historical records, the symptoms of this infectious disease are: severe diarrhea, vomiting, sore throat, ulceration of hands and feet, high fever, severe thirst and skin suppuration.

The plague lasted for more than ten years, resulting in the loss of nearly 5 million people in Rome and the loss of combat effectiveness of the army, which eventually led to the end of the "golden age" of the Roman Empire.

3. Jian 'an Great Plague

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, from the ninth year of Jian 'an to the twenty-fourth year of Jian 'an, the epidemic disaster in the Central Plains was fierce.

Zhang Zhongjing in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in Treatise on Febrile Diseases that "there are more than 200 Yu families, less than ten years after Jian 'an, two thirds of them died, and typhoid fever ranks seventh". Especially in the twenty-two years of Jian 'an (2 17), there were many dead people. Cao Pi, Wei Wendi, recalled: "In the past years, diseases and epidemics affected relatives and friends." He also said: "There are many plagues, and scholars wither." At that time, in the Central Plains, "every family has the pain of burying a corpse, crying in the room, or dying after closing the door, or people who have lost their homes."

4, Justinian plague

The first large-scale plague broke out in the Mediterranean world in 54 1-542. It first broke out in Egypt, and then spread to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine Empire, and other areas. In the worst case, tens of thousands of people died in one day.

The plague lasted for half a century, wiped out a quarter of the Roman population, triggered famine and civil strife, and led to the weakening and collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire.

5. Black Death

The Black Death is one of the deadliest plagues in human history. Named after the patient's iconic black spot, it is a serious infectious disease with a cure rate of 0.

During the period of 1348- 1350, a total of 25 million Europeans died of the Black Death. Forty years later, the plague broke out again, killing about 75 million people around the world.