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Thucydides and the Plague: A Footnote

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

J. C. F. Poole
Affiliation:
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Trinity College, Oxford
A. J. Holladay
Affiliation:
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Trinity College, Oxford

Extract

Since the publication of our article on Thucydides and the Plague of Athens, Dr Heinrich von Staden of Yale University has kindly drawn our attention to a paper by Eby and Evjen suggesting that the Plague was glanders. We do not think that this diagnosis can possibly be correct, though there are undoubtedly some points in its favour. The authors have argued their case as persuasively as possible, and the proposal has sufficient merit to deserve a serious reply.

Type
Shorter Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1982

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References

1 Poole, J. C. F. and Holladay, A. J., ‘Thucydides and the Plague of Athens’, CQ n.s. 29 (1979), 282300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

2 Eby, C. H. and Evjen, H. D., ‘The Plague at Athens: A New Oar in Muddied Waters’, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 17 (1962), 258263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

3 Jennings, W. E. in: Diseases Transmitted from Animals to Man4, ed. Hull, T. G. (Springfield, 1955), pp. 174f.Google Scholar

4 M'Fadyean, J., ‘The prophylaxis of glanders’, Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics 18 (1905), 2330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Thuc. 2. 51. 6.

6 Op. cit. (n. 1), pp. 297 f.