165

Events in 165 1

• 165 – 180 Antonine Plague The Antonine Plague — possibly smallpox or measles, brought back by soldiers returning from the Parthian campaign — spreads across the empire from 165 to 180 AD, killing an estimated two to five million people. At its peak it kills 2,000 people per day in Rome. It weakens the empire's military and economic capacity at a critical moment, reducing the tax base and forcing the recruitment of barbarians into the legions. The physician Galen, who witnesses the epidemic, provides the most detailed surviving ancient account.