The Plague of Justinian in the 6th-century C.E. was a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague that may have killed up to half the population of the Roman Empire.
A new study suggests that climate change contributed to major plagues in the Roman Empire, as periods of cold and dry weather on the Italian peninsula coincided with these pandemics.
The study shows how a changing climate can have dire consequences for societies that are not robust enough to withstand the upheavals it can cause.