Earth changes in the Roman Empire from 100 AD to 200 AD105 - Earthquake in the Gulf of Edremit and Greece The towns of Cyme, Myrina, Elaeae and Pitane, all within a radius of 10 km around the Gulf of Edremit, were destroyed by an earthquake as well as two cities in Greece. Orosius and Michael the Syrian syncretise this earthquake with the later event in Galatia and the lightning on the Pantheon in 110. An inscription found at Ulucak, near Magnesia records repairs of the road from Smyrna to the north, round the western end of Mount Yamanlar, carried out sometime between 10 December 102 and 13 May 105, probably in the aftermath of this earthquake[footnoteRef:2]. [2: Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 2009, p. 121]

Jerome Chronicle, p. 278:Four cities of Asia overthrown in an earthquake: Elaea, Myrrhina, Pytanae, and Cymae: and two in Greece, Opuntis and Oritos.Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, 7.12.5:Four cities in Asia, Elea, Myrina, Pitane, and Cyme along with two in Greece, those of the Opuntii and Oriti, were destroyed by an earthquake that also ruined three cities in Galatia. At Rome, the Pantheon was struck by lightning and burnt down, while an earthquake in Antioch almost levelled the entire city.Michael the Syrian, Chronique, 6.4 p. 174:At the same time, there was a very violent earthquake in which many cities were overthrown: (among others) four cities in Asia: Elea, Myrina, Pytane and Cyme in Greece Opyntis and Myrrin and three towns in Galatia. The temple of the Pantheon, i.e. of all the Gods, was destroyed by lightning. 107-108 - Extreme weather in ItalyPliny the Younger, in a letter to his friend Minucius Macrinus, describes extreme weather in Rome, namely severe storms, violent floods of the Tiber and of the Aniene River, tornados and heavy rains. Though difficult to date as most of Pliny's letters, this one seems to have been written around 107-108[footnoteRef:3]. [3: Aldrete, Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome, p. 29]

Pliny the Younger, Letters, Translated by William Melmoth, Book 8. letter 17 p. 143-144:Is the weather in your parts as rude and boisterous as it is with us ? All here is tempest and inundation. The Tiber has overflowed its channel, and deeply flooded its lower banks. Though drained by a dyke, which the Emperor providently had cut, it submerges the valleys, swims along the fields, and entirely overspreads the flats. The streams which it ordinarily receives and carries down commingled to the sea, it now forcibly checks in their course, by, so to speak, advancing to meet them ; and thus deluges with borrowed waters lands it cannot reach itself. That most delightful of rivers, the Anio, which seems invited and detained by the villas upon its banks, has destroyed and carried away much of the woods that shade its brink. It has undermined mountains, and its channel being-blocked by the resulting landslides, it has wrecked houses in the endeavour to regain its course, and surges high above the ruins.

Dwellers in the uplands, who were out of reach of this fearful inundation, have seen, here the household gear and heavy furniture of lordly mansions, there instruments of husbandry, elsewhere ploughs and oxen with their drivers, elsewhere again herds of cattle let loose and astray, together with trunks of trees, or beams and gables of the neighbouring villas all floatinc about far and wide. Nor indeed have even these uplands, to which the river did not rise, escaped calamity. For long torrential rains, and waterspouts hurled down from the clouds, have destroyed all the enclosures on the valuable farms, and shaken, and even overturned, public buildings.

Numbers have been maimed, crushed, or buried by such accidents, and loss of property has been aggravated by bereavements.

110 - Earthquake in Galatia See above.Jerome, Chronicle p. 279:110Three cities of Galatia wiped out by an earthquake.The Pantheon in Rome burned down by lightning.115 - Juvenals cometWhile describing the gossiping woman who knows everything that is going on, Juvenal (6.407-412) is the only source for this comet that preceded the 115 Antioch earthquake. Barrett[footnoteRef:4] thinks that it is solely a reference to comets in general, whereas Ramsey[footnoteRef:5] postulates that this is the Chinese comet of January 117. [4: Barrett, A. A., Observations of Comets in Greek and Roman Sources Before A.D. 410, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 72, 1978, p.81] [5: Ramsey J.T., A Catalogue of Greco-Roman Comets from 500 B.C. to A.D. 400, Journal for the History of Astronomy 28 (2007), 175-97.]

Juvenal, The Satires of Juvenal, p. 57-58:She (the gossiping woman) is the first to see the comet that menaces the Armenian and Parthian king; and she intercepts at the gates the reports and freshest news. Some she invents as well. That Niphates (a mountain in Armenia) has overwhelmed whole nations, and that the whole country is there laid under water by a great deluge; that cities are tottering, the earth sinking down - this she tells in every place of resort to everyone she meets.118 Solar eclipseThe Fasti Vindobonenses Priores correctly dates a total solar eclipse on 3 September 118. The rough track of totality runs from the Atlantic to Southeast Asia with noon point in the Black Sea. The eclipse was the greatest one visible in Europe around the time indicated[footnoteRef:6]. [6: Schove, Chronology of Eclipses and Comets AD 1-1000, 1987, p. 24]

The Fasti Vindobonenses Priores, MGH AA 9 p. 285:118Hadrian and Salinator. Under theses consuls, there was an eclipse of the sun. 120 Earthquake in Bithynia About 120 a major earthquake in Bithynia destroyed its capital Nicomedia as well as the greater part of Nicaea. A funerary inscription from Nicomedia is connected with this event, since it commemorates the death of two children and a slave in an earthquake and dates from about this time. The city of Nicomedia was rebuilt and given the title Hadrian to commemorate Hadrians having been there; and some coins were also minted in which Hadrian is described as Restitutor Nicomediae. The Chronicon Paschale dates the earthquake to 128 and adds that Aoria[footnoteRef:7] in Bithynia was damaged. Michael the Syrian dates it after the death of Euphrates the Stoic in 118. [7: The location of Aoria is problematic. If Aoria is meant for Aorata, the latter has been generally recognised as situated near Hiera Germe, near where modern Kirmasti Kassaba is located, south of Cyzicus. The Aoria earthquake is otherwise unrecorded.]

Guidoboni amalgamates this event with the earthquake at Cyzicus reported by Malalas, and adds a tsunami and dates it to 120-128[footnoteRef:8]. [8: Guidoboni, Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century, 1994, p. Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 2009, p. 125-126]

Jerome, Chronicle, p. 282:120After an earthquake had happened, Nicomedia lay in ruins, and many things were overturned in the city of Nicaea: for the reconstruction of which, Hadrian generously gave funds from the public treasury.Michael the Syrian, Chronique, 6.4, p. 175-176:At this time, there was an earthquake, in which Nicomedia was totally destroyed, and most of Nicaea. Chronicon Paschale, PG 92 p. 618During their consulship, Nicomedia and Aoria in Bithynia were overturned by an earthquake.123 - Earthquake in CyzicusThe capital of the province of the Hellespont, Cyzicus, was ruined by a large earthquake. Malalas dates it to 10 November in an unspecified year during the reign of Hadrian. Ambraseys connects Malalas earthquake with a passage from the Chronicon Paschale (PG 92, p. 615) which does not mention the earthquake, but only Hadrians construction programme in Nicomedia, Nicaea and Cyzicus, which is dated to 123. The construction programme of Hadrian began soon after his progress through Asia Minor in 124. According to Ambraseys, to have merited imperial assistance, Cyzicus must have been struck by the earthquake only shortly before, so probably on 10 November 123.Guidoboni, who syncretises this event with the one in Nicomedia in 120, links it with a passage from the Sibylline Oracles mentioning a tsunami and an earthquake affecting both Cyzicus and Baris, about 30 km west of the latter.http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/Cyzicus, also thy vast wealth the seaShall break off.125 to 136 Ptolemys lunar eclipsesIn his Almagest, Ptolemy records four lunar eclipses from 125 to 136. All the eclipses were observed from Alexandria by him, though Toomer notes that the eclipse of 125 may have been observed by the mathematician Theon who transmitted several planetary observations to Ptolemy. Ptolemy used his own chronology throughout the Almagest. This commenced with the beginning of the reign of Nabonassar (equivalent to 26 February 747 BC).He also uses the Egyptian year of twelve 30 day months followed by 5 extra days, making a total of 365 days. This system, which allows accurate day counts to be made with ease, is probably due to Hipparchus. In addition, when discussing observations made during the night, Ptolemy often gives a double date to avoid confusion[footnoteRef:9]. [9: Steele J.M., A Re-analysis of the Eclipse Observations in Ptolemys Almagest, Centaurus, vol. 42, 2000, p. 89-108]

Ptolemy, Almagest, p.206The second eclipse we used is the one observed in Alexandria in the ninth year of Hadrian. Pachon [IX] 17/18 in the Egyptian calendar. 3 3/5 equinoctial hours before midnight. At this eclipse too the moon was obscured 1/6th of its diameter from the south[footnoteRef:10]. [10: 5 April 125.]

Ptolemy, Almagest, p 198Let us now turn to the three eclipses which we have selected from those very carefully observed by us in Alexandria.The first [eclipse] occurred in the seventeenth year of Hadrian, Pauni [X] 20/21 in the Egyptian calendar. We computed the exact time of mid-eclipse as 3/4 of an equinoctial hour before midnight. It was total[footnoteRef:11]. [11: 20 October 134.]

Ptolemy, Almagest, p 198The second occurred in the nineteenth year of Hadrian. Choiak [IV] 2/3 in the Eyptian calendar. We computed that mid-eclipse occurred 1 equinoctial hour before midnight. [The moon] was eclipsed 5/6 of its diameter from the north.Ptolemy, Almagest, p 198The third eclipse occurred in the twentieth year of Hadrian, Pharmouthi [VIII] 19/20 in the Egyptian calendar. We computed that mid-eclipse occurred 4 equinoctial hours after midnight. [The moon] was eclipsed half of its diameter from the north[footnoteRef:12]. [12: 5 May 136.]

129 Earthquake in Nicopolis and CaesareaAn earthquake affected both Caesarea and Nicopolis in Palestine about 129[footnoteRef:13]. According to Russell, this earthquake is the only explanation for structural damage or rebuilding, early in the second century, in Caesarea[footnoteRef:14]. [13: Ambraseys proposes that the cities affected were not in Palestine but in northeastern Anatolia in the province of Pontus. As such, the sites would have been Niksar (Neocaesarea) and Susehri (Nikopolis) located about 110 km apart on the Anatolian fault zone and linked by a major Roman road: Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 2009, p. 126-127.] [14: Russell, K. W., The earthquake chronology of Palestine and Northwest Arabia from the 2nd through the mid-8th century AD, BASOR, 260, 1985, p. 3759.]

Elias of Nisibis, La Chronographie d'lie Bar inaya Mtropolitain de Nisibe, p 57:Year 438 (126-127). In which there was an earthquake; Nicopolis and Caesarea were overthrown (Chronological Canon of Andronicus).Jerome, Chronicle, p 284:129

Nicopolis and Caesarea were ruined in an earthquake.

132 - Star of AntinousIn 130, Antinous, the lover and favorite of the Emperors Hadrian, died while saving the Emperor from drowning in the Nile. It is said that after his drowning a comet was seen shining in the sky. Since the 18th century, it has been assumed that the comet was the one witnessed by the Chinese in January 132 (Pingr, p. 291-292). In his memory, Hadrian created the constellation Antinous, now obsolete, near the Eagle. Ptolemy alludes to it in his Almagest (p. 357). For Newman[footnoteRef:15] and Ramsey[footnoteRef:16], this comet was the star depicted on the coins of Shimon Bar Kosiba, better known as Bar Kokhba (i.e. Son of the Star), the leader of a Jewish revolt during Hadrians reign from 132 to 135. His coins represent a star above the facade of the Temple in Jerusalem. Since the comet was observed five months before the Bar Kokhba revolt, for Ramsey it was the catalyst for his surname "Son of the star and the star on his coinage reinforcing Jewish messianic hopes (Ramsey). On the other hand, Newman underlines that the coins of the revolt were similar to the one minted by Hadrian in honor to his lover Antinous. [15: Newman H., The Star of Bar Kochba, in: H. Eshel and B. Zissu (eds.), New Studies on the Bar Kochba Revolt , Ramat Gan (Bar-Ilan University), 2001, pp. 95-99 (in Hebrew).] [16: Ramsey J., The Jewish Revolt of Bar Kokhba (AD 132-135) and the Star of Antinous. delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Philological Association in San Antonio, 8 January 2011.]

141 Lycia Earthquake Strong earthquakes affected a large area in southwest Turkey and the Dodecanese Islands. Damage extended from the island of Cos and Rhodes to the Gulf of Antalya and to Cine in the north, an area of radius 90 km. From Pausanias' account and epigraphic evidence, Ambraseys infers that the region was affected by two separate earthquakes. The first shock occurred between autumn 141 to February 142, and the second shock probably happened in late winter-spring 142. Aelius Aristides, in an oration composed in the aftermath of the earthquake, adds that a tsunami destroyed Rhodes and the Island of Cos. Aristides was in Egypt, and visited the island soon afterwards[footnoteRef:17]. The Historia Augusta mentions the earthquake in Rhodes among other disasters. Oddly, no church historian records the earthquake. [17: Franco C. Aelius Aristides and Rhodes: Concord and Consolation, in Harris W.V. and Holmes B. (eds), Aelius Aristides between Greece, Rome, and the Gods, Leiden - Boston 2008, p. 217-250]

Numerous inscriptions from Lycia mention by name the 28 towns which were affected, expressing their gratitude for the assistance received for repairs and for the reconstruction of public buildings. The repairs were made by Opraomas, a philanthropist from Rhodiapolis. Two inscriptions coming from Stratonicea commemorate the fact that Leo, an elder of the city, had gone to Rome to seek the help of Antoninus Pius, who subsequently gave 250000 denarii. The other inscription is dedicated to the Emperor and the fatherland by some citizens of Stratonicea who escaped unharmed from a series of violent earthquakes. Other inscriptions come from Rhodes and Lindos[footnoteRef:18]. [18: Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 2009, p. 128-131; Guidoboni, Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century, p. 235-236]

The earthquake was so strong, that tectonic subsidence over the Dalmatian type coasts of the Island of Kekova are visible even today[footnoteRef:19]. [19: Erel T.L. and Adatepe F., "Traces of Historical earthquakes in the ancient city life at the Mediterranean region". Journal of Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment, 13, 2007, p. 241252.]

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.43.4:The cities of Lycia and of Caria, along with Cos and Rhodes, were overthrown by a violent earthquake that smote them. These cities also were restored by the emperor Antoninus, who was keenly anxious to rebuild them, and devoted vast sums to this task.Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vol I, Translation by David Magie,p. 121-123:"Life of Antoninus PiusThe following misfortunes and prodigies occurred in his reign: the famine, which we have just mentioned, (during the reign of Hadrian) the collapse of the Circus (c. 140, it is said that 1112 persons were killed) an earthquake whereby towns of Rhodes and of Asia were destroyed all of which, however, the Emperor restored in splendid fashion , and a fire at Rome which consumed three hundred and forty tenements and dwellings.The town of Narbonne, the city of Antioch, and the forum of Carthage also burned.Aelius Aristides, Oration 25, in The Complete Works, Volume 2 Orations XVII-LIII, Translated by Behr, , 19-28, p. 61-63:Who would still behave with moderation when he remembered that wretched noon hour, in which the evil rst began and fell upon you, when the sea stood still awaiting what was to come, as it were expecting some other great and deadly storm, and all the air was silent, as it were in anticipation of what shall be, and the birds and all else remained quiet for that which was to come. The city was being prepared for such a catastrophe and the whole force of the earthquake was being readied against it. The sun for the last time then shone upon his city.And suddenly every terror was at hand at once. The sea drew back, and all the interior of the harbours was laid bare, and the houses were thrown upwards, and the tombs broken open, and the towers collapsed upon the harbours, and the storage sheds upon the triremes, and the temples upon the altars, and the offering upon the statues, and men upon men, and everything upon one another. In the time that it took for a man to raise anchor to sail off, when he turned around, he could no longer see the city, but everything was jumbled together, the harbours on dry land, the city in the dust, empty streets in place of the houses from avenue to avenue, death at every house, at the temples, doors, and gates. The tombs cast out their contents, within the new dead lay concealed. Like votive offerings, there were seen upon the tops of the walls the hands of some, the feet of others, and of others different remains. And it was impossible to guess to whom each of these remnants belonged. And some in eeing their own houses perished in those of others, others transxed by fear perished in their own, some overtaken while running out; others left behind half alive, unable to emerge or save themselves, starved in addition to their other miseries, and proting only to the extent of knowing that their country did not exist, they perished. Others bodies were sundered by chance, half left within doors, half left exposed without. And in addition other bodies fell upon them, and household implements, and stones, and whatever the earthquake carried off and tossed upon each.Some waited, some were searching for their relatives, others did not know whether to mourn themselves or their families. Some bewailed their city, others were consumed in ames when the roofs and hearths crashed together. Some were overtaken in the very act of snatching away their children, others committed suicide. [ . . . ] Everything happened at once: the earthquake from the sea, the cloud, the noise, the cries, and the crash of the ruins, the heaving of the earth. I think that neither the cataracts south of Egypt nor the surf of the outer ocean nor ery thunderbolts nor whatever sounds the loudest among men can be compared with that evil and din then, which arose as a combination of everything, forming an unexpected and unpleasing symphony in which Rhodes rose up in destruction. And there were thrown together corpses and altars, ceilings and dust, blood and utensils, roofs and foundations, slaves and masters, the limbs of bodies and statues, sacrices at tombs and dinners. [ ] The city was overthrown and fell quicker than ever a sinking ship. The ensuing days and nights revealed those who were alive, at least who were breathing, to be wounded and those who had already died to be rotting, and without any limbs intact, but however the ruin had worked its amputations and its grafting on each. Unaccustomed pyres burned both night and day, in contrast to the former sacred months. . . . now in one day the god of fortune has condemned so many men to annihilation both within the city and along with the city, and he has made the city which could not be entered by murderers a grave for each of the slain.147 Flood of the TiberAmong many disasters, the Historia Augusta mentions a flood of the Tiber. From the Fasti Ostienses, a fragmentary marble calendar, the flood occurred on 20 March 147[footnoteRef:20]. [20: Aldrete, Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome, p. 28.]

Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vol I, Translation by David Magie,p. 121-123:"Life of Antoninus PiusBesides, the Tiber flooded its banks (147), a comet was seen (probably Halley in 141), a two-headed child was born, and a woman gave birth to quintuplets.There was seen, moreover, in Arabia, a crested serpent larger than the usual size, which ate itself from the tail to the middle; and also in Arabia there was a pestilence, while in Moesia barley sprouted from the tops of trees. And besides all this, in Arabia four lions grew tame and of their own accord yielded themselves to capture."161 Earthquake in LesbosDuring the proconsulate of Albus, Aelius Aristides, an eyewitness of the event, writes that there were many frequent earthquakes over several days. He adds that Mytilene was almost demolished, many villages were utterly destroyed and there was general terror in Ephesus and Smyrna.However, the problem of this earthquake lies in the date of the proconsulate of Albus. Several dates were proposed. Bowersock[footnoteRef:21] argues a date of 161, whereas Alfdy[footnoteRef:22] is in favor of 148-149[footnoteRef:23].A date toward the end of Antoninus reign seems preferable[footnoteRef:24]. Aurelius Victor records the restoration of Ephesus and Nicomedia under Marcus Aurelius. Furthermore, evidence of rebuilding at Smyrna appears also in Marcus time in a letter of about 163-164 from the Emperor to Euxenianus Pulius[footnoteRef:25]. [21: Bowersock G.W., The Proconsulate of Albus, Harv. Stud. Class. Philol. 72, 1968, p. 289-294] [22: Alfldy G., Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter den Antoninen, Bonn, 1977, p. 213] [23: ] [24: See also Behr C.A., Studies on the Biography of Aleius Aristides, in Hildegard Temporini,Wolfgang Haase Aufstieg U Niedergang D Roemwelt Teil 2 Bd 34/2, Volume2;Volume32;Volume34, p. 1140-1233] [25: Guidoboni, Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century, 1994, p. 237]

This earthquake is maybe the same as that mentioned by Dio Cassius as having occurred at the time of Antoninus Pius in Cyzicus. Fronto reports the earthquake in a letter to Marcus Aurelius dated to 162, where he mentions a speech of Marcus to the Senate.Fronto, The Correspondence, Vol. 2, Edited by Capps E. et al., Loeb, p. 41-43:() so that not more suddenly or more violently was the city (Cyzicus) stirred by the earthquake than the minds of your hearers by your speech.Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus, p.19:() and many cities were founded, settled, restored or embellished and in particular Punic Carthage, which fire had terribly ravaged, and Ephesus in Asia and Nicomedia in Bithynia, which had been levelled by an earthquake. Aelius Aristides, Oration 44, in The Complete Works, Volume 2 Orations XVII-LIII, 19-28, Translated by Behr, 38-43, p. 314-315:And later, when Albus was Governor of Asia, there were many frequent earthquakes, and Mytilene, on the one hand, was nearly all levelled and, on the other hand, in many other cities there were many shocks, and some villages were wholly destroyed. The Ephesians and the Smyrnaeans ran to one another in great agitation. The series of earthquakes and terrors was extraordinary. And on the one hand, they sent emissaries to Clarus, and the Oracle was fought about, and on the other, holding the olive branch of supplication, they made processions about the altars and the market places and the circuit of the cities, no one daring to stay at home. And nally they gave up supplicating [At the gods command Aristides sacrices an ox to Zeus.] As to what happened next, who wishes to believe, let him believe, and who does not, to him I say farewell! For all those earthquakes stopped, and after that day there was no longer any trouble, through the providence and power of the gods, and by our necessary ministration. The following is no less marvellous than this, if not even more. On about the sixth or seventh day before the earthquakes began, he ordered me to send to the old hearth, which is at the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and to make sacrices and to establish altars on the crest of the hill of Atys. And these things were just nished when the earthquake came and so ravaged all the other land in between that not an inn was left standing, except some small ruin. But it did not proceed up the Atys, nor to our Laneion estate at the south of the Atys, except only to perceive it, and ravaged nothing beyond. And I became so bold that, almost in the midst of the earthquakes, as I was returning from the warm springs to the city in accordance with my dreams and saw men in supplication and distraught, I intended to say that there was no need to be afraid, for no harm would befall.162 - Flood of the TiberBetween the date of the accession of Marcus Aurelius and Verus in March 161 to the departure of Verus from Rome to lead the war against Parthia during the summer of 162, a violent flood of the Tiber devastated Rome and lead to a serious famine[footnoteRef:26]. [26: Aldrete, Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome, p. 30-31]

Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vol 1, p. 151-153Life of Marcus Aurelius AntoninusAnd now, after they had assumed the imperial power, the two emperors (Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus) acted in so democratic a manner that no one missed the lenient ways of Pius; for though Marullus, a writer of farces of the time, irritated them by his jests, he yet went unpunished.They gave funeral games for their father. And Marcus abandoned himself to philosophy, at the same time cultivating the good-will of the citizens. But now to interrupt the emperors happiness and repose, there came the first flood of the Tiber the severest of their time which ruined many houses in the city, drowned a great number of animals, and caused a most severe famine; all these disasters Marcus and Verus relieved by their own personal care and aid.At this time (162), moreover, came the Parthian war, which Vologaesus (Vologases IV of Parthia) planned under Pius (Antoninus Pius) and declared under Marcus and Verus, after the rout of Attidius Cornelianus, then governor of Syria. 162 Lucius Verus meteorAt the beginning of the Roman-Parthian War of 161-166, Lucius Verus, the co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, on his way to Antioch, stopped at Athens where he stayed with the sophist Herodes Atticus and was initiated into the Mysteries of Eleusis. While he was performing a sacrifice a meteor was observed crossing the sky[footnoteRef:27]. [27: Barrett, A. A., Observations of Comets in Greek and Roman Sources Before A.D. 410, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 72, 1978, p.81; Anthony Birley, Marcus Aurelius, p. 126]

Cassiodorus, Chronica, MGH AA 11, p. 143While Lucius Caesar was sacrificing in Athens a fire was seen to be carried in the sky from west to east.164 Solar Eclipse According to Proclus of Athens in his Hypotyposis, Sosigenes the Peripatetic, the teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias, observed a solar eclipse in Greece. Neugebauer, follows by Schove, identifies this one with the annular eclipse on 4 September 164 which crossed Central Spain, Italy, Greece, Western Cyprus, Palestine and Arabia[footnoteRef:28]. [28: Neugebauer, A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy, Vol 1, Springer-Verlag, New York Heidelberg Berlin, 1975, p. 104; Schove, Chronology of Eclipses and Comets AD 1-1000, 1987, p. 28]

Proclus of Athens, Procli Diadochi. Hypotyposis Astronomicarum Positionum, ed Carolus Manitius , Leipzig 1909, 4, 98, p. 130: If this is correct, it is thus clearly proven, that it is not correct, what the Peripatetic Sosigenes told in his script On the retroactive spheres, that the Sun is not seen fully covered if the eclipse happens close to its perigee, but that the sun protrudes with its outermost rim above the lunar dish and shines unobstructed.165 The Antonine PlagueDuring the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Empire was struck by a lasting and destructive epidemic. From the description of the epidemic by the most famous physician of Antiquity, Galen, who was an eyewitness, scholars have identified the epidemic as smallpox[footnoteRef:29]. [29: Littman, R.J. and Littman, M.L. "Galen and the Antonine Plague". The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 94, No. 3 (Autumn, 1973), p. 243255]

Known as the Antonine Plague or the Plague of Galen, it broke out in Mesopotamia in 165 or early 166, during Lucius Verus Parthian campaign. For the ancients, the pestilence was the result of sacrilege, bringing divine displeasure[footnoteRef:30]. [30: According to Ammianus, during the sack of Seleucia in 165 by Lucius Verus, the Temple of Apollo was plundered. In plundering the temple, the soldiers discovered an ancient tomb, closed by the magic of the Chaldeans. When they opened it, the pestilence was released. The Historia Augusta gives a slightly different version. The pestilence issued forth from a temple in Babylon, also captured by Verus in 165. A Roman soldier found a golden casket in the temple of Apollo, and when he broke it open, the pestilence erupted.]

It spread rst to Parthia, then to Smyrna (165), and was then disseminated with the Roman army back to the city of Rome (166), then more widely in Italy (Aquileia attested in 168169), in Dacia (167), and to Egypt (attested in 168169 and 179), the Rhine, and Gaul. The two Emperors died of the epidemic: Lucius Verus in 169 and Marcus Aurelius in 180. The disease broke out again in 189, striking at least Rome and Italy and killing 2000 people in the Imperial City[footnoteRef:31]. [31: Joseph P. Byrne (ed), Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics and Plagues, p. 536-537]

Overall the Antonine Plague caused a mortality of at least 10 percent, with armies and urban centers being hit the hardest (perhaps at 13 to 15 percent) producing a minimum of 10 million deaths. Several studies suggest that there were pockets of high incidence (where mortality would reach 2530 percent) and others of low incidence. For example, papyrological data from Egypt show the disastrous effects of smallpox on Egyptian society. From the Arsinoite nome between 33 to 47 % of the population died[footnoteRef:32].. A study shows that 12 villages out of 20 in the Nile Delta were abandoned because of the disease[footnoteRef:33]. [32: Boak A., 1955, The Population of Roman and Byzantine Karanis, Historia, 4, 1955, p. 157-162; Boak A., 1959, Egypt and the Plague of Marcus Aurelius, Historia, 8, 1959, p. 248-250] [33: Rathbone D. W., Villages, Land and Population in Graeco-Roman Egypt, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, 36, 1990, p. 103-42.]

The effects on the economic, social and political life were catastrophic. Scheidel[footnoteRef:34] who based his conclusions on the works of Duncan-Jones[footnoteRef:35], claims that the effect of the epidemic were detected in 6 categories of source material, which enable one to determine its seriousness[footnoteRef:36]: [34: Scheidel W. A model of demographic and economic change in Roman Egypt after the Antonine plague, in: Journal of Roman Archaeology 15 (2002), 97-114] [35: Duncan-Jones R. P., "The impact of the Antonine plague", Journal of Roman Archaeology (=JRA), 1996, p. 108-136] [36: Bruun C., The Antonine plague in Rome and Ostia, JRA, 16, 2003, p. 426-434.]

1 - no dated inscriptions in Rome between 167 and 1802- comparatively few dated inscriptions in Italy between 160 and 1923 few public buildings financed by privates or towns in Italy between 160 and 1924- no public buildings financed by Emperors in Italy between 160 and 1925- a reduced volume of brick-production from the 160s onwards6 no marble from the quarries in Phrygia dated to the years 166-172As the death-rate was between 10 and 30 % during 24 years, the Antonine Plague created a shortage of manpower, leading to the recruitments of Barbarians in the army and to their settlement inside Roman Empire[footnoteRef:37]. [37: E Lo Cascio, Fra equilibrio e crisi, in A Schiavone (ed.), Storia di Roma II.2 Torino 1991, p. 701-731]

At a time when Marcus Aurelius carried out special religious rites for appeasing divine wrath, the Roman population accused the Christians as responsible for the disaster. Because of their failure to honour and worship the gods of Rome, the Emperor instituted a persecution of the Christians[footnoteRef:38]. [38: Anthony Birley, Marcus Aurelius, p169]

The Antonine Plague was a significant factor leading to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire[footnoteRef:39]. From 14 to 164, the Roman population increased from 45 million to 60 million[footnoteRef:40]. With a death rate varying between 10-30% and killing at least 10 million people, at the end of the epidemic in 189, the population of the Empire would have been almost identical as in 14 AD. [39: Rufus Fears J. The plague under Marcus Aurelius and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Infect Dis Clin N Am 18, 2004, p. 6577] [40: Frier B., Demography, in Bowman A., Garnsey P. and Rathbone D., The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XI, 2000, Cambridge Unversity Press, Cambridge, p.787-816.]

62 years later, in the middle of the Crisis of the Third Century, another smallpox epidemic, the Plague of Cyprian, struck the remaining population of 50 million people, worsening the decline of the Empire. Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, 7.15.5-6There followed a plague which swept over most of Romes provinces and such a great pestilence laid waste to all of Italy that farms, fields, and towns every where were stripped of their tillers and inhabitants and turned into ruins and woodland. It is said that the Roman army and all its legions stationed far and wide in their winter quarters lost so many men that the Marcomannic war which broke out at this time could not be have been waged without the fresh levy of troops which Marcus Antoninus held at Carnuntium for three years running. Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vol 1, p. 223Life of Lucius VerusIt was his fate to seem to bring a pestilence with him to whatever provinces he traversed on his return, and finally even to Rome. It is believed that this pestilence originated in Babylonia, where a pestilential vapour arose in a temple of Apollo from a golden casket which a soldier had accidentally cut open, and that it spread thence over Parthia and the whole world.Eutropius, Brevarium, 8.12, p. 512 () there occurred so destructive a pestilence, that at Rome, and throughout Italy and the provinces, the greater part of the inhabitants, and almost all the troops, sunk under the disease.Ammianus Marcellinus, The History, 23.6.24When this city (Seleucia) was stormed by the generals of Verus Caesar (as Ihave related before) (In a lost book), the statue of Apollo Comaeus was torn from its place and taken to Rome, where the priests of the gods set it up in the temple of the Palatine Apollo. And it is said that, after this same statue had been carried off and the city burned, the soldiers in ransacking the temple found a narrow crevice; this they widened in the hope of finding something valuable; but from a kind of shrine, closed by the occult arts of the Chaldaeans, the germ of that pestilence burst forth, which after generating the virulence of incurable diseases, in the time of the same Verus and of Marcus Antoninus polluted everything with contagion and death, from the frontiers of Persia all the way to the Rhine and to Gaul172 - The Rain Miracle From 166 to 180, Marcus Aurelius was engaged in a series of conflicts against Germanic tribes, known as the Marcomannic Wars. After the Iazyges and the Marcomanni were conquered, the Emperor embarked on war against the Quadi in 172. The legion called XII Fulminata (i.e. the Thundering legion) found itself in a difficult position, surrounded by a Quadi force, suffering from the extreme heat, and on the verge of capitulation owing to a severe shortage of drinking and being outnumbered. But a sudden divine intervention saved the legion. A shower of rain followed by hailstorms and thunderbolts gave the victory to the Roman soldiers and Marcus was saluted imperator for the seventh time. This episode of the Marcommanic Wars was widely celebrated in literary, numismatic, epigraphic and artistic sources from the second century to the Middle Ages. Dio[footnoteRef:41] ascribes this miracle to Arnuphis, an Egyptian magician, whereas the father of the Church Tertullian to the prayers of Marcus Christian soldiers. The Aurelian Column finished around 193 ascribed the Rain Miracle and the Roman Victory to an unidentifiable deity[footnoteRef:42], while imperial coinage assigned Mercury[footnoteRef:43]. [41: This passage from Dio is lost, and it is only known from the epitome of the Byzantine scholar John Xiphilinus (11th c.).] [42: The column of Marcus in Rome depicts two scenes of divine intervention. In scene 11, Marcus himself is present and he is saved by a thunderbolt that destroys the enemys war machine. In scene 16, where the Emperor is not present, there is a depiction of the Rain Miracle. ] [43: For a full treatment of the Rain Miracle, see Pter Kovcs, Marcus Aurelius Rain Miracle and the Marcomannic Wars, BRILL, 2008; Israelowich I. The Rain Miracle of Marcus Aurelius: (Re-) Construction of Consensus, Greece and Rome (Second Series), 55, 2008, p. 83-102]

Tertullian, To Scapula, Chapter 4. p. 219-220, ANF03:Marcus Aurelius also, in his expedition to Germany, by the prayers his Christian soldiers offered to God, got rain in that well-known thirst.455 When, indeed, have not droughts been put away by our kneelings and our fastings? At times like these, moreover, the people crying to the God of gods, the alone Omnipotent, under the name of Jupiter, have borne witness to our God.Dio Cassius, Roman History, 71-8-10:So Marcus subdued the Marcomanni and the Iazyges after many hard struggles and dangers. A great war against the people called the Quadi also fell to his lot and it was his good fortune to win an unexpected victory, or rather it was vouchsafed him by heaven.For when the Romans were in peril in the course of the battle, the divine power saved them in a most unexpected manner. The Quadi had surrounded them at a spot favorable for their purpose and the Romans were fighting valiantly with their shields locked together; then the barbarians ceased fighting, expecting to capture them easily as the result of the heat and their thirst. So they posted guards all about and hemmed them in to prevent their getting water anywhere; for the barbarians were far superior in numbers. The Romans, accordingly, were in a terrible plight from fatigue, wounds, the heat of the sun, and thirst, and so could neither fight nor retreat, but were standing and the line and at their several posts, scorched by the heat, when suddenly many clouds gathered and a mighty rain, not without divine interposition, burst upon them. Indeed, there is a story to the effect that Harnuphis, an Egyptian magician, who was a companion of Marcus, had invoked by means of enchantments various deities and in particular Mercury, the god of the air, and by this means attracted the rain.This is what Dio says[footnoteRef:44] about the matter, but he is apparently in error, whether intentionally or otherwise; and yet I am inclined to believe his error was chiefly intentional. It surely must be so, for he was not ignorant of the division of soldiers that bore the special name of the Thundering legion - indeed he mentions it in the list along with the others (Book 45.23), - a title which was given it for no other reason (for no other is reported) than because of the incident that occurred in this very war. It was precisely this incident that saved the Romans on this occasion and brought destruction upon the barbarians, and not Harnuphis, the magician; for Marcus is not reported to have taken pleasure in the company of magicians or in witchcraft. Now the incident I have reference to is this: Marcus had a division of soldiers (the Romans call a division a legion) from Melitene; and these people are all worshippers of Christ. Now it is stated that in this battle, when Marcus found himself at a loss what to do in the circumstances and feared for his whole army, the prefect approached him and told him that those who are called Christians can accomplish anything whatever by their prayers and that in the army there chanced to a whole division of this sect. Marcus on hearing this appealed to them to pray to their God; and when they had prayed, their God immediately gave ear and smote the enemy with a thunderbolt and comforted the Romans with a shower of rain. Marcus was greatly astonished at this and not only honored the Christians by an official decree but also named the legion the thundering legion. It is also reported that there is a letter of Marcus extant on the subject. But the Greeks, though they know that the division was called the thundering legion and themselves bear witness to the fact, nevertheless make no statement whatever about the reason for its name. [44: This passage is Xiphilinus comment advocating the Christian version and confronting Dio's views.]

Dio goes on to say that when the rain poured down, at first all turned their faces upwards and received the water in their mouths; then some held out their shields and some their helmets to catch it, and they not only took deep draughts themselves but also gave their horses to drink. And when the barbarians now charged upon them, they drank and fought at the same time; and some, becoming wounded, actually gulped down the blood that flowed into their helmets, along with the water. So intent, indeed, were most of them on drinking that they would have suffered severely from the enemys onset, had not a violent hail-storm and numerous thunderbolts fallen upon the ranks of the foe. Thus in one and the same place one might have beheld water and fire descending from the sky simultaneously; so that while those on the one side were being consumed by fire and dying; and while the fire, on the one hand, did not touch the Romans, but, if it fell anywhere among them, was immediately extinguished, the shower, on the other hand, did the barbarians no good, but, like so much oil, actually fed the flames that were consuming them, and they had to search for water even while being drenched with rain. Some wounded themselves in order to quench the fire with their blood, and others rushed over to the side of the Romans, convinced that they alone had the saving water; in any case Marcus took pity on them. He was now saluted Imperator by the soldiers, for the seventh time; and although he was not wont to accept any such honor before the Senate voted it, nevertheless this time he took it as a gift from heaven, and he sent a dispatch to the senate.178 179 Earthquake in SmyrnaBetween 178-179, an earthquake struck Smyrna, the modern Izmir in Turkey. The event is chiefly known from a letter of Aelius to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, who was governor of Asia Minor. The earthquake occurred shortly after Aelius departure from the city. After receiving the news, he wrote a letter to the Emperor describing what had happened and imploring them to supply the funds needed for the restoration of the city, whereupon Marcus Aurelius immediately decided to undertake the work of restoration.Philostratus celebrates the actions of Aelius for the rebuilding of the city describing him as a new founder. Jerome, Chronicle, p. 292179Smyrna, a city of Asia, was destroyed by an earthquake; for the reconstruction of which, a ten-year moratorium on its tribute was granted.Chronicon Paschale, PG 92 p. 639178 Smyrna in Asia collapsed in an earthquake.Aelius Aristides, Oration 19, in The Complete Works, Volume 2 Orations XVII-LIII, Translated by Behr, 1-7, p. 10-11A letter to the emperors concerning Smyrna. To the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus and the Emperor Caesar Lucius Aurelius Commodus Augustus, Aelius Aristides sends greetings.In the past, O Emperors most high, I sent you pieces from oratorical contests, lectures, and such things. But now the god of fortune has given another subject. Smyrna, the ornament of Asia, the jewel of your empire, has fallen, crushed by re and earthquake. In the name of god offer a helping hand, and one such as bets you. Smyrna, which was the most fortunate city of present-day Greece through the efforts of the gods and you emperors past and present, as well as the Senate, has now suffered the greatest misfortune in our memory. Still even in these circumstances the god of fortune preserved one thing for it, almost like a token of salvation. You saw the city. You know the loss () All now lies in dust. The harbour, which you saw, has closed its eyes, the beauty of the market place is gone, the adornments of the streets have disappeared, the gymnasiums together with the men and boys who used them are destroyed, some of the temples have fallen, some sunk beneath the ground. That which was the most beautiful city to behold and bore the title of fair among all mankind has been made the most unpleasant of spectacles, a hill of ruins and corpses.() A few days before the event the god moved me and brought me to a certain estate of mine, and ordered me to remain there. And while I was staying there, I learned what had happened. When I learned of it, I could not remain quiet. Nothing else was left for me, I think, other than to call on the gods and you. For this reason I did not wait for a public embassy, nor did I feel that I should take my cue from anothers actions () Others who were powerful at the courts of kings acquired gifts for their countries in times of prosperity. But if I have any inuence with you, I ask and beg that the city receive this favour, not to be thrown away like a broken utensil, condemned for uselessness, but that it live again through you.Philostratus, Life of the Sophists, p. 216-217To say that Aristeides founded Smyrna is no mere boastful eulogy but most just and true. For when this city had been blotted out by earthquakes and chasms that opened in the ground, he lamented its fate to Marcus in such moving words that the Emperor frequently groaned at other passages in the monody, but when he came to the words : " She is a desert through which the west winds blow " the Emperor actually shed tears over the pages, and in accordance with the impulse inspired by Aristeides, he consented to rebuild the city.181 Earthquake in NicomediaMalalas is the sole source for this earthquake in Nicomedia. Malalas simply gives the day and month in an unspecified year in the reign of Commodus (180-192).Since he refers to an event which can be dated to 181 in the paragraph following the description of this earthquake, it may be that the Nicomedia earthquake occurred before that, but we cannot be sure.Malalas, The Chronicle of John Malala, p. 153-154During the reign of Commodus, Nikomedeia, the metropolis of Bithynia, suffered from the wrath of God. This was her third calamity and it extended to Moudoupolis and the river Sangaris and surrounding districts, on 3rd May-Artemisios at daybreak. The emperor gave generously to the city and restored it.185 SN 185According to the Astrological Annales of the Houshanshu written by Fan Ye, a guest star was seen on 7 December 185 and remained during 8 months. It has been established that this object is the earliest record of a supernova. SN 185 (the supernova remnants is called today RWC 86) appeared near the direction of Alpha Centauri, between the constellations Circinus and Centaurus According to new findings made with WISE and Spitzer, the event was a Type la supernova created by the relatively peaceful death of a star like our sun, which then shrank into a dense star called a white dwarf. The white dwarf is thought to have later blown up in a supernova after siphoning matter, or fuel, from a nearby star[footnoteRef:45]. [45: Zhao FY; Strom RG; Jiang SY. "The Guest Star of AD185 Must Have Been a Supernova". Chinese J Astron Astrophys. 6 (5), 2006, p. 635640; NASATelescopes Help Solve Ancient Supernova Mystery, 10.24.11: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer20111024.html]

Basing his argument on two passages from Herodian and the Historia Augusta, Stothers[footnoteRef:46] postulates that this supernova was observed in the Roman Empire. Herodian writes that stars remained visible during the day. The passage is inserted among the portents of Commodus reign, after the fall of the praetorian prefect Cleander (189-190) and before the comet of 191. Since all of the portents during Commodus' reign were collected by Herodian in one passage, it is possible that this short passage refers to SN 185. [46: Stothers, R., Is the supernova of A.D. 185 recorded in ancient Roman literature? Isis, 68, 1977, p. 443-437]

The second reference is better since the Historia Augusta says that the heavens were ablaze, before the War of the Deserters in 186[footnoteRef:47], suggesting a possible observation of the supernova. [47: The revolt was headed by a soldier named Maternus who gathered a band of fellow-soldiers and desperadoes and plundered Gaul. The Roman troops under Pescennius Niger defeated and scattered them; whereupon, Maternus himself fled to Italy and attempted to assassinate Commodus, but was caught and beheaded.]

Nevertheless, another natural event could be related to these Chinese and Romans accounts. Around 180, the Taupo erupted in New Zealand. Known as the Hatepe eruption or the Taupo eruption, it is considered New Zealand's largest eruption during the last 20,000 years. The eruption ejected some 120km3 (29cumi), a VEI 7 eruption, of which 30km3 (7.2cumi) was ejected in the space of a few minutes. This makes it one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5000 years, comparable to the Tianchi eruption of Baekdu at around 1000and the 1815 eruption of Tambora[footnoteRef:48]. [48: Wikipedia. A study claims that this large eruption created a worldwide tsunami: Lowe, D.J. and W.P. de Lange, Volcano-meteorological tsunamis, the c. AD 200 Taupo eruption (New Zealand) and the possibility of a global tsunami. Holocene 10(3), May 2000, p. 401-407.]

Wilson et al.[footnoteRef:49] identify the passages from Fan Ye, Herodian and the Historia Augusta to this large volcanic eruption which would have been visible from China and Rome. Palaeoclimatic signals show a period of cooling in central Europe around 150 and particularly from 200, albeit with some periods of warming around 365. Zabehlicky[footnoteRef:50] argues that the Taupo eruption caused this cooling period, and detects a cultural response in the form of warmer uniforms for Roman soldiers (that, as he observes, at least in part antedate the eruption), and in an increase of the proportion of villas with central heating. [49: Wilson, C. J. N.; Ambraseys, N. N.; Bradley, J.; Walker, G. P. L.,"A new date for the Taupo eruption, New Zealand". Nature 288 (5788), 1980, p. 252253.] [50: Zabehlicky, H. 1994. Kriegs- oder Klimafolgen in archologischen Befunden? Markomannenkriege: Ursachen und Wirkungen, edited by H. Friesinger, J. Tejral, and A. Stuppner, Vienna, 1994 p. 463469.]

Notwithstanding, the date of the eruption has been challenged by a new study based on radiocarbon dating that claims that the eruption happened about 233[footnoteRef:51]. [51: Sparks, R. J.; Melhuish, W. H.; McKee, J. W. A.; Ogden, J.; Palmer, J. G. (1995). "14C calibration in the Southern Hemisphere and the date of the last Taupo eruption: evidence from tree-ring sequences". Radiocarbon 37 (2): 155163.]

Stothers, R., Is the supernova of A.D. 185 recorded in ancient Roman literature? Isis, 68, 1977, p. 443-437.189 - Last wave of the Antonine plague Dio Cassius, Roman History, 72.14.3-4Moreover, a pestilence occurred, the greatest of any of which Ihave knowledge; for two thousand persons often died in Rome in a single day. Then, too, many others, not alone in the City, but throughout almost the entire empire, perished at the hands of criminals who smeared some deadly drugs on tiny needles and for pay infected people with the poison by means of these instruments. The same thing had happened before in the reign of Domitian.200 - Eruption of Jabal Zabib, An eruption of Jabal Zabib, north of San'a, occurred sometime during the third century AD. The lava flowed southeast of a small adventive crater on the east side of the volcano, and stopped after a flow of 5.5 km near the village of al-Huqqa, where it overlies loess and recent loams. Inscriptions found here indicate that there was a large temple of the Moon God Ta'lab Ri'am, of which, however, no ruins were found, possibly buried under the lava flow. Ruins of the temple of the Sun Goddess Dhat Ba'dan suggest that the site was burnt down, probably by this eruption. This temple is located a few hundred metres southeast of al-Huqqa (Bait al-Haqr) which, according to an inscription, was still in use in AD 200. Thus, if the temple was burnt by this eruption, the activity must have taken place after that year[footnoteRef:52]. [52: Ambraseys et al. The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea: a historical review, p. 21-22]