Plague of Cyprian

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The Plague of Cyprian was a pandemic which afflicted the Roman Empire from about AD 249 to 262, or 251/2 to 270. The plague is thought to have caused widespread manpower shortages for food production and the Roman army, severely weakening the empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. Its modern name refers to Cyprian (c. 210–258), a bishop of Carthage and early Christian writer who documented the plague in his treatise On the Plague. Its pathogen has not been identified; possibilities include smallpox, measles, and viral hemorrhagic fever (filoviruses like the Ebola virus). Cyprian noted that the plague attacked the "just and unjust" alike, and the response to it has strong ties to Christian beliefs and religion.

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