Born Then165–180
Life during the Antonine Plague
Be born in a place it hit, a few years before it began, and see what it did to five ordinary lives.
What it meant for ordinary people
A pandemic, probably smallpox, spread through the Roman Empire after soldiers returned from the East in 165. It came back in waves for about fifteen years. Cities and armies were hit hardest, and some districts lost a tenth of their people or more.
Deaths: estimates range from about 5 to 10 million across the Roman Empire.
How hard it hits each person in the game (risk of death, of being conscripted, of leaving) comes from scholarly estimates.
Around the same time
- Antonine Plague 165–180
- Yellow Turban Rebellion 184–205
- Wars of the Three Kingdoms 190–280