Week #3 Post (Chapters 8-10)

Chapter 8:

It has become quite apparent in our reading that along with the actual goods that were exchanged during classical and postclassical era trade and commerce, so too were cultures, religions, ideas, technology and disease. However, disease seems like it is thrown in the mix as an afterthought.

Prior to this class, I had recently taken a California History class, and so had become quite familiar with the devastating consequences of imported disease for the natives of California and all of North America. I was not as familiar with the effects of disease on the classical and postclassical Eurasian societies.

After reading more specifically about the spread of disease in the text, I was struck by the massive devastation it caused and the enormous role it played in world history. The sheer number of deaths attributed to various diseases are astounding. The Black Death of the fourteenth century C.E. wiped out one-third of the population of Europe in a 5 year span. Many other civilizations experienced similarly devastating bouts with disease.

Beyond the number of deaths lies the most intriguing consequence of disease: it's effect on the direction of world history. Strayer states "Disease played an important role in preventing Byzantium from reintegrating Italy into its version of a renewed Roman Empire..." Also, "...recurrence of the disease...weakened the ability of Christendom to resist the Muslim armies..." Another example took place in the Central Asian steppes (home to many nomadic peoples including the Mongols), where disease "undermined Mongol rule and permanently altered the balance between pastoral and agricultural peoples to the advantage of settled farmers." These are crucial turning points in the history of the world.

Interestingly, Europeans exposure to so many diseases over a long period of time ended up benefitting them as they confronted peoples of the Western Hemisphere. They had built up "some degree of immunity to Eurasian diseases" of which the natives had none.

Perhaps disease is not as interesting or complex a topic as the spread of culture, technology and religion. It is certainly not a positive or fun aspect to discuss, but its importance in world history should not be overlooked, and can not be denied. Strayer sums this up by saying "...disease carried by long distance trade shaped the lives of millions and altered their historical development."