The Plague of Athens: How Disease Defeated the City of Pericles

Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History · Jul 17, 2026 · 7m · transcript

In 430 BCE, as Athens was in the second year of its war against Sparta, a mysterious plague descended on the overcrowded city. Over the next three years, it killed perhaps a third of the population, including Pericles himself. This episode explores the plague's origins, symptoms, and social consequences — based on Thucydides' vivid firsthand account. We discuss how the disease likely spread from Ethiopia through Egypt and the Persian Empire, why Athens's strategy of gathering refugees behind the Long Walls turned the city into a deathtrap, and how the breakdown of law and…