‎Rubina Raja, Andrew Wilson (eds)‎
‎Catastrophes in Context. Disaster and Response in the Roman and Early Byzantine World‎

‎, Brepols, 2026 Hardback, Pages: xvi + 297, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:22 b/w, 58 col., 26 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503623641.‎

Reference : 70476

‎Summary Catastrophes in Context: Disaster and Response in the Roman and Early Byzantine World explores how people in the ancient world lived through, reacted to, and recovered after major crises. From earthquakes and eruptions to shortages, plagues, and sudden environmental shifts, the book shows disasters not as stand-alone events but as moments that changed communities in lasting ways. Drawing on a wide mix of evidence such as archaeological remains, texts, landscapes, and scientific data, it brings together engaging case studies that highlight real human experiences of fear, loss, recovery, and resilience. The contributors offer new ways to understand how ancient societies coped with catastrophic events, what resources they relied on, and how they adapted to new realities. Comprehensive, engaging, and wide-ranging, this volume presents the ancient world through the lens of challenge and response, showing how crises shaped everyday life and long-term history. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations List of Contributors Preface 1. Catastrophe and Response in the Ancient World Rubina Raja and Andrew Wilson 2. War and Urbanism: The Boudican Revolt and the Reconstruction of Londinium Lacey Wallace 3. Re-evaluating the Impact of the Earthquake(s) of AD 62/63 in Roman Pompeii Michael A. Anderson 4. The Catastrophic AD 79 Eruption of Vesuvius: Survivors and Post-eruption Intervention at the Local and Imperial Level in Four Communities Steven L. Tuck 5. The Economic Impact of the Antonine Plague Andrew Wilson 6. Catastrophes and Resilience: The Archaeology of Crises at Palmyra, 150-272 Olympia Bobou and Rubina Raja 7. Cyrenaica and the Plague of Cyprian Andrew Wilson 8. Catastrophes and the Dynamic Landscape of Thonis-Heracleion Damian Robinson and Franck Goddio 9. Catastrophic(?) Floods in the Roman North: Chronologies, Causes, and Contexts Tyler Franconi 10. Resilience in Late Fifth-Century Aphrodisias: An Archaeological Perspective from the Tetrapylon Street Ine Jacobs 11. The Environmental Context for the Outbreak of the Justinianic Plague in the Mediterranean Brandon McDonald, Andrew Wilson, and Arietta Papaconstantinou 12. Contextualizing Late Antique Natural Disasters: The Elements and Effects of the Late Antique Little Ice Age and the Justinianic Plague Brandon McDonald Errata to 'The Environmental Context for the Outbreak of the Justinianic Plague in the Mediterranean' (Brandon McDonald, Andrew Wilson, and Arietta Papaconstantinou) (https://doi.org/10.1484/M.STIA-EB.5.155908) ‎