Documentary and Reportage | Expeditions
The power of volcanoes – years without summer
Was it a volcano that caused the decline of Byzantium in the 6th century? This documentary follows scientists as they search for the mysterious climate killer in late antiquity. The starting point of the research is the so-called Justinian plague. In 536, a mysterious plague broke out and soon spread from Byzantium to Rome. Where did the cruel disease come from and why did it spread so quickly? The plague is named after the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian, who ruled Byzantium at the time it spread. Geneticists can now identify the pathogen as an emerging strain of bubonic plague. Plague epidemics are not uncommon in history, but this case is unique because extreme weather and crop failures occurred at the same time as the epidemic. Sulfur deposits in ice drill cores from Greenland provide the first clues to the possible cause of the misery: a massive volcanic eruption.
Image source: ZDF/Dieter Stuermer