TheRoman Plague of 590 was anepidemic ofplague that affected the city ofRome in the year 590.[1] Probablybubonic plague, it was part of thefirst plague pandemic that followed the greatplague of Justinian, which began in the 540s and may have killed more than 100 million Europeans[2] before spreading to other parts of the world[3] and which lasted until the end ofLate Antiquity. The plague was described by thebishop andchroniclerGregory of Tours and later chroniclerPaul the Deacon.[1]
The winter before the plague broke out, many of Rome'sgranaries were damaged when theTiber flooded in November 589. Gregory of Tours recounts thatportentous serpents anddragons were seen in the waters.[1] The epidemic began in early 590; Gregory's narrative is not specific but death came rapidly to infected patients and the chronicler describes the disease as a 'plague of the groin' (Latin:lues inguinaria), factors which aid its identification as bubonic plague.[1]
Bishop of RomePelagius II died of plague in February 590 andPope Gregory I, then adeacon, was elected his successor.[1] Gregory was previouslypraefectus urbi before becoming amonk.[1]
Gregory had previously served as anapocrisiarius, a kind of papal ambassador to theEast Roman Empire, where he had likely been influenced by Byzantine practices. The imperial capital ofConstantinople, consecrated to the protection of theMother of God (theTheotokos), had a practice whereby processions of the faithful through the city streets chantingpsalms andkyrie eleison to allay God's wrath. Gregory had likely witnessed these processions during his stay in Constantinople.[4]
When the plague was in Rome in 590 and Gregory was still a deacon, he organized such a procession to take place in Rome wherein seven groups would hold processions through the streets of the city and ending at thebasilica of Mary Major to ask for theVirgin Mary's protection.[4] The processions took place on April 25, 590.[4][5]
The Marian aspect of the procession was perhaps unusual at the time, since Rome was traditionally associated with St Peter's protection, but it may have been a result of Byzantine influence, since Constantinople was often put under the Theotokos's protection during times of crisis.[4]
The seven processional groups were: 1) clergy, 2) abbots and monks, 3) abbesses and nuns, 4) men 5) married women 6) widows and 7) children (also perhaps including the poor of Rome).[4]
Eighty people collapsed during the procession as a result of being infected by plague.[1]
According to later legend, Pope Gregory saw avision as the procession approached themausoleum of the Roman emperorHadrian, on the right bank of the Tiber near theVatican Hill.[1] The pope beheldSt Michael the Archangel brandishing and then sheathing his sword atop the monument, which was interpreted to signify that God's wrath had been turned back, and the plague supposedly stopped at that moment, following which the faithful thanked theMother of God.[1][5]
The 2nd century AD imperial tomb, which became a fortress in late Antiquity, subsequently became known asCastel Sant'Angelo,'Castle of the Holy Angel'.[5] In the 18th century, a bronze sculpture was set on the summit of Castel Sant'Angelo to commemorate the legend, portraying the wingedarchangel inRoman armour and designed byPeter Anton von Verschaffelt in 1753.[citation needed]