This viewpoint is meant as a contribution to debate over the nature and significance of the ‘Justinianic Plague’, which struck Western Eurasia between the sixth and eighth centuries ce, and the methodological challenges posed by attempting to reconcile historical evidence with that derived from the realm of the Natural Sciences. In recent years, major advances have been made in our genetic understanding of the Justinianic Plague. Yet growing scientific interest in the disease has coincided with a concerted effort amongst some historians to seek to downplay its historical importance. This article surveys our current state of historical and scientific understanding with respect to the sixth-century pandemic, responds to the recent attempts to argue that the disease had only a minimal impact on the societies that it struck, and considers how historians should respond to the burgeoning scientific evidence in order to take study of the plague forward. For co-operation between geneticists, environmental scientists, archaeologists and historians, it argues, offers the chance to transform our understanding of how, when and where the plague spread and to assess its impact across the Afro-Eurasian world as a whole, and not just on the Mediterranean, for which we have our best written sources.

中文翻译：

---

观点 处理“查士丁尼瘟疫”的新方法

这一观点旨在促进对公元 6 世纪至 8 世纪袭击西欧亚大陆的“查士丁尼瘟疫”的性质和意义的辩论，以及试图将历史证据与来自该领域的证据调和所带来的方法论挑战自然科学的。近年来，我们对查士丁尼瘟疫的基因理解取得了重大进展。然而，对这种疾病日益增长的科学兴趣与一些历史学家一致努力寻求淡化其历史重要性不谋而合。本文调查了我们目前对六世纪大流行的历史和科学理解状态，回应了最近有人试图辩称这种疾病对它所袭击的社会的影响微乎其微，并考虑了历史学家应如何回应新兴的科学证据，以推动对瘟疫的研究。它认为，对于遗传学家、环境科学家、考古学家和历史学家之间的合作，它提供了一个机会，可以改变我们对瘟疫如何、何时和何地传播的理解，并评估其对整个非洲-欧亚世界的影响，而不是就在地中海，我们有最好的书面资料。