17 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Pandemics Determined the Fate of Wars in Ancient Times

Epidemics have been one of the factors affecting the fate of wars throughout history. Epidemics have sometimes turned the fate of a war to be won. Plague, in particular, stands out as one of the most troublesome diseases of ancient times. An archeology academic said that one of the wars that changed fate with epidemics was the Trojan war.

Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Archeology Department academic and the head of Troy Excavations, Professor Rüstem Aslan, said that in the last days of the Trojan War, the god Apollo infected the Akha army headquarters with plague. The army suffered great losses due to the pandemic. He said that in a counterattack, the Trojans caused great losses in the Akha army.

Excavations in the ancient city of Troy have been continuing in the northwestern province of Çanakkale as the world has been fighting against the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year.

Aslan said pandemics have been determinant factors in the fate of some wars since ancient times. Stating that pandemics during wars are one of the most discussed issues in ancient history, Aslan said that the Hittite Empire, one of the superpowers of the period, suffered from these epidemics many times and dealt great damage.

Reconstruction of the city of Troy
Reconstruction of the city of Troy

A pandemic in antiquity destroyed Assyria in 765 B.C., said Aslan, adding that the Persian King Kserkesin, who campaigned the Western Expedition in 480 B.C., left behind soldiers who died due to the pandemic while passing through Thrace and Macedonia, before having to return.

He said that a well-known example of a pandemic during a war was at the time of the Eastern Campaign of Alexander the Great.

“In 334 B.C., after the famous battle in Granikos Plain, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army near Biga in Çanakkale. According to historians, Alexander the Great then visited Troy and continued his Eastern Campaign, taking Achilles’ weapons from the Temple of Athens. After conquering all the cities and defeating all the armies in a very short time, Alexander the Great ended the Indian campaign due to the pandemic in 325 B.C. Although this is controversial among experts, Alexander the Great died of malaria he caught in Babylon in 323 B.C.,” he said.

The city of Athens was also surrounded by a pandemic when the Peloponnesian War occurred between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian Union over the control of sea trade in the eastern Mediterranean and that lasted between 431 and 404 B.C. happened. “This, too, determined the fate of the war,” he said.

“The famous historian Thukididis regarded the pandemic as the punishment of the gods. He also got the disease and described the stages of the pandemic in detail. His statement, which explained the whole process until he was cured, is considered to be the first written document about immune systems.”

Source: DHA

Related Articles

Aramaic four inscriptions found for the first time in eastern Turkey

17 September 2022

17 September 2022

Four inscriptions written in Aramaic were discovered in the ancient city with a grid plan, located on an area of...

3500-year-old grape seed remains found in western Anatolia

12 September 2023

12 September 2023

Archaeologists at the Aşağıseyit Höyük (Aşağıseyit Mound) site in western Anatolia’s Denizli have uncovered a 3,500-year-old grape seed. Aşağıseyi Höyük...

Secrets of the Skull Room: 12 Ancient Human Skulls Unearthed in Sefertepe Excavations

16 September 2025

16 September 2025

Archaeologists have uncovered 12 new human skulls during ongoing excavations at Sefertepe, one of the most important sites of the...

Roman-era marble sundial found for the first time in Turkey’s second Ephesus

26 September 2022

26 September 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman-era marble sundial in the ancient city of Aizanoi in the Çavdarhisar district of Kütahya province...

After 150 years, Schliemann’s destruction in Troy was repaired

8 August 2021

8 August 2021

Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman, excavated the ancient city of Troy in northwest Canakkale province 150 years ago. Archaeologists are...

A 3800-year-old cylinder seal was discovered at Turkey’s Tepebag Mound excavations

8 July 2022

8 July 2022

In the 2022 excavations of Tepebag Mound, located around Taşköprü, the center of Adana province in Turkey’s Mediterranean Region, a...

A 2,000-year-old Street from the Roman Period has been Discovered in Southeastern Turkey

19 April 2021

19 April 2021

A 2,000-year-old street from the Roman period has been discovered in southeastern Turkey. Excavation to unearth historical street in the...

A unique 2,800-year-old ivory-decorated piece was discovered in the Ancient City of Hattusa

13 November 2023

13 November 2023

An ivory-decorated piece, estimated to be approximately 2,800 years old, was found during the archaeological excavation in the Hattusa Ancient...

Structures in Turkey’s Panaztepe pointing out a 5,000-year-old settlement found

8 November 2021

8 November 2021

In the 5000-year-old Panaztepe settlement located in the Menemen district of Izmir, structures thought to belong to the oldest period...

Archeologists find a 3,500-year-old mosaic in central Turkey

16 September 2021

16 September 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a 3,500-year-old mosaic in central Turkey, which might be one of the world’s oldest. The impressive power...

2000-year-old passage found after Latrina at Smyrna Theater

28 January 2022

28 January 2022

Archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old passage that was 26 meters long and constructed in an “L” form in the theater part...

10,000-year-old Sculptures and Figurines holding Phallus of the Taş Tepeler in the southeast Turkey

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

One of the common features of male depictions with similar features found in the region called Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills),...

Göbeklitepe Monolith will be Exhibited in the United Nations

15 May 2021

15 May 2021

A copy of one of the famous ruins of Göbeklitepe, known as the oldest temple in the world, will be...

‘Nano lime’ protects Nemrut: Throne of the Gods

24 October 2023

24 October 2023

Last year, “nano lime” was filled with syringes to protect the tiny cracks on the large stone statues on Mount...

Discovery of 1,500-Year-Old Mosaic at Ancient City of Dara in Mardin, Türkiye

7 July 2025

7 July 2025

According to information provided by Anadolu Agency, archaeologists have recently uncovered a remarkably well-preserved 1,500-year-old mosaic decorated with drop and...