This was a great book, starting out with the Antonine Plague and perhaps subsequent infection waves, and how these affected the various economies (for instance, producing less coins or pottery). Steps through subsequent Roman emperors and summarizes details about their reigns and how they dealt with other waves brought on by trade, travel, and movement of armies.

The Antonine Plague is probably the worst disease event in human history to that point, the book dives into all things that were affected. Obviously tons of research and some rough connections are made, but it paints a vivid picture of what was actually happening during those years.

Fascinating read. This was very enjoyable as a history book, Roman book, virus outbreak/impact book. Comparing to what we went through in 2020 with COVID, it's probably a near equal comparison, factoring in that the Romans of the time had no idea how viruses spread.