Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-354) and index.

Life and afterlife of the first plague pandemic / Lester K. Little -- Historians and epidemics: simple questions, complex answers / Jo N. Hays -- For whom does the writer write?: the first bubonic plague pandemic according to Syriac sources / Michael Morony -- Justinianic plague in Syria and the archaeological evidence / Hugh N. Kennedy -- Crime and punishment: the plague in the Byzantine Empire 541-749 / Dionysios Stathakopoulos -- Bubonic plague in Byzantium: the evidence of the non-literary sources / Peter Sarris -- Consilia humana, ops divina, superstitio (Livy 7,2): seeking succor and solace in times of plague, with particular reference to Gaul in the early Middle Ages / Alain J. Stoclet -- Plague in Spanish late antiquity / Michael Kulikowski -- Plague in seventh-century England / John Maddicott -- The plague and its consequences in Ireland / Ann Dooley -- Ecology, evolution, and epidemiology of plague / Robert Sallares -- Towards a molecular history of the Justinianic pandemic / Michael McCormick.