DNA Testing Reveals Why Athens Fell

Around 430 BC, the Athenian empire collapsed – and DNA testing has revealed a possible reason why.

DNA testing and history

DNA testing is on its way to helping unlock some of history’s biggest mysteries. The BBC recently reported on a study in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases that believes that typhoid could be the reason for the fall of the Athenian empire.

DNA testing provides new clues

Previously, history traditionally relied on artefacts and documents and other empirical evidence from the period in question to build up a picture of events. But now, DNA testing can shed a different light and throw up clues previously locked away in the remains of those of the time.

Athens fell to its knees

There has long been debate about what kind of plague brought Athens to its knees in 430 BC. DNA testing was undertaken by a research team on three teeth found in an ancient cemetery in Athens that date back to the outbreak. Bubonic plague, measles and smallpox were all suspected of causing the devastation but the DNA testing on the teeth pulp revealed the organism that causes typhoid. The outbreak was crucial in Greek history as the disease ended Athenian dominance of the classical world. It wiped out a third of the population including the city’s leader – Pericles.

DNA testing on ancient teeth

DNA testing on the ancient teeth pulp was analysed and compared to DNA profiles of various diseases – typhoid fever was found in all three samples. Previously, before the DNA testing, typhoid had been discounted as a possibility as the writings of a 5th Century Greek historian described symptoms that did not match the disease. Scientists are now questioning whether typhoid has itself evolved and transformed into the disease we know today.

More DNA testing

Although the DNA testing is not conclusive, it does provide clues – clearly more DNA testing on a wider spectrum of remains would be necessary before any conclusions could be confirmed on the disease that toppled Athens.

DNA testing on Roman skeleton

DNA testing is becoming more widely used by scientists researching diseases. British researchers used DNA testing to discover signs of malaria in the 1,500-year old skeleton of a child from a Roman cemetery. The DNA testing revealed the earliest genetic evidence that malaria plagued the classical civilisations of Rome. Ancient DNA research and testing has provided a new way of investigating the history of disease, while revealing new ways of looking at history. It is thought the outbreak of malaria in AD 5 contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire.

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