Justinian's Flea

Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe

By: William Rosen

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

The emperor Justinian reunified Rome's fractured empire by defeating the Goths and Vandals who had separated Italy, Spain, and North Africa from imperial rule. At his capital in Constantinople, he built the world's most beautiful building, married the most powerful empress, and wrote the empire's most enduring legal code, seemingly restoring Rome's fortunes for the next five hundred years. Then, in the summer of 542, he encountered a flea. The ensuing outbreak of bubonic plague killed 5,000 people a day in Constantinople and nearly killed Justinian himself.

In Justinian's Flea, William Rosen tells the story of history's first pandemic - a plague seven centuries before the Black Death that killed tens of millions, devastated the empires of Persia and Rome, left a path of victims from Ireland to Iraq, and opened the way for the armies of Islam. Weaving together evolutionary microbiology, economics, military strategy, ecology, and ancient and modern medicine, Rosen offers a sweeping narrative of one of the great hinge moments in history, one that will appeal to readers of John Kelly's The Great Mortality, John Barry's The Great Influenza, and Jared Diamond's Collapse.

©2007 William Rosen (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Great writing. Mediocre narration.

The writing was very good. However the narration leaves a lot to be desired. Very flat and monotone.

Good, not great

I was expecting this book to be 60/40 information on the plague/history of world. However, it was the opposite. More history of the world than the history of plague. Often times I got confused since there were so many names and the topics seemed to change on a dime. Narration was dull and put me to sleep. Nice voice though. Overall disappointed but glad I was able to listen all the way through.

Solid and Interesting History

Popular history should combine scholarly detail and diverting anecdote while making it clear which is which. The book accomplishes this very well. My only quibble is that, while the author deals with the plague in historical and biological depth, it is not the major focus of the book - which is really an overview of Justinian's reign and accomplishments.

A Credible Theory That Explains Current Events

Picture this. In the 6th century AD, the Emperor Justinian decides to re-conquer what had been the fullest extent of the Roman Empire from his base in Constantinople. He sends an underequipped general, Belisarius, on this mission.

Through guile and tactical genius, Belisarius regains the Roman Empire beating every enemy he faces: Vandals, Goths, and Gauls. North Africa, Italy, the Levant, and parts or modern day Europe are re-conquered. This accomplished, the newly conquered empire could have been the modern colossus governed under a newly codified set of laws sponsored by Justinian.

Unfortunately, Constantinople and the rest of the empire suffer from a plague that kills 25,000.000 people (a very large percentage of the world’s population at the time) and continues to kill in subsequent years.

Immune from the plague are the isolated tribes of Arabs who come under the sway of a merchant, Mohamed, who preaches a new religion that features jihad. The newly conquered territories cannot be held by Byzantium and the effects of the plague have effectively shaped the modern world.

The book is complex and the narrator does the best he can but the story can be followed.

Good Story, Bad Narration

Would you try another book from William Rosen and/or Barrett Whitener?

The story itself is great and Rosen seems to have written a very complete narrative about the reign of Justinian and the effects of the plague on Rome. Whitener is so absolutely boring and monotone that he makes listening to a good story difficult to say the least.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Barrett Whitener?

Anyone else

Please re-title this book

Amazing amazing job on the eastern Roman empire, history, wars, intrigue, and finally… The plague. Only about 15% of this book is about the plague, so if you are looking for a book on the plague… Do not buy this book. However, if you are interested in early Christendom, early European formation, palace intrigue, and in general every day life of those who lived in the 6th century, This is the book for you. This book should not be named Justinian’s flea, but should be named something that reflects the true story line.

Great content

And I hate myself for saying this, but this story and history is so riveting I wish the narrator had more tone to invoke the pivotal crossroads this history provokes.

Beautifuly Read, Lots of Details

What made the experience of listening to Justinian's Flea the most enjoyable?

First, I buy anything read by Garrett Whitener. Just listening to him read regardless of the text is a joy. As far as this particular book goes, it's all in the inifinite details. There is a theory about the large sweep of history but you have to see it yourself (although it is revealed at the end in case you didn't see it). If you don't like details this isn't the book for you. I've gone back many times to listen in particular to the chapter on the flea itself and the life cycle of the Black Plague vector. I can certainly understand that reviews of the book are binary - you like it a lot or you don't a lot. I like it a lot - a whole lot.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The flea!

Which character ??? as performed by Barrett Whitener ??? was your favorite?

I suppose Justinian's wife although Whitener does Roman generals beautifully too.

Any additional comments?

If you don't like this book I recommend you look for others read by Whitener that you may like. He is the all time best reader in my opinion and he does read books of many different genre.

meandering but a joy

The book covers more topics than just Roman history and the detail in the rat, flea and the bacteria was great. Learned more about the bubonic plague from this book than from the great mortality and other books that cover the 14th century Black Death

Good, but dry

This was an interesting book, but the narration was extremely dry. I would give the text a 4 out of five, but the narration drops it down to a 3.