A multi-faceted anthropological and genomic approach to framing Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Imperial period central-southern Italy (1st–4th c. CE)

Plasmodium falciparum is a significant human pathogen, particularly in the historical context of the ancient Mediterranean region. The causative species of malaria are “invisible” in the historical record, while malaria as a disease entity is indirectly supported by evidence from literary works (e.g., the Hippocratic Corpus, Celsus’ De Medicina) and non-specific skeletal pathological responses. Although ancient DNA may demonstrate the presence …