A Long View of Zoonotic Disease– Revelatory Parallels and Contrasts: An Ancient/Modern Comparative Analysis

Simple Summary: This article utilizes an interdisciplinary and comparative overlay of detailed and specific evidence, as well as broader examples and lessons from the ancient and modern histories of zoonotic disease outbreaks– drawn from both the zoonotic disease histories of the interconnected ancient Mediterranean World of the Roman Republic and Empire and our modern globalized planet. Our purpose is to reveal specific and broader informative analytical parallels and contrasts between ancient and modern zoonotic disease realities. Our consideration is unusually holistic in nature– aimed at elucidating a variety of factors that combine to shape the timeless interplay between zoonotic patho-gens, environmental and climate factors and human societies. Abstract: Our article presents an unusually broad and holistic analysis aimed at dis-cerning specific and general patterns from ancient-modern comparative contexts of zo-onotic disease. The article’s interdisciplinary and consilient methodology is drawn from a range of disciplines: the humanities and social sciences (particularly historical analysis), medical knowledge (particularly epidemiology and pathology), molecular phylogenetics, demography, archaeology, numismatics, complex systems theory, etc. The article begins with the detailed exploration of a 463 BCE epidemic that likely marked the, ultimately transformative, debut of P. falciparum malaria for ancient Roman civilization. An in-terdisciplinary retrospective diagnosis methodology is then utilized to establish, with a very high degree of probability, a conclusion that constitutes the ancient side of the equation for our example. This conclusion is used, comparatively, to highlight threats emanating from the current spread of zoonotic P. knowlesi malaria. More broadly, the article, also employing the additional comparative lens of ancient and modern zoonotic pandemics, deduces six holistic concepts: (A) political, military and security contexts; (B) the effects of cultural perceptions; (C) the role of climate; (D) anthropogenic environmental factors; (E) perceptions, practices and capabilities of prevailing medical systems; and (F) holistic underlying states of the health of affected populations that perpetually help shape the parameters and outcomes of the complex relationship between zoonotic disease and human civilization. Such an interdisciplinarity-informed, holistic macro-level view is quite likely to be a necessary guide in the future to overcome past mistakes and better target existing resources given the rising threats from zoonotic diseases.