Roman Plague of 590

[1] The epidemic began in early 590; Gregory's narrative is not specific but death came rapidly to infected patients and the chronicler describes the disease as a 'plague of the groin' (Latin: lues inguinaria), factors which aid its identification as bubonic plague.

[1] Gregory had previously served as an apocrisiarius, a kind of papal ambassador to the East Roman Empire, where he had likely been influenced by Byzantine practices.

[4] The seven processional groups were: 1) clergy, 2) abbots and monks, 3) abbesses and nuns, 4) men 5) married women 6) widows and 7) children (also perhaps including the poor of Rome).

[1] According to later legend, Pope Gregory saw a vision as the procession approached the mausoleum of the Roman emperor Hadrian, on the right bank of the Tiber near the Vatican Hill.

[5] In the 18th century, a bronze sculpture was set on the summit of Castel Sant'Angelo to commemorate the legend, portraying the winged archangel in Roman armour and designed by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt in 1753.