Pandemics and Emergency Government between Past and Present

The current health emergency caused by Covid-19 reminds us of the numerous pandemics of plague, flu and other terrible infectious diseases which affected our territories for centuries. Today we are frightened by these events. However, in the past, events that we are used to considering extraordinary today, such as a pandemic, were actually "usual" and happened quite frequently. Serious epidemics broke out since ancient times [Eisenberg, Mordechai, 2019; Elliott, 2016; White, Mordechai, 2020], and then went on breaking out throughout the Modern Age. Suffice it to think of the medieval Black Death that affected the whole Europe [Álvarez-Nogal, Prados de la Escosura, Santiago-Caballero, 2020; Capitani, 1995; Cohn, 2008; Green, 2014], and the following epidemic waves, such as the two plague epidemics that hit the Italian Peninsula [Ago, Parmeggiani, 1990; Alfani, 2013; Alfani, Cohn Jr., 2007; Cipolla, 1985; Fosi, 2006; Fusco, 2007, 2017; Lucchetti, Manfredini, De Iasio, 1998; Manconi, 1994; Pastore, 1990; Rocca, 1990]. Today we have lost the "culture" of epidemics, the memory of them. This loss of memory makes it more difficult to accept and govern them. Going back to the past, analyzing how some epidemics were faced can still be a useful teaching in order to deal with them in the present days in a conscious way and with a greater chance of success. Hence the importance of brushing up on epidemic studies in a long-term perspective, also because many tools used in the past to fight a pandemic, such as isolation and quarantines, are still valid today for epidemics, such as Covid-19, unknown from the health point of view. Today governing in an epidemic emergency is not an easy task, but neither was it in the past. During an epidemic the traditional political, economic and social stability risked to be shaken, and the authorities were forced to adopt new measures and above all in a very short time. ? idamaria.fusco@isem.cnr.it 30 In this paper I deal with the emergency government in Southern Italy in 17th century with an eye over the plague which, like Covid-19 today, was an unknown disease in the Modern Age and which made doctors fumble around in the dark. In particular, I will consider two epidemics broken out in the 17th century: in 1656 and 1690. In both cases, the measures known to deal with the emergency were the same; however, the way they were adopted was very different. In short, I tend to emphasize that not only the specific disease, but also (and above all) the different way it is governed characterize a pandemic, today as in the past.