Constantinople (Byzantium)

ἀρξαμένη δὲ ἀεὶ ἐκ τῆς παραλίας ἡ νόσος ἥδε, οὕτω δὴ ἐς τὴν μεσόγειον ἀνέβαινε χώραν. δευτέρῳ δὲ ἔτει ἐς Βυζάντιον μεσοῦντος τοῦ ἦρος ἀφίκετο,

The disease always started on the coast and moved from there up into the inland country. It reached Byzantium in the second year, in the middle of spring,

Ἡ μὲν οὖν νόσος ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐς τέσσαρας διῆλθε μῆνας, ἤκμασε δὲ ἐν τρισὶ μάλιστα.

In Byzantium the disease lasted four months, and it was at its height for about three.

Τότε δὲ ἀγοράζοντά τινα οὐκ εὐπετὲς ἐδόκει εἶναι ἔν γε Βυζαντίῳ ἰδεῖν, ἀλλ’ οἴκοι καθήμενοι ἅπαντες ὅσοις ξυνέβαινε τὸ σῶμα ἐρρῶσθαι, ἢ τοὺς νοσοῦντας ἐθεράπευον, ἢ τοὺς τετελευτηκότας ἐθρήνουν.

At that time it was not easy to see anyone shopping in the market, at least in Byzantium. Everyone who happened to be in good health stayed at home, either caring for the sick or mourning their dead.

καὶ τὸ ξύμπαν εἰπεῖν, χλαμύδα οὐκ ἦν ἐνδιδυσκόμενόν τινα ἐν Βυζαντίῳ τὸ παράπαν ἰδεῖν, ἄλλως τε ἡνίκα βασιλεῖ νοσῆσαι ξυνέβη (καὶ αὐτῷ γὰρ ξυνέπεσε βουβῶνα ἐπῆρθαι), ἀλλ’ ἐν πόλει βασιλείαν ἐχούσῃ ξυμπάσης τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς ἱμάτια ἐν ἰδιωτῶν λόγῳ ἅπαντες ἀμπεχόμενοι ἡσυχῆ ἔμενον.

In short, you could not see a single person in Byzantium wearing the official's cloak, especially once the emperor fell sick (for a bubo rose on him too). Instead, in a city that held the imperial power over the whole Roman Empire, everyone dressed like a private citizen and lived quietly.

τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τῷ λοιμῷ ἔν τε τῇ ἄλλῃ Ῥωμαίων γῇ καὶ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ταύτῃ πη ἔσχεν. ἐπέσκηψε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὴν Περσῶν γῆν καὶ ἐς βαρβάρους τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας.

That, roughly, is how things went with the plague in the rest of the Roman land and in Byzantium. But it also struck the Persians' land, and all the other barbarians.