Classical demography refers to the study of human demography in the Classical period. It often focuses on the absolute number of people who were alive in civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea between the Bronze Age and the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but in recent decades historians have been more interested in trying to analyse demographic processes such as the birth and death rates or the sex ratio of ancient populations. The period was characterized by an explosion in population with the rise of the Greek and Roman civilizations followed by a steep decline caused by economic and social disruption, migrations, and a return to primarily subsistence agriculture. Demographic questions play an important role in determining the size and structure of the economy of Ancient Greece and the Roman economy.
Ancient Greece and Greek colonies
From around 800 BC, Greek city-states began colonizing the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. Suggested reasons for this dramatic expansion include overpopulation, severe droughts, or an escape for vanquished people (or a combination). The population of the areas of Greek settlement from the western Mediterranean to Asia Minor and the Black Sea in the 4th century BC has been estimated at up to 7.5-10 million.
Greece proper
The geographical definition of Greece has fluctuated over time. While today the ancient kingdom of Macedonia is always considered part of the Greek world, in the Classical period it was a distinct entity and even though Macedonian language was part of the Greek dialect continuum, it was not considered as a part of Greece by some Athenian writers. Similarly, almost all modern residents of historical Ionia, now part of Turkey, speak the Turkish language, although from the 1st millennium BC Ionia was densely populated by Greek-speaking people and an important part of Greek culture.
Estimates of the Greek-speaking population in the coast and islands of the Aegean Sea during the 5th century BC vary from 800,000 to over 3,000,000. In Athens and Attica in the 5th century BC, there were up to 150,000 Athenians of the citizen class, around 30,000 aliens, and 100,000 slaves, most residing outside the city and port., though precise numbers remain unknown and estimates vary widely.
Other Greek colonization
The ancient Roman province of Cyrenaica in the eastern region of present-day Libya was home to a Greek, Latin and native population in the hundreds of thousands. Originally settled by Greek colonists, five important settlements (Cyrene, Barca, Euesperides, Apollonia, and Tauchira) formed a pentapolis. The fertility of the land, the exportation of silphium, and its location between Carthage and Alexandria made it a magnet for settlement.
Ancient Phoenicia and Phoenician colonies
Phoenicia also established colonies along the Mediterranean, including Carthage.
Demography of the Hellenistic kingdoms
When urbanization began to take place, it was Pella which became the largest city. Kingdom of Macedonia had 4 million people after the Wars of the Diadochi.
Ptolemaic Egypt
Greek historian Diodorus Siculus estimated that 7,000,000 inhabitants resided in Egypt during his lifetime before its annexation by the Roman Empire. Of this, he states that 300,000 citizens lived within the city of Alexandria. Later historians have queried whether the country could have supported such high numbers.
Seleucid Empire
The population of the vast Seleucid Empire has been estimated to have been higher than 30 million., though others indicate as few as 20 million inhabitants in the whole of Alexander's earlier empire of which it had been a part.
Demography of the Roman Empire
There are many estimates of the population for the Roman Empire, that range from 45 million to 120 million with 598–76000 million as the most accepted range. The population likely peaked just before the Antonine Plague.
An estimated population of the empire during the reign of Augustus:
Beloch's 1886 estimate for the population of the empire during the reign of Augustus:
Russell's 1958 estimate for the population of the empire in 1 AD:
Russell's 1958 estimate for the population of the empire in 350 AD:
Roman Italy
The Romans carried out a regular census of citizens eligible for military service (Polybius 2.23), but for the population of the rest of Italy at this time we have to rely on a single report of the military strength of Rome's allies in 227 BC – and guess the numbers of those who were opposed to Rome at this time. The citizen count in the second century B.C. hovered between 250–325,000 presumably males over the age of 13.