Population Distribution Of The Empire

[Pertinax]

Salve!

Before I depart for Eboracvm -I would like to throw in a new thread : do members have information/links/observations on -the population of the Imperial period, its growth ,distribution, morbidity,ethnic make up?

[DanM]

Sorry, but I do not know of any direct evidence. Most of it is arrived at through deductive reasoning.

 

We know that Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria and Africa were heavily populated while areas such as Thrace and Pannonia were much more sparsely populated.

 

Most of the work I have seen along these lines looks at the distribution of cities within a province to estimate population density.

 

If anyone out there has anything more precise, I would love to read it myself.

Edited December 12, 2005 by DanM

[Primus Pilus]

An interesting university level professor's hand out sheet regarding late imperial provincial populations

 

Tulane Roman Empire Population

 

My own overview focusing mainly on the city of Rome and overal population, not provincial...

 

Roman Empire Population

 

As DanM said, the population of ancient and 'dark age' Europe truly is a mix of conjecture and deductive guesstimates.

[Virgil61]

An interesting university level professor's hand out sheet regarding late imperial provincial populations

 

Tulane Roman Empire Population

 

That's Prof. Kenneth Harl, great speaker on Roman history. I've got his "The Teaching Company's" Roman lectures, good stuff if you ever get a chance.

[Tobias]

Those are some extremely interesting links supplied there. I'm interested in that Tulane Roman Empire Population link though; is the setting (Constantine to the Crusades) of the population figures the time the Empire had it's peak in population? If so, that is rather a useful list of figures.

[Pertinax]

the Tulane link is exactly what I sought as a starting point.And the 'City " estimates are very interesting especially in relation to the various plagues.

So no wonder the Province of Brittania was left to its own devices when trouble flared on the continent.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Pertinax

[Juvenal]

That's Prof. Kenneth Harl, great speaker on Roman history. I've got his "The Teaching Company's" Roman lectures, good stuff if you ever get a chance.

 

 

I took Harl's course too on Rome and the Barbarians. Excellent! You may also want to try Garrett Fagan's History of Ancient Rome and J. Rufus Frears "Famous Romans" -- both from The Teaching Company. I just started their Philosophy of Greco-Roman Moralists by Luke Timothy Johnson. That one is interesting as well. It's a terrific company. I recommend their lectures for good "commuting to work" listening.

[caldrail]

Salve!

Before I depart for Eboracvm -I would like to throw in a new thread : do members have information/links/observations on -the population of the Imperial period, its growth ,distribution, morbidity,ethnic make up?

 

You might be on a loser here. The populations under roman rule had access to travel that was very rare for ancient cultures. A spaniard, a syrian, and an arab ruled Rome, a merchant from Palmyra married a british freedwoman, and a cohort of nubians stood guard on hadrians wall, just for a few instances. Without a systematic study of roman remains it would be difficult to see any clear overview of the roman empires demography.