Debating Roman DemographyWalter Scheidel In conjection with an extensive critical survey of recent advances and controversies in Roman demography, the four case-studies in this volume illustrate a variety of different approaches to the study of ancient population history. The contributions address a number of crucial issues in Roman demography from the evolution of the academic field to seasonal patterns of fertility, the number of Roman citizens, population pressure in the early Roman empire, and the end of classical urbanism in late antiquity. This is the first collaborative volume of its kind. It is designed to introduce ancient historians and classicists to demographic, comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, and to situate and contextualize Roman population studies in the wider ambit of historical demography. |
Contents
The seasonal birthing cycle of Roman women | 83 |
Recruitment and the size of the Roman population from | 111 |
some observations on the population | 139 |
Urban population in Late Roman Egypt and the end | 161 |
Bibliography | 205 |
Notes on contributors | 237 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alston ancient Greece ancient history Antonine plague archaeology argues attested Bagnall and Frier Beloch birthing cycles Boyaval Brunt bubonic plague Byzantine Byzantine empire calculations Cambridge Campanians Cascio census census figures census returns cent city of Rome classical contraception cultural death decline demographic transition demography Duncan-Jones early modern economic Egyptian epidemic estimate expectancy at birth female fertility rates gross population Hermopolis Magna historians Hopkins implied increase infant mortality ISBN 90 Italian Italy late antiquity late Roman London marital fertility marriage Mediterranean million model life tables Model West Level Morley Naukratis Oxyrhynchus Paleodemography Parkin plague Polybius population density population of Italy premodern problem proletarii Rathbone recent region reproduction result Roman demography Roman Egypt Roman empire Roman Italy Roman period Roman population rural Saller Scheidel forthcoming seventh century Shaw sixth century slaves social sources statistics suggests tion ulation urban villages women