Ancient Mediterranean population

 

What is certain is that during the principate, the Roman Empire probably had a collective population of between 50 to 90 million, with 60 or 70 being the most likely estimates.

After the arrival of the plague in the 160sAD that recurred throughout the 3rd century, the population had been severely decimated, but by how much?

 

What would the population of the empire have been at the year 220AD or 300AD for example?

Obviously that by the time of Diocletian and Constantine the population of the empire was considerably smaller than the time of Augustus, placing great strain on the recruitment of the late empire's enlarged army; giving rise to desparate practices such as forced conscription, hereditary enlistment, and eventually the mass recruitment of foreign volunteers.

 

THe city of Rome had a population of 1 million at the time of Christ and 50,000 at the fall of the City. Did the numbers decline steadily? Or was there a major exodus?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we have constant reports of depopulation within the Empire during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, necessitating the frequent settlement of barbarians on imperial holdings. But these reports can not be confirmed; the abandonment of agricultural lands does not mean the peasants are gone, they may have simply moved into the city. We do know that depopulation was a constant concern for Roman officials, who feared that they would run out of tax payers and military recruits.

 

 

Edit:   I found some more websites that should interest you--

 

 

 

 

I can't vouch for the accuracy of these sites but they seem reliable enough.  So 45-120 million would be the spectrum, with 50-70 the most probable or median throughout the history of the empire.

 

Just google, "population of the roman empire", and you'll get a ton of hits.

 

the figure itself comes from Suetoninus

 

Figures? From Suetonius? He's good for understanding basic ideas behind the emperors and writing about the general consensus, but not really much else.

 

...I wonder if Strabo gives an estimate about the population in this period?