Population of empire

[Jauchart]

I would be very grateful is someone could provide scholarly sources to support the following description of the population of Rome, found on the "Population" page of UNRV website:

 

* The slave population of Rome approached 500,000 on its own, probably half of which were owned by the 600 men of the Senate. Additional estimates have suggested that of the total 65 million people, 2 to 10 million may have been slaves.

 

I would also like to study the course of the population in the later empire. I just read Peter Heather's book, who argues that population was growing. Are there counter positions to this?

 

Thanks,

Jauchart

[M. Porcius Cato]

This is a good question about an extremely complicated and contentious issue. Sources for this article would help enormously.

[Divi Filius]

Except for period where actual census records survive, all other numbers are mostly conjectural since they are based on archaeological readings.

 

I wish I was still in campus for this, it would be interesting to look up what the various numbers are. The one above is the most common though.

Edited December 21, 2007 by Divi Filius

[Gaius Octavius]

With regard to the Empire as a whole, and at its greatest extent, one account gives the population at ~ 200 million.

[Klingan]

The number above corresponds well with most of the numbers I've come across. Of course it's very dependent on the time period.

[davus]

(Better late than never, but here goes:)

 

The higher slave estimate (10m of 50-60m people in the Empire as a whole) is presumably from William Harris in JH D