Q&A: Population of Rome Italy past and present

Rachel asked: What was the population of Rome Italy during roman times?

Craig says: In around 100 A.D. it is said the population of Rome was over 1 000 000. The five leading cities during the ancient Roman Empire were Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, and Carthage.

By the mid 6th century AD, due to wars, diseases and emigration, The Ancient Roman Empire Population was believed to be as low as between 30 and 100 thousand people.

Metalman says: In the fourth century, the Regionaries reported that the population of Rome Italy was 1 700 000; that included all citizens and slaves.

Faxit! says: At the peak of Roman power in the midst of the 2nd century AD, it is opined that the population of the Roman Empire was around 65 million people. Considering that the worlds population was about 300 million people this means that the Roman population was approximately 21% of the world's total population.

Less conservative estimates have stated far more people lived within the official borders of the Empire, perhaps as many as double the figure. In actuality the population of the Empire may have been closer to 130 million or perhaps around 40% of the world's total.

However, as these figures for the ancient roman period are largely debatable and imprecise, it could be assumed that anywhere inbetween could be correct. Which ever way, the increase from 45 to 65 million in about a century is believable and is mostly due to the conquests of Britannia and Dacia, and several annexations of client kingdoms dating from the time of Augustus (and mostly by Claudius).

Analysing the 65 million population estimate, some assumptions can be made:

• There were half a million soldiers (legionaries totalling 150,000 and auxilia making up the rest)



• 600 Senators made up the elite of the elite.



• There were up to 30,000 Equestrians (knights) or the second tier of the aristocracy.



• 10 to 30 percent (or 6 million to 19 million) people lived in the cities, the vast majority, some 46 to 59 million people, lived in the country as independent and mostly tenant farmers.



• The population of Rome was over 1 million people and though it would shrink considerably after the fall of the west, no city would surpass that number until the great urban population booms of the industrial age, 1 500 years later.



• On its own the slave population of Rome reached 500.000, half of which were most likely owned by the 600 men of the Senate. New estimates have suggested that of the total 65 million people of the Roman Empire, 2 to 10 million may have been slaves.
  

By the beginning of the 4th century AD, and the reign of Emperor Constantine, civil wars and foreign incursions had only taken a small toll and the population of the Empire had grown again, likely to around 55 million.

By this time a major shift in imperial power was taking place from the west to Byzantine in the east. The population of Rome Italy was in decline and Byzantium (or Constantinople) was on the rise. The west most likely made up about 40% of the Empires total population with the remainder from the east.

By mid 6th century BC wars disease and emigration brought the population of Rome perhaps as low as between 30 and 100 thousand people a far cry from its height just a few hundred years earlier. During the same period however, the population of Constantinople may have numbered somewhere between 750 000 and 1 million people during the time of Justinian.

(Moderator Note: Thanks Faxit! Brilliant stuff.)

Tudor asked: What is the present population of Rome Italy?

Jonathan says: The Population of Rome Italy (as of December 2006)
City 2 700 000 , Density 2,100/km² (4,660/sq mi), Urban 4.000 000, Metro 5.490 000.

Marcus from Roman Life Rome Italysays: My page on the history of Rome Italy tells you the population of Rome from its beginnings until present time.

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