Year: 1970
Type: article
Abstract: While it is clear that Rome was both of exceptional size as a city, and had an exceptional number and range of immigrants, it is extraordinarily difficult to have a clear idea either of its absolute size, or its demographic balance between locals and immigrants, citizens and non -citizens, freeborn and freed, slave and free. This paper argues that the impression of precise numbers given for recipients of handouts of grain or cash understates the fluidity of the population, and that the impression of high numbers of freedmen and slaves derived from funerary epitaphs may make as much sense for Rome as it does for Herculaneum, where the demographic balance is better attested.
DOI: 10.5617/acta.6076
Author: Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
Institution: University of Cambridge
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2802723959