History

Classical Demography

Classical Demography

Classical Demography actually focuses on the absolute number of people, who were alive in civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea between the Bronze Age and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It also refers to the study of human demography in the Classical period. The period was characterized by an explosion in population with the rise of the Greek and Roman civilizations followed by a steep decline caused by economic and social disruption, migrations, and a return to primarily subsistence agriculture. But in recent decades historians have been more interested in trying to analyse demographic processes such as the birth and death rates or the sex ratio of ancient populations.