Demography and the Graeco-Roman World: New Insights and Approaches

Claire Holleran, April Pudsey

Cambridge University Press, Sep 1, 2011 - History

Through a series of case studies this book demonstrates the wide-ranging impact of demographic dynamics on social, economic and political structures in the Graeco-Roman world. The individual case studies focus on fertility, mortality and migration and the roles they played in various aspects of ancient life. These studies - drawn from a range of populations in Athens and Attica, Rome and Italy, and Graeco-Roman Egypt - illustrate how new insights can be gained by applying demographic methods to familiar themes in ancient history. Methodological issues are addressed in a clear, straightforward manner with no assumption of prior technical knowledge, ensuring that the book is accessible to readers with no training in demography. The book marks an important step forward in ancient historical demography, affirming both the centrality of population studies in ancient history and the contribution that antiquity can make to population history in general.

Contents

• Introduction Studies in ancient historical demography: 1
• Chapter 1 Demography and development in classical antiquity: 14
• Chapter 2 Demography and classical Athens: 37
• Chapter 3 Nuptiality and the demographic life cycle of the family in Roman Egypt: 60
• fertility and its constraints in Roman Italy: 99
• Chapter 5 Migration and the demes of Attica: 117
• Chapter 6 Counting the Greeks in Egypt Immigration in the first century of Ptolemaic rule: 135
• Chapter 7 Migration and the urban economy of Rome: 155
• Some closing reflections on ancient historical demography: 181
• Bibliography: 189
• Index: 214

About the author

Claire Holleran is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Liverpool. Her research interests lie primarily in ancient social and economic history, focusing in particular on the city of Rome. She is the author of Shopping in Ancient Rome (2012) and is co-editor with Amanda Claridge of A Companion to the City of Rome (2011).

April Pudsey is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Liverpool. Her research interests lie primarily in ancient historical demography, with particular focus on Roman Egypt. She is preparing a monograph, Population and Society in Roman Egypt, and is the author of a chapter in Lovén and Harlow (eds.) The Familia and its Transformation from Ancient Rome to Barbarian Europe, 50–600 CE (2011) and a chapter in Evans Grubbs and Parkin (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Childhood and Education in the Classical World (2012).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Demography and the Graeco-Roman World: New Insights and Approaches
• Editors: Claire Holleran, April Pudsey
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011
• ISBN: 1139499637, 9781139499637
• Subjects: History / Ancient / General; History / Social History