Can the population of Sparta and Athens be calculated?
Periodically, the question arises as to what is the population of Sparta? Or, to that matter Athens? This is usually asked by the public who wish to understand Sparta's strength during their domination of Greece and following on from that their strength during the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars.
In 1983 the team of Coole and Demeny created a 'Model Population Age Tables, (using Model West level 1, (0 rate of increase)). This is the one that I have seen most ancient Greek scholars use.
It is based on Herodotus who states that Demaratos King of Sparta told the Persian King that there were 8,000 Spartan males in his time c480 B.C. Using this figure as a guide, that gives a total of 16,000 males of all ages of the Spartan class, both Homoioi and Hypomeioni ( Inferiors ).
Broken down by age that works out in the following way:
SPARTA:
| Calculated MALE population of Sparta ca. 480 B.C. |
| Age bracket |
Percentage |
Amount |
| 0-19 Males (not military age) |
47.3% |
7,568 |
| 20-49 |
42.3% |
6,768 |
| 50-59 |
06.4% |
1,024 |
| 60+ |
00.4% |
640 |
| Total |
|
16,000 |
Probably the population of Lakonia (including Messenia) c500 B.C. at c252,000
Broken down as follows:
Spartans (homoi and hypomeioni)- 32,000
Perioikoi (Lakonia & Messenia) - 50,000
Helots (Lakonia & Messenia, Domestic & agricultural-170,000
Total-252,000
Age-distribution within the phalanx:
20-24 - .094 25-29 - .085 30-34 - .076 35-39 - .066
40-44- .056 45-49 - .046 50-54 - .037 55-59 - .027
Gromme calculated that during the Messenian War the Messenians' outnumbered the Spartans by a rate of 16 to 1.
ATHENS:
In 478 the walls erected around Athens enclosed an area of 3.5 square kilometers, including the Piraeus, or harbor district. The full population of the city was over 140,000, but only 40,000 of these were full (male) citizens.
This is based on 'The Population of Ancient Athens - A.W.Gomme - 1933 for the year 431 B.C. when Athens was at the highest population level in her history.
| Calculated population of Athens ca.431 B.C. |
| Class |
subtotal |
Total |
| Citizens of hoplite status and over |
25,000 |
|
| Thetes* |
18,000 |
|
| Total# including woman and children |
|
172,000 |
| Metics% of hoplite status# |
|
28,500 |
| Slaves# ^ |
|
115,000 |
| Total population |
|
315,500 |
*hired labourers
%Metics were a class of free non-citizens, often employed on more menial, but vital, tasks - including trireme building, rowing and maintenance. Metics were usually Greeks from other city-states.
#this figure includes woman and children
^Slaves were the lowest class in Athenian society, but according to many contemporary accounts they were far less harshly treated than in most other Greek cities. Indeed, one of the criticisms of Athens was that its slaves and freemen were difficult to tell apart.
A fundamental part of economy, the most prized slaves worked as tutors and police officials, and one group of elite slaves was even empowered to herd citizens to the assembly with a long rope dipped in paint! Next in status were domestic slaves who, under certain circumstances, might be allowed to buy their own freedom. Often looked upon as 'one of the family', during certain festivals they would be waited upon by their masters. Lowest of all slaves were those who worked in the nearby Laurium silver mines - where most quickly perished.
The term 'slaves' shouldn't be thought of as the same as the 'slaves' of say the United States of America. To have reached the status of slave in ancient greece the home city of the slave had been overrun and lost to others, and really the slave had no chance of returning back to their city. The population had changed and his possessions had passed to someone else by force, he had no legal or chance of getting his possessions back. In ancient Greece the arrival of foreigners was frowned upon and seen as non-desirables, not to be trusted, or even let into the city. So slaves had a status and at least had a roof over their head and were allowed into the city of their enslavement. Compare this to the alternative of having no chance of returningto his home city and little chance of other city-states accepting them, the alternative was very depressing indeed.
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