Calculating the population of a Roman provincial town: (Conimbriga, Prov. Lusitania, Portugal)

Abstract

Conimbriga (prov. Lusitania, current municipality of Condeixa-a-Nova, District of Coimbra, Portugal) is a Roman city of indigenous roots known since the sixteenth century, the subject of excavations and various publications since 1890 and, since 1930, the place of systematic archaeological excavations that have exposed the site and saved it as a major Roman site in the Iberian Peninsula. A method for calculating the population number of a Roman town is presented, based on the study of the domestic architecture of the c. 20% of excavated area. The method allows to go beyond the mere number of inhabitants and to suggest some reconstruction of the structure of the population. Conclusion point to a small town (c. 5500 inhabitants) and a deeply stratified structure, with almost a third of slaves and dependents and a small decurionate class, not exceeding c. 7% (around 40 families).