Population of the Byzantine Empire

Short description: none

The population of the Byzantine Empire encompassed all ethnic and tribal groups living there, mainly Byzantine Greeks, but also Albanians, Armenians, Assyrians, Bulgarians, Goths, Kartvelians, Latini, Levantine Arabs, Serbs and Croats, Thracians, Thraco-Romans, Illyro-Romans,Tzans, Vlachs and other groups. It fluctuated throughout the state's millennial history. The reign of the Emperor Justinian I in the mid-sixth century was the high point of the empire's expansion;[1] however, the arrival of plague in 541 AD and its subsequent recurrences caused a severe depletion of the population.[2] After the reign of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641 AD) and the loss of the empire's overseas territories, Byzantium was limited to the Balkans and Anatolia. When the empire began to recover after a series of conflicts in the 8th century and its territories stabilized, its population began to recover. By the end of the 8th century the population of the empire was around 7,000,000, a figure that climbed to over 12,000,000 people by 1025 AD.[3] The numbers began falling steadily to 9,000,000 people at 1204 AD and even lower to 5,000,000 people at 1282 AD with the arrival of the Turks.[4]

## Contents

* 1 Population estimates
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 Further reading
* 6 External links

## Population estimates

The Byzantine Empire may have had a population of over 26 million at its height.

Year | Population
(estimated) | Area
(km2; estimated) | Population density
(per km2; estimated) | Notes

|
|
|
|

300 | 18,000,000[5] | 2,000,000 | 9 | Roman East
311 | 17,000,000[5] | 2,100,000 | 8.1 | Roman East
457 | 16,000,000[5] | 2,350,000 | 6.81 | Roman East
518 | 19,000,000[6] | 2,300,000 | 8.26 |
540 | 26,000,000[7] | 3,200,000 | 8.13 | Just before the Plague of Justinian
565 | 20,000,000[7] | 3,400,000 | 5.88 | Justinian I's death
600 | 17,000,000[7] | 2,900,000 | 5.86 |
641 | 10,500,000[6] | 1,500,000 | 7 |
668 | 10,000,000[6] | 1,300,000 | 7.69 |
775 | 7,000,000[6] | 880,000 | 7.95 |
842 | 8,000,000[6] | 1,000,000 | 8 |
959 | 9,000,000[6] | 1,100,000 | 8.18 |
1025 | 12,000,000[3] | 1,675,000 | 7.16 | Basil II's death
1097 | 5,000,000[4] | 555,000 | 9.09 | First Crusade
1143 | 10,000,000[4] | 1,000,000 | 10 | John II's death
1204 | 9,000,000[4] | 610,000 | 14.75 | Fourth Crusade
1282 | 5,000,000[8] | 550,000 | 9.09 | Michael VIII's death
1312 | 2,000,000[8] | 460,000 | 4.35 |
1320 | 2,000,000[6] | 420,000 | 4.76 |

## See also

* Armenians in the Byzantine Empire

## References

1. ↑ James 2010, p. 3
2. ↑ Treadgold 1997, p. 196
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Treadgold 1997, p. 570.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Treadgold 1997, p. 700.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Treadgold 1997, p. 137.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Treadgold 2001, p. 236.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Treadgold 1997, p. 278.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Treadgold 1997, p. 841.

## Bibliography

* James, Liz, ed (2010). A Companion to Byzantium. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-2654-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=d1Mt-t-bgzoC&pg=PA3.
* Treadgold, Warren T. (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC.
* Treadgold, Warren T. (2001). A Concise History of Byzantium. Basingstoke: Palgrave. ISBN 0-333-71829-1. https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00trea.

## Further reading

* Laiou, Angeliki E., ed (2002). The Economic History of Byzantium from the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 0-88402-288-9. https://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/books/the-economic-history-of-byzantium.
* Mcevedy, Colin; Jones, Richard (1978). Atlas of World Population History. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Ltd. and Allen Lane. https://www.scribd.com/document/265075586.
* Page, Gill (2008). Being Byzantine: Greek Identity Before the Ottomans, 1200-1420 (1 ed.). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521871815. OCLC 302061918.

## External links

* Howard Wiseman (2002–2011). "18 Centuries of Roman Empire". http://www.ict.griffith.edu.au/wiseman/Roman/RomanEmpire.html.

* v
* t
* e

Byzantine Empire topics

History

| Preceding|

* Roman Empire
* Dominate

|

(330-717)

Early|

* Constantinian-Valentinian era
* Constantinian dynasty
* Valentinian dynasty
* Theodosian era
* Leonid era
* Justinian era
* Heraclian era
* Twenty Years' Anarchy

(717-1204)

Middle|

* Isaurian era
* Nikephorian era
* Amorian era
* Macedonian era
* Doukid era
* Komnenian era
* Angelid era

(1204-1453)

Late|

* Sack of Constantinople
* Fourth Crusade
* Frankokratia
* Latin Empire
* Byzantine successor states (Nicaea / Epirus–Thessalonica / Morea / Trebizond)
* Palaiologan era
* Decline of the Byzantine Empire
* Fall of Constantinople

Governance

| Central|

* Emperors
* Family tree
* Imperial bureaucracy
* Medieval Greek
* Senate

Early|

* Praetorian prefects
* Magister officiorum
* Comes sacrarum largitionum
* Comes rerum privatarum
* Quaestor sacri palatii

Middle|

* Logothetes tou dromou
* Sakellarios
* Logothetes tou genikou
* Logothetes tou stratiotikou
* Chartoularios tou sakelliou
* Chartoularios tou vestiariou
* Epi tou eidikou
* Protasekretis
* Epi ton deeseon

Late|

* Megas logothetes
* Mesazon

Provincial|

| Early|

* Praetorian prefectures
* Dioceses
* Provinces
* Quaestura exercitus
* Exarchate of Ravenna
* Exarchate of Africa

|

Middle|

* Themata
* Kleisourai
* Bandon
* Catepanates

Late|

* Kephale
* Despotates

Diplomacy|

* Treaties
* Diplomats
* Roman–Iranian relations

Military

| Army|

* Battle tactics
* Battles
* Generals
* Mercenaries
* Military manuals
* Military units
* Revolts
* Wars

Early|

* Late Roman army
* East Roman army
* Foederati
* Bucellarii
* Scholae Palatinae
* Excubitors

Middle|

* Themata
* Kleisourai
* Tourma
* Droungos
* Bandon
* Tagmata
* Domestic of the Schools
* Hetaireia
* Akritai
* Varangian Guard

Late|

* Komnenian army
* Pronoia
* Vestiaritai
* Palaiologan army
* Allagion
* Paramonai
* Grand domestic

Navy|

* Karabisianoi
* Maritime themata
* Cibyrrhaeot
* Aegean Sea
* Samos
* Dromon
* Greek fire
* Droungarios of the Fleet
* Megas doux
* Admirals
* Naval battles

Religion and law

| Religion|

* Eastern Orthodoxy
* Byzantine Rite
* Hesychasm
* Patriarchate of Constantinople
* Saints
* Oriental Orthodoxy
* Alexandrian Rite
* Armenian Rite
* West Syriac Rite
* Miaphysitism
* Ecumenical councils
* Arianism
* Monophysitism
* Paulicianism
* Iconoclasm
* Great Schism
* Bogomilism
* Mount Athos
* Missionary activity
* Bulgaria
* Moravia
* Serbs
* Kievan Rus'
* Jews

|

Law|

* Codex Theodosianus
* Corpus Juris Civilis
* Code of Justinian
* Ecloga
* Basilika
* Hexabiblos
* Mutilation

Culture and society

| Architecture|

* Secular
* Sacred
* Cross-in-square
* Domes

Constantinople|

* Basilica Cistern
* Baths of Zeuxippus
* Blachernae Palace
* Chora Church
* City Walls
* Great Palace of Constantinople
* Hagia Irene
* Hagia Sophia
* Hippodrome
* Pammakaristos Church
* Prison of Anemas

Thessalonica|

* Arch of Galerius and Rotunda
* Byzantine Bath
* Hagia Sophia
* Hagios Demetrios
* Panagia Chalkeon
* Walls of Thessaloniki

Ravenna|

* San Vitale
* Sant'Apollinare in Classe
* Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

Other locations|

* Daphni Monastery
* Hosios Loukas
* Nea Moni of Chios
* Panagia Gorgoepikoos
* Saint Catherine's Monastery
* Mystras

Art|

* Icons
* Enamel
* Glass
* Mosaics
* Early Byzantine mosaics
* Painters
* Macedonian period art
* Komnenian renaissance

Economy|

* Agriculture
* Coinage
* Mints
* Trade
* silk
* Silk Road
* Varangians
* Dynatoi

Literature|

* Novel
* Acritic songs
* Digenes Akritas
* Alexander Romance
* Historians

Everyday life|

* Calendar
* Cuisine
* Dance
* Dress
* Flags and insignia
* Gardens
* Music
* Lyra
* Octoechos
* People
* Byzantine Greeks
* Women
* Slavery
* Units of measurement

* Science
* Learning

* Encyclopedias
* Imperial Library
* Inventions
* Medicine
* Philosophy
* Rhetoric
* Scholars
* University
* University of Constantinople

Impact

* Byzantine commonwealth
* Byzantine studies
* Museums
* Byzantinism
* Cyrillic script
* Neo-Byzantine architecture
* Greek scholars in the Renaissance
* Third Rome
* Megali Idea

* Byzantine Empire portal

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