A method for estimating Roman population sizes from urban survey contexts : an application in central Adriatic Italy

In recent years, there has been considerable debate on estimating Roman urban population sizes. Most of these efforts, however, have been focused on the best-known Italian urban contexts, such as Pompeii, Cosa, Ostia and Rome, that is, towns with an exceptional state of preservation and a long history of archaeological excavation. In this paper, we will focus our attention on two lesser-known Roman towns in central Adriatic Italy: Potentia, a newly founded colonia, and Trea, an organically grown municipium. In particular, we aim to demonstrate how a combination of systematic fieldwork in abandoned town areas with the incorporation of all relevant archaeological, literary and epigraphic data from the wider study area can be a great starting point for establishing urban demographic models based on more commonly encountered archaeological contexts. The proposed methodology is linear and starts from an analysis of the best documented phase of the settlements regarding urbanistic, public, commercial and religious space, as such establishing the potential areas available for residential buildings. These areas are then filled in by looking at the private architecture in these and other surrounding Roman towns, this in order to arrive at approximate density figures for their populations.