Spartan Oliganthropia

Abstract

The population of the Spartiates declined from some 8,000 to fewer than 1,000 in the Classical and Hellenistic eras. The causes and consequences of this decline are important for an understanding not only of ancient Greek history, but also of the study of pre-industrial populations and population dynamics more generally. This work surveys a range of representative modern scholarship on this phenomenon and discusses topics such as family planning, elite under-reproduction, wealth polarization, and notions of eugenic exclusivity, and suggests avenues for further research.