Blanco Robles, Fernando. “Demografía de La Esclavitud En Hispania Romana.” Lucentum, no. 45, 19 Jan. 2026, pp. 83–100.
Given the almost total absence of studies dedicated to the demography of slaves in Roman times, we propose an approach to the investigation of the demography of slavery from the Latin epigraphy of Hispania in this article, with a chronology that will not exceed the High Roman Empire. From a detailed breakdown of its demographic information –bearing in mind and taking into account the general trends observed among the rest of the free population of the Empire–, the difference in the sex ratio among slaves, their mortality, life expectancy, and other demographic behaviors linked to the family are considered and analyzed. Our fundamental conclusion is that, from the point of view of demography, slaves are totally assimilable to the free population. On the other hand, the discussion on the problem of the sources of slaves and their main supply routes is also addressed, as well as the feasibility of sustaining their numbers as a group during imperial times, where the role of the vernae may not have been as substantial as it has been assumed. Concerning this, the percentage of slaves in Roman society is discussed likewise, and a hypothetical calculation of the number of slaves in Hispania during the high imperial period is proposed, which could be around 9% of the population.
