Roman census figures of the second century B.C. and the property qualification of the fifth class

Recent contributions have cast serious doubt on the traditional account of the agrarian and demographic history of the second century BC and on earlier reconstructions of the background to the lex agraria proposed by Tiberius Gracchus. This chapter tries to assess the plausibility of these alternative interpretations and to evaluate to what extent, if any, the evidence of the census figures for the second century can be taken to reveal real demographic change or is to be interpreted rather as reflecting the changing efficiency of census taking.

Alcuni contributi recenti hanno messo in discussione la ricostruzione vulgata della storia agraria e demografica del II secolo e dei prodromi della proposta di riforma di Tiberio Gracco. Nel saggio si tenta di verificare la plausibilità di queste intepretazioni alternative e di valutare in quale misura le cifre dei censimenti del II secolo, trasmesseci dalle fonti, possano essere considerate indicative della dinamica del popolamento o non piuttosto di una maggiore o minore efficacia della rilevazione censuale. Recent contributions have cast serious doubt on the traditional account of the agrarian and demographic history of the second century BC and on earlier reconstructions of the background to the lex agraria proposed by Tiberius Gracchus. This chapter tries to assess the plausibility of these alternative interpretations and to evaluate to what extent, if any, the evidence of the census figures for the second century can be taken to reveal real demographic change or is to be interpreted rather as reflecting the changing efficiency of census taking.