Note 557 — Chapter II · THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER ANASTASIUS: THE INHERITANCE OF JUSTINIAN

To take a few instances: Thessalonica and Hadrianople, former population not less than 300,000 each, now about 70,000 each; Antioch, formerly 500,000 (Chrysostom mentions 200,000, doubtless only freemen), now 7,500; Alexandria, formerly 750,000, now again growing into prosperity, 230,000; on the other hand, Ephesus, Palmyra, Baalbec, etc., once great cities, have entirely disappeared. Nor have any modern towns sprung up to replace those mentioned; Cairo alone, with its 371,000, is an apparent exception, but it is almost on the site of Memphis, still a busy town in the sixth century. For these and many similar examples the modern gazetteers, etc., are a sufficient reference. Taking all things into consideration, to give a hundred millions to the countries forming the Eastern Empire, in their palmy days, might not be an overestimate; and even then the density of population would be only about one-third of what it is in England at the present day.