[Information/Sources] Massalia and major western Mediterranean settlements 300BC

[QuintusSertorius]

well, there is Roman census data IIRC that gives the population of Rome, though I don't know if it goes back that far. I think those can be found online for free.

as to Massalia itself? to my knowledge there have been no estimates of the population of Massalia prior to the 18th century (for those who don't know, Massalia = Marseilles), beyond the fact that it quickly hit 1,000 after its founding ~600 BC.

Just been doing some quick research on Rome, and it suggests most historians treat the early censuses with disdain. That the numbers were basically made up. I know Rome was smaller than Syracuse, would 50,000 be an outlandish figure? Apparently Greek city states rarely got over 40,000, with 20-30,000 people being the trigger to send people out to form new colonies and relieve overpopulation pressures.

Yes, Massalia was a large town at best, I'd be guessing in the 5,000 region at most (and probably less than 500 that could be called up to military service as hoplites).