ABSTRACT
The most significant factor in Athenian demography for many years after 431 was the Peloponnesian War. As much as the hoplites suffered in the Peloponnesian War, the thetes suffered even more so many hoplites, including former cleruchs, dropped into the thetic class, as one must assume to explain why the drop in hoplite numbers was even greater than the plague and battle casualties would suggest. Moreover, the cohorts born after the plague began to raise the size of the population at the end of the fifth century. Taken as a whole, therefore, the demographic costs of the Peloponnesian War were staggering, and except for the small grace that there were now fewer mouths to feed, immensely deleterious to Athens. The new demography was, however, not without value to those members of the Athenian upper classes who feared a more radical democracy.
