Roman Warfare and the Male Population

 After losing tens of thousands of men in numerous battles and wars during the length of the Empire's existence, what was the gender population imbalance like?

 Although the answer is somewhat dull, there was no gender disparity. If there was an imbalance, it was caused by more men than women, not the other way around. You might be wondering how the males manage to have more people since it was just men who died in combat. There are two main causes, though. 1. The level of patriarchy in ancient Rome would drive modern feminists absolutely insane. 2. The quality of ancient medical care ranged from being as good as doing nothing to being worse than doing nothing.So let's start by discussing war casualties. In all honesty, the proportion of men who died in combat to the total population was incredibly low. Remember that there were roughly 50–100 million people living in the Roman Empire as a whole. 

You might be wondering how the males manage to have more people since it was just men who died in combat. There are two main causes, though.

The level of patriarchy in ancient Rome would make modern feminists practically go insane.

In the ancient world, medical care ranged from being just as beneficial as doing nothing to being worse than doing nothing.

So let's start by discussing war casualties.

In all honesty, the proportion of men who died in combat to the total population was incredibly low. Remember that there were roughly 50–100 million people living in the Roman Empire as a whole. The total number of Roman soldiers ranged from 300,000 to 500,000. Therefore, in reality, between 0.3% and 0.5% of the population served in the military. Therefore, barely 1% of the male population overall served in the military.

Therefore, just 1% of men would have died if every single soldier had been killed. But in reality, that never happened. Sometimes during difficult years when civil conflicts were waged, perhaps 10% of the army would perish. maybe 1% in prosperous years

Now let's talk about patriarchy.

Through and through, the Romans were a culture ruled by men. Women were treated as second-class citizens without many fundamental rights. They were supposed to be mothers first and foremost, and they were prohibited from voting and holding public office.

Women frequently didn't even get their real names. Julia and Julia Secunda, which translate as Julia and Second Julia, would be the names Julius Caesar would most likely give his two children.

This relates to an intriguing topic: how Roman families functioned.

In ancient Rome, families were valued and significant. Families were the centre of the Empire's whole social structure. A large family like the Claudii, which would include all cousins, slaves, and offspring, may number between 300 and 1000 people.

One Paterfamilias oversaw each family. This man was the family's oldest or most accomplished male. His word was infallible and unquestionable. He was free to do whatever he pleased, including expel members of the family.

Before the mother could even glimpse the newborn, the infant in a family was placed on the ground and left there. The kid would then be examined by the Paterfamilias. The child would be welcomed into the family if he or she was hugged; however, if the child was left on the ground, he or she would be rejected from the family and allowed to literally perish.

Slaves would physically leave babies on the side of the road and traverse the streets of Rome looking for them if a Paterfamilias refused.

In all likelihood, only female children would be rejected by a family. Girls were sometimes more likely to be rejected since families occasionally needed more sons.

Past that, it's critical to keep in mind that

Women have children

Back then, medical care was incredibly basic.

All of this indicates that women frequently died during childbirth, or at least far more frequently than in modern times.

Yes, men carried out the majority of the fighting throughout the Roman Empire, but women also had to fight for their rights, and it was not nice.