First of all, it should be noted that there is usually a direct relation between ancient inventions and anthropology. Many times, an invention is given credit at one particular time but it is later discovered that it may have been used hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years earlier. A good example of this is the Archimedes screw which was thought to have been invented during the second century B.C. by a Greek inventor who shared the same name as his invention. It is now widely accepted that this same type of the device was used hundreds of years earlier by Nebuchadnezzar in order to water the famous hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Estimates of the population of ancient Athens vary. During the 4th century BC, there may well have been some 250,000–300,000 people in Attica. Citizen families may have amounted to 100,000 people and out of these some 30,000 will have been the adult male citizens entitled to vote in the assembly. In the mid-5th century the number of adult male citizens was perhaps as high as 60,000, but this number fell precipitously during the Peloponnesian War.