I was playing Civilization and it said I had some really large number population and I thought to myself that doesn't seem right for the time period. And then I thought back to other games I played where towns had maybe 5-10 families living there and not much more and thought that wasn't right either.
So, I know this is tough to narrow down, but let's say a town/city in the late Roman Empire or in Europe before the population boom of the middle ages, what would their populations and town layouts be like? How many families could you expect to be in a square mile or so? Thanks!
You should check out the book "Montaillou" by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie. It is a modern breakdown of the records of a census/inquisition of a small town in France from 1294 to 1324 by the authorities looking for heretics.
The town of Montaillou had 200-250 people, making it only a small village. After the plague, this dropped by half due to deaths and people leaving. There were at least 26 "important" families, plus individuals and people living nearby.