I know that the population of Rome during the height of the empire was unprecedently big at around 1 million people. However after the fall of the western empire and being sacked and invaded multiple times the population shrunk to just a few thousand people. Do we have any accounts on how was it like living in the city after its fall? Was it like a ghost town where everybody could see the ruins of the empire or was much of it burned or destroyed?
Much more can always be said - Rome was still an important city in the politics of the HRE and the papal states. But I wrote a little bit about the perspective of outsiders, medieval travellers and pilgrims to Rome, so hopefully that helps a little bit: