In small, warrior tribal societies that may very well be true. I don't know how well it applies to more developed civilizations.
In general, in the ancient world kings could have more than one wife. It was a way of solidifying alliances. Nobles could imitate the royal practice, especially if their first wife couldn't provide an heir, but commoners tended to be monogamous.
I did find this on Wikipedia, though:
"On February 14, 1650, the parliament at Nürnberg decreed that, because so many men were killed during the Thirty Years’ War, the churches for the following ten years could not admit any man under the age of 60 into a monastery. Priests and ministers not bound by any monastery were allowed to marry. Lastly, the decree stated that every man was allowed to marry up to ten women. The men were admonished to behave honorably, provide for their wives properly, and prevent animosity among them."
Don't know if it's true or not or if any guys took them up on it.
Lately the BBC has been saying that politicians in Afghanistan and Iraq (where polygamy is legal) want to see more of it because of war losses.
It is rumored that the Catholic Church informally approved of polygyny in Paraguay after the Paraguayan War. Somewhere close to 90% of Paraguayan adult males died in that war, which was roughly contemporaneous with our WBTS.