The Roman Empire has been one of the most powerful, extensive and important in the history of Humanity. Many towns fell under the yoke of Rome, and today you can still admire the architectural remains of a civilization that reached almost absolute splendor. However, already in the Roman Empire there were great differences between the different strata that made up society. In this post we are going to explain about Social classes in the Roman Empire: Patricians, Plebeian Nobles and Plebeian Knights.
The Roman civilization it is one of the most complex societies in world history. Given its long duration (since the 8th century BC c. until the 5th century AD) historians have divided the history of rome in different historical periods: Monarchy, Republic and Empire. Today I propose to go into the years of greatest splendor of the Roman empire (yes I and II BC.), but moving away from the great characters, to have a more global idea of how this society was composed.
The Roman society was divided into different classeswith different civil and Political Rights and also Economic differences. Let us see, then, what are the main social groups and some of its most relevant features:
the patricians
It was called Patricians to the oldest families in Rome, who formed an aristocracy of land owners. They had all the fiscal, judicial, political and also cultural privileges. They were full citizens. The name of Patricians was given to him because it came from “father”, in reference to the fact that they were sons of the founding fathers of Rome.
At first the patricians were the ones who made up the Roman Senatehowever, an accumulation of scandals during the time of the Republic caused that only some patricians appointed by the emperor himself, were part of the Senate and his own personal council.
It must be said that with the passage of time the patriciate was ceding importance in favor of a certain sector of the commoners, who were acquiring significant wealth and rights. Thus, the number of plebeians ended up being greater than that of the patricians, and they even began to occupy important ranks in the army, something that had been destined exclusively for the patricians.
Between the patrician rights They were occupying the magistracies and important positions in the council of the emperor and in the Senate, being heads of the Roman legions, they were authorized to take possession of the conquered lands, they could enter colleges and circles of Priests, as well as exercise the cult of the city. In addition, they had the right to own 3 names.
Keep learning history of ancient Rome:
The Plebeians of the Roman Empire
This is what was called in primitive Rome to all those who were outside the group of the Patricians. Originally they lacked rights, but through centuries of social struggles they were recognized rights similar to those of the Patricians. Among them being roman citizensto elect representatives and to have their own political institutions.
Among the commoners there were great economic differences, so that within the so-called Plebeians the following groups can be distinguished: nobles, knights and patrons.
nobles: Were the richest commonersthat they were equal to the patricians for their fortune and for occupying the most important political positions.
Gentlemen: Were commoners with an intermediate fortunewhich they obtained for their work as merchants, farmers or professionals, came to occupy political positions of medium importance.
Customers: Were commoners who had no resources of their own and they put themselves at the service of a patrician (to go to war, vote for him in the elections). In exchange, their employer gave them food and/or money. Over time, the clients became increasingly impoverished, until they became a mass of unemployed people that were easy to manipulate for political purposes.
These three social groups formed the most favored sector politically and economically in the roman society. In contrast, other social groups are in less economic conditions, being the lower strata of the Roman society. In the Roman Empire, members of other social classes could also be distinguished, although the majority, except for the slaves, were generally part of the commoners. Let us see what other social groups existed during the empire apart from monarchs and emperors, patricians, knights and commoners.
The Slaves of the Roman Empire
They had no rights of any kind. They were usually prisoners of war. The number of slaves in Rome became enormous with the expansion of the Empire. They were forced to do the hardest and meanest jobs for life. It can be said that his fate depended on the benevolence or cruelty of his master. Many of these slaves were used to satisfy the desire for entertainment of the Emperor and the people.
Slaves were the main actors in the “performances” that took place in the Roman coliseums and amphitheaters, where they often had to fight each other to the death, confront warriors equipped with armor and large swords, fight against wild animals or resist in races. of chariots, among other niceties. It should be noted that during the time of the Empire the number of slaves and the cruelty towards them reached their maximum limits, reaching the point that some leaders decided to legislate against the mistreatment of slaves. It is believed that at that time there were almost 300,000 slaves in Rome alone, and that some of the richest families could have up to 1,000.
Honorary Citizens of the Roman Empire
They were citizens who renounced their old nationality and were welcomed by the Empire in exchange for obtaining Roman nationality.
The Army of the Roman Empire
Members of the army had to undergo brutal training for 4 months in order to enter the corps. Those who could not bear it were rejected. The tests consisted of traveling 30 kilometers in less than 5 hours. Later, they should do the same but provided with the regulation armor and instruments of all kinds necessary to build a camp that included defensive barriers after each day of training.
Initially most of the army was made up of patricians or professional soldiersbut as the empire grew and the problems grew, it became necessary to get more and more troops, so commoners began to be accepted, with which the army suffered a certain devaluation. Even the plebeians, at the time of the decline of the patricians, became the most present social class in the Roman army.
Colonists of the Roman Empire
They could be considered as the intermediate step between the slavery that reigned during the Roman Empire and the Feudalism that would come to dominate the Middle Ages. In the last phases of the Empire, with improved production systems and infrastructure, it became clear that Rome did not need as many slaves. Thus, many of them were released, who became free settlersalthough generally very poor.
In short, these settlers went on to live in freedom, but they had to continue working the land of the rich landowners to survive. In addition, in order to cultivate the land, he had to pay a canon or tax to the landowner.
On the other hand, the settlers they had no right to hold any public officeand in the event that the owner sold his land to another landowner, the settler would also be part of the agreement, that is, it would pass into the hands of another landowner.
Finally, it should be noted that the Roman Empire was marked by inequality between social classes, the luxury of some and the slavery of others, and also in the continuous tensions and struggles for power and rights between different classes, such as the patricians and the commoners.
The Roman Empire lasted more than a millennium, with which, also underwent numerous evolutions, both at a political, economic or territorial level, but also in relation to social classes. For example, some slaves could stop being slaves, or some commoners could become very important personalities, even close to the Emperor.
Women in the Roman Empire
We can consider that the women in the Roman Empire they had a social status in itself, regardless of the fact that the different circumstances of their birth could give them greater decision-making power than others. Obviously, the possibilities, both socially and economically, that an empress had, for example, were not the same as those of a slave but, in any case, women were subject to specific social conditioning for their sex in the Ancient Rome.
In Ancient Rome, women born in freedom were considered as Roman citizens, but they could not practice the rights and duties that the same consideration gave to men. For example, they could not vote or hold any public office, except in the religious field and only in very specific positions, as is the case of the vestals. Likewise, women were subordinated to the legal authority of a paterfamilias or guardian.
Although practically all the members of the family were subordinated to the authority of the aforementioned paterfamilias to a greater or lesser degree, it is true that, except for very few cases, women never achieved total independence, something that men could aspire to. . In any case, it must be taken into account that the Roman family was conceived as a group and not as an individual, so aspects such as marriages were always linked to the paterfamilias and to the family unit as a whole. In fact, Roman women always belonged to their family of origin, even after her marriage and moving into her husband’s house, divorce possible. In any case, it was considered that women should always be under the legal protection of a man, which could be more or less strict, although they had freedom of action.
In addition, it is also true that the Roman laws protected the interests of the citizens, since they could own property, go to court, or even emancipate themselves if a very strict legal procedure was followed, something very different from what happened to women in other ancient cultures, such as the Greek or Mesopotamian.
In any case, at different times in the long history of Rome, some rules related to women were changing, giving them more or less freedom. For example, during the time of the first Emperor Augustusduring the last century before our era, the conservative vision that he wanted to impose caused him to promulgate laws such as the one that prohibited adulterous women from remarrying or that he punished them by losing an important part of their properties.
Learn who Augustus was and how he became Emperor of Rome:
Therefore, we must take into account the period in which we move, although women were always in a plane of inequality with men, officially separated from everyone…