Roman society

Roman society has changed throughout history. In Rome, as it was in the whole ancient world, there was a distinct division between rich and poor citizens. In the capital of the Empire, there was a huge gulf and nobody even tried to hide it. Those differences in wealth were on view mainly in the contrast to the lavishness of the new rich’s residences (whose fortune was the result of the Empire’s development) with the misery of the tenements inhabited by the Roman proletariat. The Romans accepted those distinctions as a normal state of things, without any resistance. In any case, there was hardly any ancient civilization which considered it a problem, they rather tended to accept it. But still, only a few of them emphasized such social division as the Romans did.

The term “plebeians” at different times described different social classes. Conquests and giving the right to vote to the new social groups widened the number of full citizens. Typical Roman citizens used to live in the countryside. Roman society always had an agricultural character. Society’s attitude towards the land which supported it was multifarious, but it was always considered to be fundamental. This truth about the early history of Rome is obscured by the glory of the Empire period – the vision of a huge, parasitic city.

Roman society was divided into two groups. One of them was patricians (from the Latin word patres which means fathers), a group of full citizens, including the most prestigious and wealthy houses. They were a privileged social class, had full political rights and, to the moment, an exclusivity in assuming offices.

The other group were the plebeians who were not full Roman citizens. It was the vast majority of the whole society which derived from the conquered peoples settling in Rome. They were free but – again to the moment – did not have any rights. The eldest patricians sat in the Senate being the advisory council which helped to take the most important decisions concerning the country and society. Roman society of that time was characterized by the absolute power of a father who decided about his family members’ life and death.

Farmers, sometimes even extremely poor were the free people of the early Republic. In terms of law Roman society was divided into many categories according to a complicated rule going back to the Etruscan domination. Those divisions influenced the votes but had no economic meaning and mattered less than a simple division into those who could afford the arms and hence could serve in the army, those who provided the country only with children and finally those who had neither a family nor the fortune. The lowest class were slaves.

The owners of smaller farms began to pauperise more quickly in the 2nd and 3rd century BCE. Simultaneously, the aristocracy’s wealth grew thanks to the conquests. It was a long-standing process which resulted in new social and political divisions. Also granting citizenship to Rome’s allies became popular.
So the number of citizens increased, but their influence on the country’s decisions and politics fell simultaneously.

Plebeian secession

Wealth began to perform more and more significant roles but it was not the only thing that mattered. It was also important that all the decisions in Rome were made without the political representation of citizens inhabiting some new territories of a spreading city who could express their opinion. As a result, the plebs, threatened with the refusal of military service or even leaving Rome and founding a new city were able to force limitations on the Senate’s power and its officials.

From 355 BCE one of the consuls was chosen from the plebs and from 287 BCE the regulations of the Plebeian Council became operative. However, the valid limitation of a ruling class was brought by the establishment of the tribunate (ten tribunes plebes chosen in a popular vote). Available both by day and by night for the citizens who felt aggrieved, the tribunes could advance the bills and had the right to veto them. The role of the tribune rose during the turbulent time of fight in the Senate.

Slavery

The same as all ancient societies also the Roman was based on slavery. It was possible to become a slave by birth, as a captive, a prisoner of war, while being caught by a slave trader or sold by their own family, or while being not able to clear a debt. The situation of slaves was different. It depended on the fact whether a slave intended to work in a city or in the countryside where living conditions were primitive. Their owners needed a just workforce, imposed ruthless discipline and took no care of the slaves.

Among the slaves, there were a lot of well-educated people, mostly the Greeks who were hired as lectors, secretaries or caretakers and educators of their masters’ sons. It also happened that they were trusted with more responsible jobs such as running the library or rewriting the books. The other slaves had less demanding jobs, they were their masters’ body servants. They were also janitors, repairmen, and ran craft workshops or regular shops. Their income was passed on to the public purse of a city which owned those slaves.

A slave was totally dependent on his master and could be punished with extreme severity. In the cases of the most terrible guilt, they were condemned to death by crucifying. Sometimes the owner passed the culprit to the man organizing the games and then the poor thing was thrown to the lions in the arena. However, the owners were avoiding losing their slaves as they were paying a heavy price for them and preferred to dismiss the disobedient ones to the countryside.

The slaves acquiring themselves well were being freed by their masters or received an agreement for buying their freedom. Sometimes they were freed with their owners’ will. A freedman stayed with a family as a reliable man, secretary or administrator. The imperial freedmen could become even high-ranking officials.

The exploitation and harsh treatment of slaves led to a series of uprisings in the latter part of the Roman Republic. The biggest and most dangerous one was the uprising of Spartacus (73-71 BCE).

At the beginning of the country’s existence, there were only a few slaves. It was caused