Roman Society

Мыслевцев А.С.

Roman society was shaped by family, law, property, civic status, age, gender, origin and personal ties. The same person could be a citizen, a client of a powerful patron, head of a household, veteran, debtor, member of a collegium or inhabitant of a provincial town.

In brief:

• the basic unit was the familia headed by a household father;
• political status depended on citizenship and place in the community;
• property distinctions separated senators, equestrians, urban and rural masses;
• slaves and freedmen were central to economy and domestic life;
• patronage connected high and low status people through networks of obligation and service.

Family and household

Familia could denote household members, enslaved people, property or the estate. Members’ legal positions differed: a wife was not necessarily under the same authority as children. The paterfamilias held particular rights and obligations. Clients were connected to a patron through reciprocal duties, but were not thereby his legally dependent children or slaves.

The position of men and women was not the same. Men more often took part in politics, the army and legal life; women, especially matronae from prosperous families, managed the household, kinship ties and property, although formal political rights were limited. The articles Men in Ancient Rome and Women in Ancient Rome therefore show different sides of one social system.

Orders, status and wealth

Roman social structure changed from Republic to Empire, but several groups remained especially visible. Patricians connected their prestige with ancient lineages; plebeians formed the broad body of citizens and gradually won political rights; senators and equestrians made up higher strata tied to office, land, military service and finance.

Below them were free poor citizens, craftsmen, merchants, tenants, clients and provincial inhabitants. Still lower in legal terms stood slaves, although the actual lives of slaves differed greatly: a household steward, literate secretary, farm worker and mine slave lived in very different conditions. Freedmen could possess property and connections, but origin continued to affect status.

Citizenship, patronage and provinces

Roman citizenship gave a person important legal possibilities, but it did not make all citizens socially equal. A wealthy senator, urban craftsman and poor rural citizen had different resources. Alongside law stood informal ties: a patronus protected a client, helped with advice, money or courts, while the client supported the patron with votes, services and public attendance.

As Rome expanded, society became imperial. It included inhabitants of Italy, Latin communities, peregrini, municipal elites, veterans, soldiers and provincial aristocracies. By the third century CE, the distinction between citizens and non-citizens became less important than property, administrative and military status.

Topic navigation

I. Main statuses

• Roman citizenship
• Patricians
• Plebeians
• Senator
• Equites

II. People and household

• Men in Ancient Rome
• Women in Ancient Rome
• Slaves

III. Roman world

• Latins
• Peregrini
• Roman religion

Related topics

• Roman citizenship
• Patricians
• Plebeians
• Senator
• Equites
• Slaves

Literature and sources

1. Cicero. De Officiis; Speeches. 2. Livy. History of Rome. 3. Pliny the Younger. Letters. 4. Paul Veyne. Roman Erotic Elegy and the Roman Family; Bread and Circuses. 5. Peter Garnsey, Richard Saller. The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture. 6. Mary Beard. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome.