Roman Social Class System

• Early Roman Society was divided into the Patrician Class and the Plebeian Class, and early Roman History concerns the struggle between these two classes.
• From the first Century CE onwards, the Equestrian Knights were officially recognised as a third class and given their own career ladder in both the military and the civil service. They had their own seating area in Public Buildings such as the Colosseum.

The Four Classes in Roman Society

1. Patrician:
   • The Patricians were the wealthy Roman Landowning Aristocracy, Their wealth came from ownership of huge Agricultural Estates known as Latifundia, as wealth from commerce was not considered acceptable.
   • The Cursus Honorum was the Senatorial Career Path which was unsalaried.
2. Equestrian:
   • The Equites were the Roman Knights, who did not develop as a separate class until the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE).
   • They were defined as Equites if they owned a minimum property value of 50,000 Denarii, and later still under Augustus (27BCE-14 CE), of 100,000 Denarii.
   • The Equo Publico was the Equestrian career path, which where positions were paid a salary.
3. Plebeian:
   • Everyone else.
   • They were elected to the Popular Assemblies.
   • Tribune of the Plebs was the office that arose in the 5th century BCE, designed to protect the Plebeians from the Patricians.
   • The lowest order of the Plebeians were the former slaves who formed a separate class called the Libertini, meaning Freedmen.
4. Roman Slaves
   • The Slaves formed a fourth class. The Slave was the Property of his Master.
   • In Roman Law, the Slave had no legal status as a person, no persona, no name or Cognomen, no personality, no past and no Goods. They did not own their own body and were not included in the Roman Census.
   • However, they were protected under Roman Law because they were the Property of the Owner.