The social classes

The senatorial class

During the Principate the term ordo senatorius referred to a small and exclusive social class consisting of elements of the old particio-plebeian nobility as well as of many homines novi (persons who had been elevated to the position of senator by the emperor) and their families.

Officeholding and the possession of a considerable amount of fortune remained the two basic prerequisites for admission to the senate,^{^[891]}name="_ftnref892" title="">[892] and membership of the ordo senatorius continued to be hereditary.^{^[893]} The prospective senator was required to fill one of the minor city magistracies (yigintivirate) after completing a term of military service as a tribune in a legion, and then, at the age of twenty-five, to become a candidate for the quaestorship, the office which entailed immediate admission to the senate. From the quaestorship the senatorial career led through the ordinary magistracies, the aedileship or tribunate and the praetorship, to the consulship. However, all the important positions of the cursus honorum vjqxq now subject to the direct or indirect influence of the emperor, who could use recommendations to the quaestorship, praetorship and consulship to appoint as senators men who did not meet the normal requirements for enrolment.

The members of the senatorial order enjoyed many privileges,^{^[894]} and it was from their ranks that the highest officers of the state were chosen. At the same time, however, senators were subject to certain restrictions: they were required to reside in Rome, they could not engage in commercial activities, they were not allowed to conduct marriages with freed slaves (libertim) and, from the time of Trajan (98-117 AD), they were required to invest part of their patrimony in Italian lands.

With the rapid decline in numbers of the old patricio-plebeian aristocracy^{^[895]} and the gradual shift of the economic and political centre of the empire from Italy to the provinces the composition of the senatorial class gradually changed. Already from the first century AD the recruitment of new senators from Italian families became more and more infrequent and provincial novi homines were admitted into the senate in ever increasing numbers. But the progressive provincialisation and de-Romanisation of the senate had little effect on the spirit of solidarity that always characterised the ordo senatorius, whose members strove to retain or expand their privileges, prestige and political influence, at times even against the imperial power.^{^[896]}

The equestrian class

As we saw in chapter 5, the emergence of the ordo equester as a distinct social class was precipitated by the judicial legislation of C. Gracchus in 122 BC, which gave the equites the right to serve as jurors in criminal trials. During the last century of the Republic the equites established themselves as Rome's capitalist nobility whose wealth was derived largely from business, industry, commerce and the financial management of state resources. Through their engagement in these activities they acquired considerable wealth and administrative skills and, from the early years of the Principate, they began to play an important part in the administration of the empire. But the loose structure of the equestrian order, its heterogenous composition and the varying economic circumstances of its members did not permit the equites to form a social group as closely-knit as the ordo senatorius. Moreover, by contrast with the senatorial order, membership of the equestrian order was not in principle hereditary, as admission depended not so much on blood ties as on the personal success of the individual.^{^[897]} In the course of time an increasing number of citizens from Italian and provincial communities were admitted into the equestrian class.

The career of an equestrian followed a fixed pattern of salaried positions: after a lengthy spell as a junior army officer, an equestrian was eligible for a procuratorship, i.e.

a post in the civil service, usually the administration of public finances;^{^[898]} after filling several procuratorships, he might finally attain one of the highest offices in the imperial administration, such as that of the praefectus vigilum, the praefectus annonae, the praefectus Aegypti and the praefectus praetorio. Moreover, equites often served as members of the consilium principis and occasionally were appointed as governors of small provinces. In time the equestrian order was integrated into the political structure of the Principate, and emperors regularly chose new senators from among the most eminent equestrians, including many from the provinces. The latter sought to adopt the values and manners of the Roman aristocracy, but their loyalties were often divided between Rome and their native countries and their presence in positions of high responsibility was bitterly resented by members of the traditional Roman nobility. The resultant tension was but one more element in the delicate social fabric which emperors sought, ultimately without success, to hold together.^{^[899]}

class=a4>The urban middle class

A notable feature of the early imperial period was the rapid growth of urban life in the provinces and the emergence of a prosperous middle class composed largely of land-owners, merchants, bankers, and private contractors. This class furnished the members of the municipal senates (decuriones, ordo decurionum) who, after their election, became citizens of Rome. In addition to their normal duties pertaining to local government, city management and the administration of justice, the decuriones were expected to make regular contributions to all kinds of local causes, such as public games and festivals, the building and maintenance of schools, temples, baths, libraries, etc. In return for such expenses, which were often considerable, a decurio received various privileges and honorific titles from the community and could anticipate admission into the ordo equester or even into the ordo senatorius.

This Romanised class safeguarded Rome's political control over the conquered territories and facilitated the diffusion of Roman culture in the provinces.^{^[900]} Of particular importance also was the role which wealthy freedmen played in the social and economic life of Italian and provincial communities. Much of the actual conduct of business was in their hands and, although they had no part in political life, they came to constitute a 'second order' in society alongside the ordo decurionum (as did the ordo equester alongside the ordo senatorius in the imperial society at large). This class is sometimes referred to as ordo Augustalium, as it furnished the members of the Augustales, the body who cared for the imperial cult throughout the empire. From the second century AD the heavy taxation that was imposed by the emperors on the provincials to cover the ever increasing cost of government led to the gradual decline of the urban middle class which finally disappeared during the crisis of the third century AD.

The lower classes

As has been noted in chapter 5, in the later years of the Republic the term plebs gradually lost its original meaning and, by the time of Augustus, it came to refer not to a politically distinct social group but to the lower classes of the population in general - those whose means were small and whose position in society was humble. As Roman citizens, the members of the plebs enjoyed a social advantage over slaves, freedmen and foreigners but, with the decline of the popular assemblies, they ceased to play a part in the political process. Although many of them were involved in the operation of small businesses, the majority were unable to earn a steady living as they lacked the essential capital to compete with foreign entrepreneurs and in the labour market the availability of cheap slave labour made employment difficult. In general, the urban proletariat (plebs urbana) enjoyed a better social position than the masses of the rural population (plebs rustica), as its members had better prospects for employment, more scope for participation in public life, and were regularly provided with food supplies (in Rome often by the emperor who, as defensor plebis, assumed responsibility for their physical needs, and in other cities by wealthy citizens).

During the imperial era large numbers of poverty-stricken Roman citizens and foreigners continued to place themselves under the protection of wealthy men as clients. A client was expected to be at his patron's beck and call at all hours of the day and to escort him about the city. In return for his services the client received daily gifts of food, money or clothes and occasional favours. By far the largest class in society was that of the small farmers and peasants. The basic complaint of the peasantry during this period was exploitation. Significantly, the manner in which the peasantry was exploited followed much the same pattern as that of the urban clientship: essentially the peasant had been reduced to the position of a rural client. Instead of being a small independent land holder living a free life in his rural community, the peasant had become almost everywhere in the empire the tenant of an absentee landlord and, as such, was subject to the same kind of humiliating servitude and social degradation as the urban clients. The social relationship implicit in the system of clientship, that is, the complete dependence of the poor upon the rich, was a fact of life everywhere in the Roman world.

From the second century AD a new social distinction began to emerge between two broad social groups, the honestiores ('honourable') and the humiliores ('humble'). The former constituted the aristocracy of the empire and included senators, equestrians, civil servants, soldiers and the members of the provincial town councils (decuriones). All the rest belonged to the class of the humiliores. The humiliores had a distinctly inferior standing in the eyes of the law and were subject to heavier penalties, including crucifixion and forced labour in the state mines; they had little chance of securing any kind of state job and were forced to experience all the discomforts of city life without enjoying any of its benefits.^{^[901]}

The freedmen

The freedmen (libertini) were former slaves who had been granted freedom through the formal process of manumission.

In the later Republic manumission had become so common a practice that, at the beginning of the Augustan era, the number of freedmen and their offspring exceeded by far that of the free-born Roman citizens. This was seen as a social problem by the Roman aristocracy and, under Augustus, measures were introduced aimed at reducing the number of freedmen. These included the introduction of a tax on manumitted slaves, the curtailment of manumission by will and the prohibition of manumission by persons under the age of twenty. Manumission did not result in complete freedom for the former slave. Besides the permanent stigma of being an ex-slave, strict rules governed relations between freedmen and their former masters (patroni). Above all, a libertinus owed allegiance to his patronus and had no legal rights over him. Thus it is not surprising that the great majority of freedmen continued in the same jobs which they had before they were freed in their masters' households. In spite of their inferior status, a minority of freedmen succeeded in acquiring considerable wealth, especially in the provinces, and came to play an important part in the empire's economic life.^{^[902]} Of particular importance was the role of the freedmen who belonged to the imperial household. During the earlier part of the imperial era these imperial freedmen served at every level of the official bureaucracy and many of them were elevated to positions of power.^{^[903]}

The slaves

During the later Republic and early Principate slaves constituted a significant segment of the population and served many different functions in economic life. Large numbers of them worked as domestic servants and as land labourers on the plantations, and skilled slaves were employed in various trades and industries. The treatment of slaves varied considerably depending upon such factors as geographical location, personal skills,

The Principate 273 attitudes of owners and political conditions." The slave revolts of the later Republic attest to the widespread discontent among the slave population at the time, but from the first century AD the situation of slaves gradually improved as a result of the promulgation of humanitarian legislation by emperors.^{^[904]}[905] The lex Petroma (of unknown date, probably second half of the first century AD), prohibiting owners from forcing their slaves to fight with wild beast without a magistrate's permission, was probably the earliest legislative enactment aimed at the protection of slaves. Moreover, under a law of Hadrian, also adopted by Antoninus Pius, a master was forbidden to put a slave to death unless the latter was condemned by a court of justice.^{^[906]} A special category of slaves were those who belonged to the imperial household. Most of these slaves performed menial household tasks, but some rose to subordinate positions in the provincial administration and a few became unofficial advisers to the emperor himself.^{^[907]} But, following the administrative reforms of Hadrian, the role of slaves in the administration was curtailed and by the third century AD slaves were no longer employed as members of the imperial bureaucracy.

The army

Under Augustus and his successors the principle of maintaining at all times a large standing army was fully recognised. Although the emperor retained the right of ordering a conscription and every Roman citizen was still liable to military service, in practice voluntary enlistment supplied most of the recruits. The legionaries were drawn mainly from Italy and the Roman population of the provinces. Besides the regular army of citizens, a

significant segment of the armed forces was formed by auxiliaries, troops recruited from the non Roman population of the provinces. The higher officers were drawn from the senatorial and equestrian orders and the higher classes of the provincial communities.^{^[908]} From the early years of the Principate the emperor, as commander-in-chief of the army, was alone responsible for all matters relating to the organisation and maintenance of the armed forces. He appointed the legates who commanded the legions stationed in the imperial provinces and the officers in charge of the auxiliary troops, decided on the distribution of troops in the provinces and their tasks, and made arrangements for the payment of army officers and soldiers. In the course of the second century AD the army became a separate and powerful order in the state and, by the beginning of the third century AD, as the political institutions of the Principate declined, imperial power came to depend almost entirely upon the support of the army.

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

The social classes

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