Roman Social Classes

Mia Bacilio.
17 March 2015
Mrs.Fernandez
Social Studies
Life As A Roman Citizen Although the Roman Empire happened thousands of years ago their rule has impact to this day. The Romans set the foundation for how modern society is now set up; the social structure the Romans had evolved into the social classes we now have. The social classes were divided based on political prowess, economic status, and political stance, just as we now today divide ourselves into classes. Whether it 's a good or bad practice, its nonetheless the practice, we now go about our everyday lives. The Romans divided themselves by general power, and the power decreased the further down the social pyramid you go. Social classes, and what class you were in, determined what clothes you wore, what food you ate, what jobs you had, and various other matters of life. Rome was divided into five classes: the senators, equestrians, commons, freed people, and slaves. The senators were men who served in the Senate. This class was dominated by the nobles which meant they had to have an ancestor who previously had political power. The senators would decide on the laws of the land. The senators were those who decided on the laws that were to govern Rome, and made sure the people followed those laws. The restrictions the senators had were prohibited to talk to lower classes unless it was about business. The senators are similar to the Legislative and Judicial branches of American government today. They are the politicians who make and pick the bills which are made into laws and make sure American citizens follow the laws. The senators were the highest class of Rome and had the most power in all of Rome. The equestrians were the militaristic and wealthy people of Rome. As long as you had enough money and property to qualify you could become an equestrian, but it was only for men. If you were an equestrian you could become a low level politician, or you could even rise to a high level senator. The equestrians wore a thin purple stripe on their togas and wore a gold ring on one finger. Roman law says senators were unable to talk to equestrians, so the equestrians had control over the trading roles. Most of the equestrian were successful miners or exporters, or took on public contracts to build aqueducts or roads. Today equestrians would be our police, military, contracters, and even architects. The commons were the citizens of Rome. The male citizens wore togas. The Roman citizens were able to marry other Roman citizens, and they were able to have children who were Roman citizens. The commons were the backbone to the economy, because they were the consumers. They were the main demographic that the Roman economy catered to, thus their money was the main source of cash for the goverment.They kept strictly to themselves. They are what evolved to what is now known as the middle class. The freed people were the men and women who bought their freedom from slavery. The freed people were not fully free because they still has restrictions and owed certain duties to their former masters. This was the only class not able to leave Rome. Their freeborn children became full citizens and even could become equestrians if they became rich enough. Freed people had low social status, and most were probably fairly poor, and it was possible for them to achieve some success in trading, and sometimes from trading some would become wealthy. They helped the economy by trade: the freed people were often the traders in Roman society. They didn 't have a distinction of clothing, though the privilege of having names indicated their status as freed people. Evolved into the lower class in our modern society. Similar to the minimum wage workers, we now know. The slaves were born into slavery or sold into slavery. Slaves were the property of their owners by law, but by the custom some slaves might be allowed their own savings which later they can buy their freedom. Roman slavery was not racially based, and slaves had no special distinction of dress. In case slaves tried to escape the slave would have to wear a metal collar that said "I have run away. Capture me. When you have returned me to my master, you will be rewarded." Thankfully in America today slaves are no longer legal. Rome has helped Western civilization today. Romans and their social classes have structured us today because without dividing classes we wouldn 't have the distrubtion of power we now have today. Rome dividing itself is good because each one has helped the government. The five classes Romans had were very important to Rome, because it divided responsibility, so to us our classes are equally as important. This is how life in the Roman era was, and that is how the Romans impacted the world.
Bibliography:
websites : classroom.synonym.com, mariamilani.com,and vroma.org
Data bases: gale group
Books: The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture by Peter Garnsey

Bibliography: websites : classroom.synonym.com, mariamilani.com,and vroma.org Data bases: gale group Books: The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture by Peter Garnsey