what were the features of Roman society
Answers
Answer:
- Monetary system.
- Freedom and rights for women.
- Facilities for public convenience and entertainment.
- Well developed economic infrastructure.
- A long period of political stability and peace.
Roman society was extremely patriarchal and hierarchical. The adult male head of a household had special legal powers and privileges that gave him jurisdiction over all the members of his family.
The status of freeborn Romans was established by their ancestry, census ranking, and citizenship.
The most important division within Roman society was between patricians, a small elite who monopolized political power, and plebeians, who comprised the majority of Roman society.
The Roman census divided citizens into six complex classes based on property holdings.
Most adult, free-born men within the city limits of Rome held Roman citizenship. Classes of non-citizens existed and held different legal rights.
TERMS
tax farming
A technique of financial management in which future, uncertain revenue streams are fixed into periodic rents via assignment by legal contract to a third party.
plebeians
A general body of free Roman citizens who were part of the lower strata of society.
patricians
A group of ruling class families in ancient Rome.
Roman society was extremely patriarchal and hierarchical. The adult male head of a household had special legal powers and privileges that gave him jurisdiction over all the members of his family, including his wife, adult sons, adult married daughters, and slaves, but there were multiple, overlapping hierarchies at play within society at large. An individual’s relative position in one hierarchy might have been higher or lower than it was in another. The status of freeborn Romans was established by the following:
Their ancestry
Their census rank, which in turn was determined by the individual’s wealth and political privilege
Citizenship, of which there were grades with varying rights and privileges
Ancestry
The most important division within Roman society was between patricians, a small elite who monopolized political power, and plebeians, who comprised the majority of Roman society. These designations were established at birth, with patricians tracing their ancestry back to the first Senate established under Romulus. Adult, male non-citizens fell outside the realms of these divisions, but women and children, who were also not considered formal citizens, took the social status of their father or husband. Originally, all public offices were only open to patricians and the classes could not intermarry, but, over time, the differentiation between patrician and plebeian statuses became less pronounced, particularly after the establishment of the Roman republic.
Census Rankings
The Roman census divided citizens into six complex classes based on property holdings. The richest class was called the senatorial class, with wealth based on ownership of large agricultural estates, since members of the highest social classes did not traditionally engage in commercial activity. Below the senatorial class was the equestrian order, comprised of members who held the same volume of wealth as the senatorial classes, but who engaged in commerce, making them an influential early business class. Certain political and quasi-political positions were filled by members of the equestrian order, including tax farming and leadership of the Praetorian Guard. Three additional property-owning classes occupied the rungs beneath the equestrian order. Finally, the proletarii occupied the bottom rung with the lowest property values in the kingdom.