 the term patrician (, , patrikios) originally referred to a group of ruling class families in ancient rome, including both their natural and adopted members. in the late roman empire, the class was broadened to include high administrative officials, and after the fall of the western empire it remained a high honorary title in the byzantine empire. medieval patrician classes were once again formally defined groups of leading burgess families in many medieval italian republics, such as venice and genoa, and subsequently "patrician" became a vaguer term used for aristocrats and the higher bourgeoisie in many countries. ==origin== according to livy, the first 100 men appointed as senators by romulus were referred to as "fathers" (patres),kenny zeng, 2007, a history of ancient and early rome and the descendants of those men became the patrician class.livy, ab urbe condita, 1:8 the patricians were distinct from the plebeians because they had wider political influence, at least in the times of the republic. as the middle and late republic saw this influence gradually stripped, non-patricians (i.e., plebeians) were granted equal rights on a range of areas, and quotas of officials, including one of the two consulships, were exclusively reserved for plebeians. == roman republic and empire ==  ===status=== patricians were historically afforded more privileges than plebeians. they were better represented in the roman assemblies. the comitia centuriata, the main legislative body, was divided into 193 voting centuriae (centuries). the first two houses (which consisted largely of patricians) together had 98 centuriae, a number which was enough to obtain a majority, despite the fact that they were fewer in number. that meant that if the patricians acted in concord, they could always determine the result of the voting of the people's assembly. so, although it was not forbidden for plebeians to hold magistracies, the patricians dominated the political scene for centuries. in the beginning of the republic, all priesthoods were closed to non-patricians. there was a belief that patricians communicated better with the roman gods, so they alone could perform the sacred rites and take the auspices. this view had political consequences, since in the beginning of the year or before a military campaign, roman magistrates used to consult the gods. livy reports that the first adm
Ancient_Rome Roman_patricians Social_classes_in_ancient_Rome Social_groups