page_title: Social class in ancient Rome
section_title: Patricians and Plebeians
hierarchical_section_title: Social class in ancient Rome / Patricians and Plebeians
caption_attribution_description: Togato, I sec dc. con testa di restauro da un ritratto di nerva, inv. 2286. Museo Chiaramonti.
context_page_description: Social class in ancient Rome was hierarchical, with multiple and overlapping social hierarchies. An individual's relative position in one might be higher or lower than in another, which complicated the social composition of Rome.
  The status of freeborn Romans during the Republic was established by:
  Ancestry;
  Census rank based on wealth and political privilege, with the senatorial and equestrian ranks elevated above the ordinary citizen;
  Gender; and
  Citizenship, of which there were grades with varying rights and privileges.
  The different Roman classes allowed for different rights and privileges, including voting rights, marriage rights, and more.
context_section_description: Traditionally, patrician refers to members of the upper class, while plebeian refers to lower class. Economic differentiation in Rome saw a small number of families accumulate most of the wealth in Rome, thus giving way to the creation of the patrician and plebeian classes. After this initial distinction, however, the divide between patrician and plebeian families was strictly hereditary, based on social status.
  The plebeians comprised the majority of Roman citizens. Although patricians are often represented as rich and powerful families who managed to secure power over the less-fortunate plebeian families, plebeians and patricians among the senatorial class were often equally wealthy. As civil rights for plebeians increased during the middle and late Roman Republic, many plebeian families had attained wealth and power while some traditionally patrician families had fallen into poverty and obscurity. Regardless of how rich a plebeian family became, they would not rise to be included in the ranks of the patricians. By the second century BCE, the divide between patricians and plebeians had lost most of its distinction and began to merge into one class.
caption: The toga, shown here on a statue restored with the head of Nerva, was the distinctive garb of Roman male citizens.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX P5000", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "COOLPIX P5000V1.0", "Image DateTime": "2010:04:03 08:54:44", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/299", "EXIF FNumber": "27/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "333", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:04:03 08:54:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:04:03 08:54:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "15/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1272", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2257", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}