Roman society was based on inequality, and, as in all unequal society, the tension between the classes and their dialectic is the engine of its history and its main feature.
The tension between the patricians, customers, commoners and slave rebellions were the most important political news, the first three classes were more political activity and the other two, less.
This association was not the same throughout the history of ancient Rome. There were tensions, changes, evolution.
In the early days of social inequality based on birth and religion. Roman society had two main types of people: the free and not free (slaves, lat. Ser.)
Citizens Free, in turn, were divided into privileged (the patricians, in lat. patricii) and underprivileged.
underprivileged citizens could be independent (the plebeians, in lat. Plebeii) or dependent (clients and freedmen, in lat. Liberti). Patricios
were the first families settled in Rome and their descendants. Each seeks to descend from an ancestor more or less deified (pater). Those same pater form a gens, bearing the same name (nomen gentilicium) and celebrate the same religion (sacred gentile).
Since the beginning of Rome, the patricians and their families are the first social link. These patricians owned slaves, probably many times in large numbers. The patricians are the basis of the founding of Rome and, therefore, are citizens of Rome. Has exclusive public office, and guide the life of Rome. Later
citizenship rights extends to people minores calls, ie those from other cities within the same city without being patrician, acquired Roman citizenship. The patricians said they were relatives of the founders of Rome. (Romulus was the founder and first king of Rome) - Only Patricians could carry in his funeral the imaginum ius (right image), consisting of actors with masks in imitation of the deceased ancestors who came to simulate to receive it. Customers
customers were foreigners or poor refugees, subject to patronage of a patrician, who offered him financial aid, defended him before the law, and let him participate in religious ceremonies to change that accompanies this war and help in all the works in which the patrician as requested. The patricians were proud to have large or significant customers
Plebeyos
constitute the majority of the population (the crowd), also composed of foreigners, refugees and poor customers who had fallen out with their "employers." Men were considered free and therefore could not participate in politics or religion.
slaves is the normal fate of prisoners of war. Legally, had no rights: they were instrumentum vocale ("tool talk"). Free did the worst jobs and life. The deal depended on the personal character of the master. They became numerous with the expansion of Rome.
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