Ancient Roman Republic and Empire, Nero and Patricians & Plebeians

Patricians and Plebeians

Society in the Roman republic was split into two groups, called Patricians and Plebeians. Patricians were the upper class aristocracy who were usually very wealthy and often owned country villas as well as houses in the city. Plebeians were the lower and middle class citizens of Rome, who usually only owned an apartment in the city.

The Patricians were high in status and class and were usually elected to be in positions of power, thus they were the main controllers of the Roman Republic.

The Plebeians were generally ruled over by the Patricians and they lacked most of the power and status held by them. However the Plebeians had much more man-power than the Patricians as they were made up of all of the common people in Rome

According to a Roman legend, the Patricians originated from 100 men that Romulus selected from his people to form an advisory council that eventually became the senate. The men were known as paters (meaning fathers or heads) and that was the basis of the name of the Patrician people of Rome.

Plebeians originated from the all of the peasants, merchants, farmers, crafters, labourers & metalworkers in the Roman republic, as well as citizens of states on the Italian Peninsula that were absorbed by the Roman Republic.

Status in ancient Rome was based purely on birth. The Patricians were considered higher in status because they could trace their lineage back to the start of Rome.

However there were some families who had both a Patrician Branch and a Plebeian branch. Plebeians were considered as people of a lower class because they were accepted into Roman society later than the Patricians.

Both Plebeian and patrician families were structured in the same way, in their families the father was the leader and males had dominance over women (paterfamilias).

In both Patrician and Plebeian families only the men were considered citizens of Rome. The father's authority was absolute. As long as the father was alive, he...