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NOTES ON ROMAN POLITICS

Social Classes:

Rome was a highly hierarchial and class-conscious society, but there was the possibility of mobility between classes because by the second century BCE class was no longer determined solely by birth. The classes described below superseded the old patrician/plebeian distinction, though certain elements of dress were still reserved for patricians.

• Senatorial class: (basis was political), composed of all who served in the Senate, and by extension, their families, though only men actually serving in the Senate could wear the tunic with broad stripes (laticlavi). This class was dominated by the nobles (nobiles), families that had had at least one consul among their members. The first man in his family to be elected consul, thus qualifying his family for noble status, was called a “new man” (novus homo).
• Equestrian class (equites): (basis was economic), composed of families that possessed and maintained a specified minimum amount of wealth (landed property worth at least 400,000 sesterces) but were not senators. Equestrians wore the tunic with narrow stripes (angusti clavi).
• Commons, “the people”: all other freeborn Roman citizens. The special mark of dress for males was the toga.
• Freedpeople (liberti): men and women who had been slaves but had bought their freedom or been manumitted. They were not fully free because they had various restrictions on their rights and owed certain duties to their former masters, but they could become citizens if their masters had been citizens. The next generation, their freeborn children, became full citizens and could even be equestrians if rich enough. Freedpeople had low social status but might become quite wealthy. They had no special distinction of dress.
• Slaves: system of chattel slavery where human beings were born into slavery or sold into slavery through war or piracy. Slaves were the property of their owners by law, but by custom some slaves (especially urban, domestic slaves) might be allowed their own savings (peculium) with which they might later buy their freedom, or their masters could manumit them, so some mobility into the previous class was possible. Roman slavery was not racially based.

Nature of Roman Politics:

The conduct of political affairs was heavily dominated by the senatorial class, particularly by a small number of noble families. The upper classes generally followed one of two informal political factions:

• Populares (“the party of the people”): power base was the Assembly of the Tribes and the tribunes. Though also composed of Senators and nobles, this faction appealed to the interests of the commons. Today, we might call this faction “left-wing.”
• Optimates (“the party of the best men” or of the aristocrats): power base was the Senate. This faction promoted conservative policies that supported the interests of the wealthy and the old noble families. Today, we might call this faction “right-wing.”

This is how the historian Sallust (mid-first century BCE) described the two political factions during his lifetime:

After the restoration of the power of the tribunes in the consulship of Pompey and Crassus, this very important office was obtained by certain men whose youth intensified their natural aggressiveness. These tribunes began to rouse the mob by inveighing against the Senate, and then inflamed popular passion still further by handing out bribes and promises, whereby they won renown and influence for themselves. They were strenuously opposed by most of the nobility, who posed as defenders of the Senate but were really concerned to maintain their own privileged position. The whole truth—to put it in a word—is that although all disturbers of the peace in this period put forward specious pretexts, claiming either to be protecting the rights of the people or to be strengthening the authority of the Senate, this was mere pretence: in reality, every one of them was fighting for his personal aggrandizement. Lacking all self-restraint, they stuck at nothing to gain their ends, and both sides made ruthless use of any successes they won. (Sallust Bellum Catilinae 38, translated by S. A. Handford [Penguin Classics, 1963], 204-205)

Campaigning: Personal wealth was essential for political office, since no salaries were paid and the process of campaigning was very expensive; showmanship was essential. See an important setting for Roman politics and find out more about campaigning by visiting the Rostra in VRoma via the web gateway (be sure to click on the capsa and read what's inside) or the anonymous browser (this mode will not allow you to read the scrolls in the capsa).

• A candidate for office wore an artificially whitened toga and so was candidatus (“made shining white”).
• The social institution of patronage (clientela) was essential in politics, and one of the key duties of clients was to accompany their patron on official business and all kinds of campaigning, and of course to vote with him on all issues.
• Powerful families supported each other through informal alliances (amicitia) often cemented through arranged marriages; the functioning of government was greatly influenced by “backroom politics.”
• During the last century of the Republic, bribery was not at all uncommon:
  • indirect: provision of free grain, free entertainment (baths, shows, chariot races and gladiatorial games), even huge outdoor banquets
  • direct: actually paying off officials or giving the commoners money directly in return for votes
• During this same period, intimidation was also a campaign strategy. Candidates sometimes incited riots, or hired thugs or gladiators to rough people up. Those who were generals occasionally used the threat of their loyal soldiers to pressure the state.
• Commoners’ only way to influence politics was through their sheer numbers—by votes, and especially by riots.

Women: Women were excluded by law from any political role; they could not vote or hold office. Upper-class women, however, had the possibility of behind-the-scenes influence, because they could possess and control wealth, could move about in public freely without losing respectability, and could represent their birth families in various ways, especially by cementing family alliances through marriage.

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