Life as an Ancient Roman

Imagine if you lived in Ancient Rome. What would your life be like? What would your job be? What
rights would you have?

Well, in Ancient Rome, all of those things depended on what social class you were in. Ancient Rome was
made up of a structure called social hierarchy. Social hierarchy is the division of people into differently
ranked groups. The emperor was at the top of this structure, followed by the patricians, the plebians,
and then slaves. Slaves were not even considered citizens. Your social class mainly depended on what
kind of family you were born into.

The boundaries between the different classes were strict and legally enforced: members of different
classes even dressed differently. The clothing for the elite differed from the clothing of the ordinary
people in terms of style as well as material. For instance, the togas and tunics of the common people
were generally made of coarse, dark materials while the clothes for the elites was made of fine materials
such as wool. Specific kinds of togas were reserved for important people. For instance, politicians wore
bleached togas while purple togas with gold embroidery were often worn by victorious generals and
even the emperors.

Roman citizens were divided up into two distinct classes: the plebeians and the patricians. The
patricians were the wealthy upper class people. Only Patricians could hold important positions in the
military, government, or religious sectors. Everyone else was considered a plebeian. The vast majority of
plebeians were peasants, shopkeepers, craftsmen, and small traders.
Watch this video to learn what plebeian teenage life would look like in Ancient Rome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juWYhMoDTN0

Which class do you think each of these Ancient Romans belonged to?

Women in Ancient Rome were citizens, but could not vote or hold political office. Women were under
exclusive control of their pater familias, which was either their father, husband, or sometimes their
eldest brother. Women, and their children, took on the social status of their pater familias. Women
were not included in the political sphere, and they had little influence outside the home. However,
women were protected by the law and enjoyed many freedoms that women in other regions were not
allowed. For instance, women could own land and their own business.

Slaves were not citizens. Slaves were seen as property, and they were bought and sold like any other
good in Rome. However, life in Rome is not necessarily harsh for all slaves; and conditions varied widely.
Some slaves were even treated as part of the family and not only freed, but adopted to heirs of the
state, or married into the family.
Your task:

Imagine a situation where two members of the same social class (patrician, plebeian, women, or slaves)
run into each other in Ancient Rome. Write a dialogue of their conversation. In your dialogue, clearly
state what social class the two people are in. Have a conversation that describes the daily life of that
social class.
Conversation topics to consider for your response:
- Where are they meeting (at work if a slave, enjoying the baths if a patrician/plebeian?)
- What are they wearing?
- Where are they headed?
- What are they struggling with? (right to vote, protected by law, a higher governmental position,
etc.)
- What did they do earlier that day?

Your conversation should be at least 300 words.

To learn more about your chosen social class, please see the links below:

Patrician: https://www.britannica.com/topic/patrician

Plebeian: https://www.britannica.com/topic/plebeian

Slaves: https://www.ancient.eu/article/629/slavery-in-the-roman-world/

Women: https://www.ancient.eu/article/659/the-role-of-women-in-the-roman-world/

Additional resources:
https://www.historyonthenet.com/roman-society-and-social-classes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BoLKOgyCw

https://theromanexperience.weebly.com/social-classes.html