Civic Status in the Regime

From its foundations, the Regime's constitution enshrined two distinct class statuses.

• Serviles paid only a partial tax, called the pittance, but held only the common rights granted to all residents, foreign or domestic:
1. protection of the law;
2. freedom of speech, as defined in law;
3. freedom of assembly, as defined in law;
4. right to trial, according to the constitution of the city.
• Citizens paid full taxes to their home city and in addition to the common rights were guaranteed the right to:
  1. speak and vote in the General Forum;
  2. speak and vote in the Senate, if otherwise qualified;
  3. hold magisterial office, if selected;
  4. hold electoral office, and be elected to the High Senate or Prime Magisterium, if otherwise qualified.

In theory, citizen status granted greater rights in return for the greater tax burden. In many cases, however, the pittance amounted to a much higher percentage of a servile's wages than the full tax was of a citizen's. In addition, the comon rights tended to be applied unequally, even when local law did not make different provisions for citizen and servile, or rich and poor.
In practice, Regime society broke down further.

• Highborn Citizens were the members of established senatorial families, those whose members had been uuniversally eligible to speak in the senate for at least three generations. In addition to the advantages of their familial wealth, they were granted a privileged voice in the Forum and the Senate by dint of their status. Almost all highborn were Steadfast, and the terms highborn and high elf rose to prominence together.
• Citizens by Birth were those born to citizen parents of less-established family. Although lower in status than the highborn, they were accorded all of the rights of a citizen and in all ways considered tue and productive members of society. Most such citizens were elven, and more than half were steadfast.
• New Citizens were those who earned their citizenship through personal service or attainment, or whose parents did so after their birth. While notionally equal to all other citizens, newcomers never enjoyed the same unearned respect. This group included many Humans and Gnomes, some Dwarfs, Elves of other kindreds, and even a few Steadfast who emigrated from other cities and transferred their citizenship.
• Urban Serviles lacked citizenship, but did enjoy resident status, allowing them, in most cities, to own property, and protecting them from prosecution, persecution and eviction without cause and process. There were typically limits on their right to own property and accrue capital, and the validity of their legal testimony.
• Rural Serviles lacked resident status, dwelling either in the slums or in the villages and countryside between cities. Many of these could be extremely rich, however, as many large estates were locally owned. This group also included the populations of conquered territory during the period of integration, who were accepted by society, but never exactly welcomed.
• After the opening salvoes of the Regime Wars, an additional group was added to the list: The Auxiliaries. made up of the populations of occupied territory who served the Regiments in exchange for protection and a promise of future citizenship.