Social Class in the Empire

The people of Rome are divided up into several classes with varying degrees of rights and citizenship. A person's class is determined by a combination of birth family (i.e., heredity), place of birth (i.e., inside or outside the Empire), and total wealth (with most of this tied up as land ownership -- few people have much cash on hand).

Census

Wealth is determined by means of the census (pronounced “ken-sus”). A census is carried out every 5 years in each province, during which the total wealth of a person (or family) is tallied. At this time, Roman citizens (and only Roman citizens) are formally placed into one of three classes: Patrician, plebian, or pauper.

Roman Citizen Classes

• Patricians are the Roman version of aristocracy. Many are old wealth, but some have newly come into their fortunes. Any Roman citizen who has accumulated a total wealth (usually in property) of 10,000 aurei (gp) is considered to be a Patrician, although technically, they must be formally recognized as such by the Emperor. In practice, the Emperor typically rubber-stamps the categorization. Only Patricians may be appointed to in the Roman Senate. 600 senators serve from this class of citizens.
• Plebians are the "middle class" of the Roman empire. Small business owners, shop-keeps, and the like, who are Roman citizens and own property valued at 100 aurei (gp) or more, are considered Plebians. Citizens of this class have the right to vote in local elections (for town Assemblies and the like) and hold local office, but cannot hold office in the senate.
• The Paupers are defined as those with less than 100 aurei to their name (in any form of wealth or property). Such a small amount of wealth would reflect so little land that these individuals are not considered "landed." They are still Roman citizens, and they may vote for Assemblies but they cannot stand for public office.

Non-citizen Classes

Many thousands of individuals live inside the Empire's borders but are not legal citizens of Rome. These include individuals from client states, foreigners, slaves, and ex-slaves. Non-citizens (other than slaves) generally have some rights inside the Empire, but not all the rights of a Roman citizen.

• Provincials hail from lands which have not been fully incorporated into the Empire. If one hails from a tributary or client state which still nominally possesses its own ruler, then one is considered a provincial. Until recently, these client states included Silaxia, the Elven lands, Troichtir, the Seven Shires, and Gnomis. However, since those client states have now broken with the Empire, their people are currently considered peregrines (see below). Therefore, not many characters in the current time would be provincials. The main exception to this is the Centaurs from Equara, and those individuals from the former client states who were within the Empire at the time of insurrection, and have remained inside the Empire (without leaving) since. These individuals may be eligible for citizenship if they foreswear allegiance with the rebellious provinces. Additionally, because Aegyptus and the Ancepti Coast were overrun, and did not break ties the way the other client states did, the status of their citizens remains as Provincials.
• Peregrines are foreigners -- those who hail from other nations or far-distant regions and who enter Rome's borders peacefully. Provided a state of war does not exist between them, current citizens of the former tributaries are all considered Peregrines. Should war break out between Rome and these nations, however, all bets are off in terms of how their people will be treated.
• Freedmen (and Freedwomen) are ex-slaves who have been legally released from servitude by their owners or by some other mechanism (e.g., as a reward for military service). Freedmen are not full legal citizens, and cannot vote or hold office. They are restricted in terms of where they are allowed to travel. Children of Freedmen who are born inside the Empire are considered full legal citizens.
• Slaves are the legal property of others, usually Roman citizens, and have no rights whatsoever in the Empire. Slaves can be beaten, summarily executed, tortured, and otherwise exploited by their owners.