The Roman Empire affects our lives in many ways. In architecture, in language, and in law. It also gave us the ideas for hospitals, banks, the postal system and so much more! The social class structure of the United States and the Roman Empire are also very similar. They both have a large lower/middle class and a small higher class. In order for Rome to achieve its great size and influence, there needed to be a strict social class and rule with each class having a strict set of rights and responsibilities. This website explains and analyzes the different rights and responsibilities of some of the main social classes of Rome, and it describes how Rome has influenced other nations through its rule, and how other nations have influenced it.
In the Roman Society, there were two main different social classes, the patricians and the plebeians. Patricians were the direct descendants of the first people living in Rome. Plebeians were the descendants of the conquered Albans, and therefore, had little rights. In the early times of the Roman Empire, only patricians could be senators and emperors. They were the aristocracy of the Roman Empire. The plebeians were considered common folk and had to fight in many of Rome's wars. As you would imagine, the plebeians were not very happy about this. In the series of events known as the Conflict of Orders, the plebeians refused to fight in the Roman army unless they were given more rights.