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Monday • “Our plan of government favors the many instead of the few: that is why it is called a democracy... As for social standing, advancement is open to everyone, according to ability. While every citizen has equal opportunity to serve the public, we reward our most distinguished citizens by asking them to make our political decisions. Nor do we discriminate against the poor. A man may serve his country no matter how low his position on the social scale.” - Pericles’ Funeral Oration, 430 BC
Tuesday "Social Order." The Roman Empire in the First Century. PBS, 2006. Web. 10 July 2013. • Roman society also involved a system of patronage. Members of the upper classes – the patroni – offered protection to freedmen or plebeians, who became their "cliens." Patronage might consist of money, food, or legal help. Traditionally, any freed slaves became the cliens of their former owner.In return, patroni received respect and political favors. During the empire, cliens were required to offer daily greetings to their patroni, and the number of these greeters helped determine social status. On the frontiers of the empire, Roman generals served as patroni for the people they conquered, while Roman provinces or cities often sought out an influential senator to act as patroni and oversee their interests in Rome.
