society of the roman empire
Rome had a wide variety of culture throughout the Empire from the Golden Age on. The Roman attention to building public monuments and communal spaces helped foster a sense of 'Romanness'. These included forums, amphitheaters, racetracks and baths. The two decades of civil war from which Augustus rose to sole power left traditional society in Rome in a state of confusion and upheaval. Personal relationships such as patronage, friendship, family and marriage, influence the workings of politics and government. However, by the time Nero was in power, it wasn't unusual to find a former slave who was wealthier than a freeborn citizen or an equestrian who had greater power than a senator. Women, freedmen and slaves had chances to influence in ways previously unavailable to them. Social life in the Empire, was further fostered by a conception of willing communities. These were formed for various purposes such as professional and trade guilds, veterans' groups, religious fellowships, drinking and dining clubs, performing art association and burial societies.
legal status
The essential distinction in the Roman 'law of persons' was that humans were either free or slaves. The legal status of freeborn citizen may be further defined from their citizenship. Only limited number of men had full rights of Roman citizenship that allowed them to vote, run for office, and enter state priesthoods. Most citizens held limited rights but were entitled to legal protection and privileges not enjoyed by those who lacked citizenship. Free people that lived in the Roman world who weren't citizens were named peregrini which literally meant Non-Romans. But in 212 AD, the emperor Caracella extended citizenship to all freeborn inhabitants of the empire.
women as legal entities
Freeborn Roman women were citizens throughout the Empire and the Republic. But they weren't able to vote, hold political office or serve in the military. A mother's citizen's status determined that of her children and a Roman woman had to keep her own family name for life. Children most often took their father's but in the Imperial period, the mother's name was sometimes made part of theirs or even instead of the father's name. The very old form of marriage where the woman had been subject to her husband's power was largely abandoned by the Imperial era and a married woman retained any property she brought into the marriage. She remained under her father's legal authority, even though she moved into her husband's home, but when her father died she became legally liberated. Although it was a point of pride to a 'one-man woman' who only married once, there was little shame with divorce, nor speedy remarriage to a new husband due to her husband's death or divorce. Girls had equal inheritance rights with boys if their father died without leaving a will. A Roman mother's right to own property and to dispose of it as she saw fit gave her enormous influence over her sons even when they were adults. A woman who had given birth to three children was granted symbolic honours and greater legal freedom.
Slaves and the law
When Augustus came into power as many as thirty per cent of Italia's population were slaves. In urban areas, slaves might be professionals such as teachers, physicians, chefs and accountants, in addition to most of slaves who provided skilled or unskilled labour in household or workplaces. Agriculture and industry, such as milling and mining, depended on the exploitation of slaves. Outside Italy, in general, slaves made up on average ten to twenty per cent of the population. There weren't as many in Roman Egypt but there a lot in the Greek states. Although the institution of slaves was waning in the 3rd and 4th centuries, it remained an basic part of Roman society up until the 5th century. Under Roman law, slaves were considered property and had no legal person hood. They could be subjected to corporal punishment not normally exercised on the freeborn citizens. These included sexual exploitation, torture and summary execution. Slaves weren't legally allowed to be raped as this was only a punishment against free citizens. Slaves didn't have the right to marriage. Although a slave couldn't own any property, if a slave conducted a business he/she could be given access to a singular account or fund that he/she could use as if it was their own. Over time slaves gained the right to file complaints over their masters. Eunuch slaves were traded a lot in the 1st century AD, so this prompted a new law put in. This legislation was to prohibit castration of the slaves against their will. Talented slaves with a knack of business might acquire a large enough account to earn manumission. Manumission was liberation of a slave by its owner.
freedmen
The major difference between Rome and the Greek city-states was that slaves were allowed to be freed to become citizens. After manumission, not only did slaves enjoy apathetic liberty from their former masters but they also had active political freedom, which comprised of the right of vote. A slave who had acquired freedom was a freed person in relation to his former master, who then became his patron. As a social class they were considered to be libertus and libertinus which meant that they were freed people. These people weren't entitled to hold an office or to hold the highest state priesthoods, but they could play a priestly role in the cult of the emperor. The freedmen couldn't marry women from aristocratic families or to arise to the senatorial rank. During the early Empire, freedmen could hold key positions in the government bureaucracy, so much so that Hadrian limited their participation by law. Any future children of freedmen were freeborn, with full rights of their citizenship. The prosperity of a high-achieving group of Roman freedmen was attested by inscriptions throughout the Empire. Some of the most extravagant houses in Pompeii were owned by freedmen such as the House of Vetii.
Census rank
One purpose of the Roman census was to determine which rank an individual belonged. The two highest ranks of Rome were the senatorial and equestrian classes. Outside Rome, the highest ranking class of an individual city was the decurions. 'Senator' was not an elected office in Ancient Rome while an individual was able to be elected into the Senate only if that person had served at least one term as an executive magistrate. A senator also had to meet a minimum property requirement of one million sestertii, as determined by the census. Emperors often filled vacancies in the six hundred member body by appointment. A senator's son belonged to this rank but had to have his own advantages to gain admission to the Senate itself. A senator could also be removed from the senate by marrying a freed woman or fighting in the arena. During the reign of Nero, senators were still mainly from Rome and other parts of Italy, with some from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Under Vespasian, senators from Greek-speaking provinces were added and Marcus Aurelius admitted senators to be elected from the most eastern province of the Empire, Cappadocia. By the time of the Severan dynasty, less than half of the senators were Italian. Senators were the traditional governing class who arose through the political career track, but equestrians of the Empire often had greater wealth and political power. Membership in the equestrian order was based on property. A census valuation of four hundred thousand sesterces and at least three generations of free birth qualified as an equestrian. Equestrians rose through a military career track to become highly placed prefects and advocates within the Imperial administration. Maintaining one's rank for a long period of time required massive personal payment. Decurions were so important for the functioning of cities that in the later Empire, as the ranks of the town councils were dissipating, those who had risen to the Senate were advised by the central government to give up their seats and return to their hometowns, in an effort to sustain civic life. Those in Imperial service were ranked by the pay grade. The higher equestrian officials in general were most distinguished and the lower officials were merely outstanding.
unequal justice
The granting of the universal citizenship in 212 AD increased the competitive urge among the upper classes to have their superiority over other citizens affirmed within the justice system. Sentencing depended on the judgement of the presiding official as to the relative of the defendant. Execution could be quick and relatively painless for the Imperial citizen considered more honourable, while those deemed lesser might suffer the kinds of torture and prolonged death previously reserved as slaves, such as crucifixion and condemnation to the beasts as a spectacle to the arena.