Ancient Rome

Running Head: ANCIENT ROME

Ancient Rome

Task 1
The ancient Roman civilization is a significant part of world history. Societal aspects like economy, agriculture, conquests and religion, among other things, were pivotal to its success. This research paper will explain the religious attributes, social stratification, political outfits and economics of ancient Rome. While there are other areas of relevance (such as kinship ties, death rites, education, literature, art, etc.) the paper will focus on the four aforementioned aspects.
A detailed outlook into these topics will illustrate their social stratification along with its determinants and effects. Under the political structure, the findings will be explained in line with the kind of political structure that existed and how efficient that structure was. The discussion of the religious attributes of the ancient Romans will constitute their deity, what they associated this deity to be, their places of worship and religious leaders. The economics of the ancient Romans will include more than just the livelihood of the people, advances in technology, agriculture and the role of this civilization in the world today.
In Religion of Ancient Rome by Cyril Bailey (1907), aspects of religion, agriculture and morality are discussed at length. Bailey is a classical scholar who has written several books, among them The Religion of Ancient Rome, Some Greek and Roman Ideas of a Future Life, The Legacy of Rome and The Mind of Rome. He is additionally a tutor and a librarian at the Balliol College, Oxford. He additionally wrote articles for the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, his articles are assigned in EB1911 with the initials “C. BA.” This book provides an authoritative yet objective overview on their religion (Bailey, 1907).
Gods of Ancient Rome: Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times by Robert Turcan (2001) details an account of worship as conducted by people in ancient Rome. It includes a detailed review of all the gods they worshipped (Turcan, R., 2001). Turcan is an accomplished author, having already written about Roman life in books such as L’Art Roman and The Cults of the Roman Empire. He is additionally a specialist in property law and tax. His is far experienced in issuing principal advice to a wide number of families and estate owners as well as private estate owners, tax issues and management and development of land estates and assets. As opposed to the previous book, this gives a more detailed discussion on Roman religion.
Ancient Rome from the DK Revealed series (2003) gives a historical account of the society – people, places and events – during that era. The author, Peter Chrisp, is a renowned author in the children’s category who has also written about ancient Egypt (Chrisp, 2003). He has published over sixty books including; Blitzkrieg! Dorling Kindersly’s Ancient Egypt Revealed and Ancient Rome Revealed among others. He started writing later after working on Mass-Observations archive he has similarly worked as a writer in the online projects called “Icons of England.” He is additionally an artist; Crisp P. is film and television composer that lives in Los Angeles United States. This book gives context to the life of the ancient Romans and the places they settled in. This book is comparable to the book Ancient Rome.
Ancient Rome, written by Michelle Breyer (2004) explains the trade and economy of ancient Rome and its peoples. He played a vital role in the creation of the leading community and resource for individuals with curly hair in her business partner and friends. She has attained a degree as a Master of Arts. It details the life of the Romans: their places of worship, the properties they held and the trade they conducted, among other things (Breyer, 2004).
Adkins and Adkins’ Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (2004) describes ancient Roman agricultural practices. The authors are also well versed in archaeology and history, professional archeologists. Their first book was A Thesaurus of British Archeology, known as The Handbook of British Archeology. They have written several other books based on archeology issues. They have also done projects like Lesley did Empires of the Plain. Their latest book is Jack Tar: Life in Nelson’s Navy. It gives readers a glimpse of ordinary life in ancient Rome (Adkins &Adkins, 2004).
Daily Life in Ancient Rome: The People and the City at the Height of the Empire by Jerome Carcopino (1956) give a detailed account of the various social classes that existed in the empire. The book has been republished in a more affordable form so that the readership may increase (Carcopino, 1956). Jerome Carcopino is a historian specialist of the Rome ancient time. He is specializes in history matters. In the year period 1904 to 1907 he became a member of the Roman French School. In 1912 he became a professor of history and a lecturer in addition to an inspector of antiquities in Algeria. He later in1920 became a professor at the Sorbonne and Director of the French School in Rome. He additionally became a member of the archeology and historical institutes in Europe.
Economies in Ancient Times by Alexandra Hanson-Harding (2011) give a detailed account of ancient Roman economics along with those of other civilizations. Hanson-Harding also wrote Massachusetts: The Bay State (Hanson-Harding, 2011). The Author Alexander Hanson- Harding’s is a professional writer for the young people and teachers as well as fiction and educational matters. He has written several articles and published books. In his works he specializes in social studies, English, ELL and current events. He is senior editor at McGraw-Hill and Scholastic and a self-employed full time freelancer. He is currently an editor at Rosen Publishing.
Social Classes in Ancient Rome: Equestrian Order, Factorum Ac Dictorum Memorabilium Libri Ix, Slavery In Ancient Rome, Patrician by Books LLC (2010) provides a very detailed explanation of the equestrian order of social classes in Europe, particularly the social classes in the ancient Roman empire (General Books Llc., 2010). The books by Books by LLC are published by print on demand and republished by Google. Its books are also published in French and German.
Ancient Rome at Work: an Economic History of the Empire from the Origins to the Empire by Paul Louis (1927) describes the transport situation in ancient Rome. The author is known for writing historical journals. This book, compared to Ancient Rome, gives a different perspective towards Roman life with regard to transportation. The author, Louis P. is a priest who is renown by several scholars and has been used as a point of reference by several scholars. He was French businessman who founded the retail company Promodes (Louis, 2006).
Ancient Rome gives a detailed account on the use of coins in ancient Rome. Dunstan William (2010) is a historical writer that has focused on ancient civilizations, including the Greeks. This book differs from Ancient Rome at Work: an Economic History of the Empire from the Origins to the Empire with regard to its emphasis on the role of barter trade in the economy. He was a soldier and a newspaper manager. He attained the position of Lieutenant and later a general manager of Keith Murdoch’s The Herald and Weekly Times.
Ancient Rome is a return to the exciting setting of far-off past in the ancient Roman times. We tend to see Spartacus the ancient Roman creates the life of glory back to present and its period of civilizations known to anyone. Peter Connolly is renowned British scholar, as well as a Greek and Roman military equipment historian, a reconstruction archeologist and illustrator. He is a talented artist, far accurate and detailed in his instructions of the classical times. He plays a vital role in the contribution to the Journal of Roman Military Equipment and Roman Frontier Studies. Andrew Solway on the other hand is a freelancer editor, writer and project manager, he has written several books meant for children and foreign production (Connolly, P. & Solway, A., 2001).
Thesis statement
The romans had the belief that each and every person had a varying perspective of their own gods, while on the same issue all of them were similar. Their religion was taken to be of huge importance and anyone found to go against it was punished severely for that. Their economic activities were mainly agricultural faming and cattle keeping this were their main source of livelihood. Their political system was led by kings and queens and ruled by soldiers. The trend of their lives was quite different from the one we have at present.
Annotated Bibliography
Adkins, L. & Adkins, R. (2004). Handbook to life in ancient Rome. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
This books talks about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire that is an integral part of Europe and Near East history. It focuses on the 1,200 years of rule since the 8th to the 5th century A.D. the chapters expound on the aspects of Roman life, governance and activities. It handles the system of governance and legal systems, architectural arts like the Roman roads and aqueducts, the Hadrian’s Wall and Colosseum, Roman naming systems among others. The authors of this book, Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins are both professional archeologists. (Adkins & Adkins, 2004)

Bailey, C. (1907). The religion of ancient Rome. London: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd. pp. 12, 34, 103.
This book focuses on the native religion of the early Rome with the assistance of Roman archeology. It attempts to create a present picture of how the initial Roman religion was in reference to several countries in Egypt and Italy as well as the Greek literature. It presents itself to be a difficult search as there is no guidance to do this. The author of this book, Cyril Bailey, M.A. is a tutor of the Balliol College, Oxford. (Bailey, 1907)

General Books Llc. (2010). Social classes in ancient Rome: Equestrian order, Factorum Ac Dictorum Memorabilium Libri Ix, Slavery In Ancient rome, Patrician.
This books looks at the Roman equestrian order that is composed at the lower part of the two aristocratic classes of the ancient Rome. It is during the Roman kingdom that the first century of the kingdom of the legionary was involved in the ranks of the patricians. The author of this book is the General Books LLC. (General Books Llc, 2010)

Breyer, M. (2004). Ancient Rome. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
This book basically focuses on the trend of life at the time of the Roman Empire and what issues and structures stood out to be noticed. The author Michelle Breyer is a teacher. (Breyer, 2004)

Carcopino, J. (1956). Daily life in ancient Rome: The people and the city at the height of the empire. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
The book looks at the trend of life in the ancient Rome, the structure of the city and the activities that were being performed. It basically looks into the social life that took place in ancient Rome. Jerome Carcopino is a historian specialist of the Rome ancient time.( Carcopino, 1956)

Chrisp, P. (2003). Ancient Rome. DK Revealed Series. New York, NY: DK Publishing.
Dunstan, W.E. (2011). Ancient Rome. Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.
The book looks into details the trends that occurred during the Roman Empire in the ancient period. Crisp P. is film and television composer that lives in Los Angeles United States( Chrisp, 2003).
Connolly, P. & Solway, A. (2001). Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong.
This book focuses on the life experiences that took place in the ancient Roman times, the life practices that made it so unique and stand out from the present time. The authors Connolly, P. & Solway, A. are accomplished writers in the area of writing: they are artists and specialists in this area of writing.
Hanson-Harding, A. (2011). Economies in ancient times. Pelham, NY: Benchmark Education Company.
The book attempts to look into the economic activities that prevailed during the ancient Roman times. The number of economic activities that took place during this period of time brought the empire to its feet and sustained it. The Author Alexander Hanson- Harding’s is writer for the young people and teachers. (Hanson-Harding, 2011)

Louis, P. (2006). Ancient Rome at work: An economic history of the empire from the origins to the empire. Oxon: Routledge.
This book focuses at the economic activities that took place at the ancient time in Rome from the initial point in time. It is this set of work that led this ancient empire to become what it is known to be at present. The author, Louis P. is a priest who is renown by several scholars. (Louis, 2006)

Turcan, R. (2001). Gods of ancient Rome: Religion in everyday life from archaic to
imperial times. New York, NY: Routledge.
This book attempts to expound on social aspect of the Roman people, in this case, their religion. The ancient point in time was renowned for their belief in God and followed the life teachings based on his teachings and beliefs. The author, Robert Turcan is a specialist in property law and tax. (Turcan, 2001)

William E. Dunstan, (2010). Ancient Rome. Rowman & Littlefield publishers.
The Ancient Rome focuses on the trend of life in the ancient time in the roman times and how they grew to it to become and strong and rigid society as it is known today. The Author, William E. Dunstan was a historical writer that has focused on ancient civilizations, including the Greeks. He was also a soldier and a newspaper manager.
Task 3
I. Introduction
This paper seeks to establish ancient Rome’s religious attributes, its social stratification, political outfits and economics as major areas of consideration. There are numerous areas of concern in researching about the ancient Romans ____ such as kinship ties, burial, education, literature, art and many other aspects that make up this civilization (Zoch, 2000 p.5).
A detailed look into these four topics will give form to the social stratification existing in this empire, what determined this stratification, the effects of such a class distinction and what benefit such distinction brings to the people. In terms of political structure, the findings will be explained in line with the kind of political structure that existed and how efficient this structure was. The religious attributes of the ancient Romans will include a discussion of their deity, the associations they made to this deity, their places of worship and their religious leadership (Bailey, 1907, p.12). The discussion on their economy will include the livelihood of the people, advances in technology and agriculture among other things. The influence of their civilization to today’s world will also similarly be discussed.
II. Body
A. Society
The city of Rome was considered to be the largest urban center in those days, with an average population of about one million people (Chrisp, 2003). Twenty percent of the population was under the immediate jurisdiction of Rome. The city was held in such high esteem because it was where everything began.
B. Social stratification
The roman society was a largely hierarchical society. It consisted of overlapping status groups. These hierarchies determined a many things in the lives of ancient Romans. People were categorized into slaves, freedmen and freeborn citizens. The slaves occupied the lowest position, followed by the freedmen and then the freeborn citizens (Carcopino, 1956, p.52).
The freeborn Romans were determined by several aspects, a . Among the most important is their ancestry, which was expected to be purely Roman. They may also be identified through census ranks, honors and citizenship. Citizenship, in this case, is by birth only. Full citizens were given a host of rights and privileges. The non-citizens included the slaves and the visitors. They had different legal rights from the common citizens. The slaves for instance were considered to be property and had no rights whatsoever. They could be sold from one owner to another, their efforts used for the gain of their master or owner. The freed slaves were a little different from the slaves in that they were given some form of recognition by the Romans. They possessed some rights and privileges. To some extent, they had almost the same status as any other common person in the ancient Roman Empire.
The ancient Roman society is a patriarchal society – the man is the head of the household at all times. He held very special powers and privileges over the other members of the family. He exercised a patron – client relationship with his family members. This patron – client relationship implicates that the patron is at all times at a superior position than the client. The patron is at liberty to have many clients.
C. Property based classes
Ancient Rome was also characterized by property-based classes. The accumulation of wealth has been a source of major differences the world over. A census conducted in Rome divided people into six categories based on their economic capability.
The senators were the richest people in the country. This class of people had large agricultural estates under their names. The sesterlii was the second in command. This class of people consisted of influential business people. The equities were third in line. They were the political class of the land. They were tasked with making laws and implementing them. The least of all was the proletarii who owned the least property of all. This category of persons had the least influence in the land, ranking very low in all matters.
D. Citizenship
The free born women in the land were considered to be citizens, although they had no right to vote in any election. In addition, they were not allowed to hold any political office. Marriages were conducted in a civil manner. The requirement for a Roman marriage was that both parties had to be proper citizens of Rome before the marriage could be recognized. The legal status of the mother was a determining factor to the legal rights and citizenship of her son. The son was considered to be a citizen of ancient Rome if her mother was a pure citizen of Rome.
Slaves were not citizens of this country. They were considered as property to their masters. Slaves were usually descendants of debtors and prisoners of war. The freedmen were freed slaves. The freed slaves were usually highly educated people providing the bulk of services to the civil sector. They had many of skills and were quite important in the service sector. They accumulated wealth through bribery and corruption.
E. The Freedmen
These were freed slaves. The freed slaves were usually highly educated people providing the bulk of services to the civil sector. They possessed many skills and became quite important in the service sector. They accumulated wealth through bribery and corruption.
F. Politics and Leadership
The ancient Roman Empire underwent three stages of leadership: the monarchy, the republic and finally the empire.
The Monarchy
The country’s leadership was based on mythical stories of kings and emperors. These mythical stories have truth in them; they were based on facts. Among these kings were Romulus, Numa, Julius Ceasar. The kings were all ousted during the end of the 6th century bringing in a crop of new people to rule the kingdom. These people were referred to as consuls.
The Republic
It started with the overthrowing of the kings who were ruling the empire at the end of the 6th BC. They were replaced by two magistrates, which were referred to as consuls. The privilege to rule was given to the patricians, wealthy men and land owners who were members of the aristocracy. The plebeians, who had also accumulated wealth, were included into the leadership of the country after a social conflict had ensued.
The 12 tables became the first written laws of the land. They formed the basis for living in Rome, guiding all the actions of the Romans. It was under these laws that justice was implemented. The senate ruled the towns and cities.
Internal conflicts were brought about by class differences and leadership. It was apparent that the ruling class was the richest. They used absolute power to rule the land. These consuls gave power to their kin and dictated by force what was to be done. Class differences brought conflicts that threatened to tear apart the land and its leadership. These occurred conflicts were among the upper class and the lower class political class.
Julius Caesar took over the leadership of the land during a tumultuous time. He was a very powerful leader, having fought and won many battles with neighboring empires. He was a tough king, entertaining no deceit from his members. He implemented severe punishments, including hanging and excommunication. He assassinated in 44 BC. The republic ended in the 27th BC with the reign of Augustus.
The Empire
The empire was ruled under very distinct class divisions. The senators were the rulers and included the chief magistrates and military posts. The equities, also referred to as the equestrian class, consisted of the civil careers and the military (General books LLC, 2010, p.74). The lower class consisted of the junior ranked people in the army.
The senate was the center of administration in the empire. The consuls and the exconsuls were entitled to become senators by default. The wealthy and rich people of the land still held the position of leadership in the land. At the age of eighteen, the equestrian class became wealthy business men. It is at this age that they gained recognition as citizens. The emperor determines the age at which such people would receive such recognition of prosperity.
From the 2nd century BC, there were tribunals that were set up for crimes against the state. These crimes included treason, embezzlement of state funds and property, murder, adultery and electoral bribery. The punishment for such crimes was based on the class to which one belonged. The upper class of people was punished by being exiled whereas the lower class were either crucified or received a public beating, among other undesirable punishment methods.
The emperor Augustus changed the form of leadership in the state to an autocratic one. This better served the interests of the people better than the previous styles of leadership practiced by the other kings and emperors.

G. Religion in the Ancient Roman Empire
The religious beliefs of the early Roman Empire were based on many gods, goddesses and legends. These religious deities were symbolized by nature. It was not susprising to find people worshipping different gods, which controlled different aspects of the daily life of the ancient Romans. They borrowed heavily from the Greeks in the number of gods they had and the role that each god or goddess played in their lives.
Jupiter was the king of all gods. He was thought to be the one to throw thunderbolts to the earth whenever he was angered by people. The planet Jupiter was named after this god, suggesting the massive nature of his power over all other beings (Turcan, 2001). Juno is the mother goddess and the wife of Jupiter. She was considered to be the queen of all gods. She was ill-tempered and jealous of all other goddesses. Mercury was the messenger god, tasked with running errands for other gods. He wears winged sandals that enable him to move so fast. Venus was the goddess of beauty while Diana was the goddess of the hunt who protects the animals. She was thought to carry a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She was also the goddess of the moon and the brother of Apollo. Among the other gods are Minerva, Pluto, Vesta and Saturn. Pagan temples were also constructed in the ancient roman capital.
H. Economics
Ancient Rome consisted of vast acreage of land with numerous human and natural resources. The economy of the empire was primarily based on farming and trade (Adkins & Adkins, 2004 page 178). Their main products included grapes and olives. The major exports were olive oil and wine. Egypt and North Africa provided grain that was consumed and sold to other territories (Breyer, 2004, p. 12).
The industrial as well as manufacturing activities were smaller than the agricultural attributes. The largest of this were mining and stone quarrying. Manufacturing was done on a smaller scale having small shops whereas the mining industry was large scale, employing numerous people.
The economy of the ancient Roman Empire was based on small holdings and paid labor. Slaves got from conquests and foreign wars, provided the necessary cheap labor for the state.
Barter trade was also used before the use of the coinage system. Barter trade was used majorly for tax collection by the state. The coinage system came with the use of copper, brass, precious metals and bronze metals (Dunstan, 2010, p. 98).
Horses were used for transportation although they were quite expensive. The other pack animals were cheap but slow. Roads were constructed for such animals and not for wheels. They connected military posts and not markets. Trade was promoted by the coming up of the roman maritime trade in the 2nd century BC ___. This is because transport by sea was far much cheaper than by land. Ancient Rome had a market economy.
III. Conclusion
This paper has been able to explain the religious attributes of ancient Rome, their social stratification, the political outfits and economics as major areas of concern for this research. In brief, the research came up with the following items as the basis of life in the ancient roman society: The state was ruled by several kings in several evolutionary phases. There were social classes distinguished by wealth. Conquest was a common phenomenon for proof of success and acquiring slaves. They worshipped many gods and goddesses. Trade and agriculture were rife here and the location of this great state was good for its protection, trade and agriculture.
For a good outcome of this paper an external reviewer was use to correct the grammatical errors as well as spelling mistakes that were available. Other revisions that were relevant on the manner of how the paper was handled were similarly made. Moreover, the form of citation and referencing styles were made.

References
Adkins, L. & Adkins, R. (2004). Handbook to life in ancient Rome. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Bailey, C. (1907). The religion of ancient Rome. London: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd. pp. 12, 34, 103.
Books Llc. (2010). Social classes in ancient Rome: equestrian order.
Breyer, M. (2004). Ancient Rome. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Carcopino, J. (1956). Daily life in ancient Rome: The people and the city at the height of the empire. New Haven and London: Yale university Press.
Chrisp, P. (2003). Ancient Rome. DK Revealed Series. New York, NY: DK Publishing.
Dunstan, W.E. (2011). Ancient Rome. Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.
Hanson-Harding, A. (2011) Economies in ancient times. Pelham, NY: Benchmark Education Company.
Louis, P. (2006). Ancient Rome at work: An economic history of the empire from the origins to the empire. Oxon: Routledge.
Turcan, R. (2001). Gods of ancient Rome: Religion in everyday life from archaic to imperial times. New York, NY: Routledge.
Zoch, P. (2000). Ancient Rome: An introductory history. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

Task 4
Revision Summary
The writing process involved a number of things. An initial draft must first be created, which will be revised until a final draft is approved. The revision process involved a wide range of things: proof reading for errors or shortcoming, both in errors and content. In the identification of the errors, grammatical errors were noted in task three and corrected so as to create task five. This revision was done after proofreading the document in task 3 to create task 5. The revision was done with the help of external readers who did the reading and made the necessary corrections as noted in task three. Corrections of the errors made involved rewriting the words that had grammatical errors and the words that were misspelled were corrected by writing them correctly.
Several aspects were deleted because they were either unnecessary or repetitive the strategy that was applied for this was repetitive reading hence identification of the erroneous made. Among these are paragraphs on slaves that explained their property-like treatment, leadership and wealth, and property classes. Other aspects were also deleted to bring out in a better way the inquired meaning. Errors that lay in the in text citation were corrected as some were missing while others contained limited information concerning the area of focus.
Paragraphs on the freedmen, gods, Julius Caesar and the 12 tables were unnecessary and out of context in this research report. The end of kinship and the start of consuls were also removed due to repetition in the next paragraph.
In-text citation and referencing was included in the final copy.

Task 5
Thesis Statement
The ancient Rome civilization is very different from the modern times in many different ways. It has grown from a small community in Italian Peninsulas and become a basis to gauge the present time. The life aspects of political, social and political are elements of consideration.
IV. Introduction
This paper seeks to establish ancient Rome’s religious attributes, its social stratification, political outfits and economics as major areas of consideration. There are numerous areas of concern in researching about the ancient Romans in areas such as such as kinship ties, burial, education, literature, art and many other aspects that make up this civilization (Zoch, 2000, p.5).
A detailed look into these four topics will give form to the social stratification existing in this empire, what determined this stratification, the effects of such a class distinction and what benefit such distinction brings to the people. In terms of political structure, the findings will be explained in line with the kind of political structure that existed and how efficient this structure was. The religious attributes of the ancient Romans will include a discussion of their deity, the associations they made to this deity, their places of worship and their religious leadership (Bailey, 1907, p.12). The discussion on their economy will include the livelihood of the people, advances in technology and agriculture among other things. The influence of their civilization to today’s world will also similarly be discussed.

V. Body
I. Society
The city of Rome was considered to be the largest urban center in those days, with an average population of about one million people (Chrisp, 2003). Twenty percent of the population was under the immediate jurisdiction of Rome. The city was held in such high esteem because it was where everything began.
J. Social stratification
The Roman society was a largely hierarchical society. It consisted of overlapping status groups. These hierarchies determined a many things in the lives of ancient Romans. People were categorized into slaves, freedmen and freeborn citizens. The slaves occupied the lowest position, followed by the freedmen and then the freeborn citizens (Carcopino, 1956, p.52).
The freeborn Romans were determined by several aspects, a . Among the most important is their ancestry, which was expected to be purely Roman. They may also be identified through census ranks, honors and citizenship. Citizenship, in this case, is by birth only. Full citizens were given a host of rights and privileges. The non-citizens included the slaves and the visitors. They had different legal rights from the common citizens. The slaves for instance were considered to be property and had no rights whatsoever. They could be sold from one owner to another, their efforts used for the gain of their masters or owners. The freed slaves were a little different from the slaves in that they were given some form of recognition by the Romans. They possessed some rights and privileges. To some extent, they had almost the same status as any other common person in the ancient Roman Empire.
The ancient Roman society is a patriarchal society – the man is the head of the household at all times. He held very special powers and privileges over the other members of the family. He exercised a patron–client relationship with his family members. This patron–client relationship implicates that the patron is at all times at a superior position than the client. The patron is at liberty to have many clients.
K. Property based classes
Ancient Rome was also characterized by property-based classes. The accumulation of wealth has been a source of major differences the world over. A census conducted in Rome divided people into six categories based on their economic capability.
The senators were the richest people in the country. This class of people had large agricultural estates under their names. The sesterlii was the second in command. This class of people consisted of influential business people. The equities were third in line. They were the political class of the land. They were tasked with making laws and implementing them. The least of all was the proletarii who owned the least property of all. This category of persons had the least influence in the land, ranking very low in all matters.
L. Citizenship
The free born women in the land were considered to be citizens, although they had no right to vote in any election. In addition, they were not allowed to hold any political office. Marriages were conducted in a civil manner. The requirement for a Roman marriage was that both parties had to be proper citizens of Rome before the marriage could be recognized. The legal status of the mother was a determining factor to the legal rights and citizenship of her son. The son was considered to be a citizen of ancient Rome if her mother was a pure citizen of Rome.
Slaves were not citizens of this country. They were considered as property to their masters. Slaves were usually descendants of debtors and prisoners of war. The freedmen were freed slaves. The freed slaves were usually highly educated people providing the bulk of services to the civil sector. They had many of skills and were quite important in the service sector. They accumulated wealth through bribery and corruption.
M. The Freedmen
These were freed slaves. The freed slaves were usually highly educated people providing the bulk of services to the civil sector. They possessed many skills and became quite important in the service sector. They accumulated wealth through bribery and corruption.
N. Politics and Leadership
The ancient Roman Empire underwent three stages of leadership: the monarchy, the republic and finally the empire.
The Monarchy
The country’s leadership was based on mythical stories of kings and emperors. These mythical stories have truth in them; they were based on facts. Among these kings were Romulus, Numa, Julius Ceasar. The kings were all ousted during the end of the 6th century bringing in a crop of new people to rule the kingdom. These people were referred to as consuls.

The Republic
It started with the overthrowing of the kings who were ruling the empire at the end of the 6th BC. They were replaced by two magistrates, which were referred to as consuls. The privilege to rule was given to the patricians, wealthy men and land owners who were members of the aristocracy. The plebeians, who had also accumulated wealth, were included into the leadership of the country after a social conflict had ensued.
The 12 tables became the first written laws of the land. They formed the basis for living in Rome, guiding all the actions of the Romans. It was under these laws that justice was implemented. The senate ruled the towns and cities.
Internal conflicts were brought about by class differences and leadership. It was apparent that the ruling class was the richest. They used absolute power to rule the land. These consuls gave power to their kin and dictated by force what was to be done. Class differences brought conflicts that threatened to tear apart the land and its leadership. These occurred conflicts were among the upper class and the lower class political class.
Julius Caesar took over the leadership of the land during a tumultuous time. He was a very powerful leader, having fought and won many battles with neighboring empires. He was a tough king, entertaining no deceit from his members. He implemented severe punishments, including hanging and excommunication. He assassinated in 44 BC. The republic ended in the 27th BC with the reign of Augustus.
The Empire
The empire was ruled under very distinct class divisions. The senators were the rulers and included the chief magistrates and military posts. The equities, also referred to as the equestrian class, consisted of the civil careers and the military (General books LLC, 2010, p.74). The lower class consisted of the junior ranked people in the army.
The senate was the center of administration in the empire. The consuls and the exconsuls were entitled to become senators by default. The wealthy and rich people of the land still held the position of leadership in the land. At the age of eighteen, the equestrian class became wealthy business men. It is at this age that they gained recognition as citizens. The emperor determines the age at which such people would receive such recognition of prosperity.
From the 2nd century BC, there were tribunals that were set up for crimes against the state. These crimes included treason, embezzlement of state funds and property, murder, adultery and electoral bribery. The punishment for such crimes was based on the class to which one belonged. The upper class of people was punished by being exiled whereas the lower class were either crucified or received a public beating, among other undesirable punishment methods.
The emperor Augustus changed the form of leadership in the state to an autocratic one. This better served the interests of the people better than the previous styles of leadership practiced by the other kings and emperors.
O. Religion in the Ancient Roman Empire
The religious beliefs of the early Roman Empire were based on many gods, goddesses and legends. These religious deities were symbolized by nature. It was not surprising to find people worshipping different gods, which controlled different aspects of the daily life of the ancient Romans. They borrowed heavily from the Greeks in the number of gods they had and the role that each god or goddess played in their lives.
Jupiter was the king of all gods. He was thought to be the one to throw thunderbolts to the earth whenever he was angered by people. The planet Jupiter was named after this god, suggesting the massive nature of his power over all other beings (Turcan, 2001). Juno is the mother goddess and the wife of Jupiter. She was considered to be the queen of all gods. She was ill-tempered and jealous of all other goddesses. Mercury was the messenger god, tasked with running errands for other gods. He wears winged sandals that enable him to move so fast. Venus was the goddess of beauty while Diana was the goddess of the hunt who protects the animals. She was thought to carry a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She was also the goddess of the moon and the brother of Apollo. Among the other gods are Minerva, Pluto, Vesta and Saturn. Pagan temples were also constructed in the ancient roman capital.
P. Economics
Ancient Rome consisted of vast acreage of land with numerous human and natural resources. The economy of the empire was primarily based on farming and trade (Adkins & Adkins, 2004 p.178). Their main products included grapes and olives. The major exports were olive oil and wine. Egypt and North Africa provided grain that was consumed and sold to other territories (Breyer, 2004, p. 12).
The industrial as well as manufacturing activities were smaller than the agricultural attributes. The largest of this were mining and stone quarrying. Manufacturing was done on a smaller scale having small shops whereas the mining industry was large scale, employing numerous people.
The economy of the ancient Roman Empire was based on small holdings and paid labor. Slaves got from conquests and foreign wars, provided the necessary cheap labor for the state (Hanson-Hardin, 201, p. 24).
Barter trade was also used before the use of the coinage system. Barter trade was used majorly for tax collection by the state. The coinage system came with the use of copper, brass, precious metals and bronze metals (Dunstan, 2010, p. 98).
Horses were used for transportation although they were quite expensive. The other pack animals were cheap but slow. Roads were constructed for such animals and not for wheels. They connected military posts and not markets. Trade was promoted by the coming up of the roman maritime trade in the 2nd century BC (Louis, 2007, p.77). This is because transport by sea was far much cheaper than by land. Ancient Rome had a market economy.
VI. Conclusion
This paper has been able to explain the religious attributes of ancient Rome, their social stratification, the political outfits and economics as major areas of concern for this research. In brief, the research came up with the following items as the basis of life in the ancient roman society: The state was ruled by several kings in several evolutionary phases. There were social classes distinguished by wealth. Conquest was a common phenomenon for proof of success and acquiring slaves. They worshipped many gods and goddesses. Trade and agriculture were rife here and the location of this great state was good for its protection, trade and agriculture. In comparison to the present times a huge contrast appears.

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