Exercises on the social organization of the Roman Empire

(USP) - University of São Paulo.

“I contemplated the common people with 300 sesterces a head, in execution of my father's will; I gave in my fifth consulship 400 sesterces; in my eleventh consulship I distributed wheat bought at my expense twelve times; in my twelfth Tributary Branch I gave 400 sesterces a head three times.

There were never less than 250,000 individuals for me to benefit from these liberalities.

In the year of my Eighteenth Tribunial Branch and my second consulship, I gave each common man 60 pence a head. During my thirteenth consulship, I gave 60 pieces of money to citizens enrolled in the circus to amuse the plebs”. (Suetonius, Life of the Twelve Caesars)

a) The text demonstrates the continuity of the bread and circuses policy in the Republic and the Roman Empire.

b) We perceive, in the sums and amounts distributed, the commitment of the prince to demonstrate his Christian charity.

c) The Tribunial Power and the Consular Power were exercised by the same person and this fact explains the absolute power of the Roman rulers.

d) The important thing was only the distribution of coins to the people and not the wheat and the circus shows, as they say traditionally.

e) The Emperor insists on emphasizing the legal character of his power, which comes from an inheritance left by Caesar.

The social organization of the Roman Empire was divided into three main parts:the Senatorial Order, the Equestrian Order and the Lower Order. About the Lower Order, it can be said that:

a) was made up of those who had an income of more than 400,000 sesterces and who could occupy the highest political positions in the Roman Senate.

b) was made up of those who did not have a high income, but who had a large participation in public life.

c) was made up of those who came from patrician families, that is, from the poorest social groups in Roman society.

d) was made up of those who had an income of less than 400,000 sesterces (Roman currency) and who were also unable to participate in public life.

e) consisted exclusively of wealthy commoners, who could freely exercise any public office.

(UEL/PR) The Roman imperial expansion resulted, from the 1st century AD, on the use of slave labor on a large scale and a significant increase in the number of unoccupied commoners, to which they joined waves of ruined small farmers. This increased the rural exodus and caused the swelling of cities, especially Rome. To alleviate the social problem of these masses, the State started to give them subsidies.

This policy was characterized by the distribution of:

a) land for the unemployed, characterizing a true agrarian reform, known as Licínio's agrarian policy.

b) money for the purchase of clothes and food, fighting the inflation that devastated the Republic, provoked by the policy of Thucydides.

c) low-price grains and free public shows, known as Augustus's policy of bread and circuses.

d) Seeds, agricultural tools and slaves for cultivating land in Sicily and North Africa:Suetonius's colonization policy.

e) slaves to stimulate agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula, known as Claudio's agricultural policy.

The new social order determined by the first Roman emperor, Octavius ​​Augustus, managed to dismantle the structure of Roman society typical of the republican phase, which was characterized:

a) by the polarization of power between priests and scribes.

b) by each person's birth and wealth.

c) for the power concentrated in the hands of those closest to the pharaoh.

d) by the laws implemented by Alexander the Great in the Italian Peninsula.

e) by the Egyptian laws given by Julius Caesar when he joined Cleopatra.

Letter E

In Seutonius' speech, the political and social hierarchy of the Roman kings over the other members of Roman imperial society is explicit, as well as the defining role that wealth (counted in the “sesterces” coin) had in that context .

Letter D

The Lower Order was made up of individuals with an income of less than 400,000 sesterces. These individuals, despite enjoying many rights offered by the empire, could not participate directly in public life.

Letter C

The policy of “Bread and Circuses” functioned as an “appeaser element” created by the Roman Empire. The aim was to prevent upheavals and social upheavals among the least favored groups in Roman society.

Letter B

Roman society prior to the imperial period was mainly characterized by the origin of each individual (patrician or plebeian). The patricians born were heirs of the ancient clans that built the Roman civilization, therefore, they were great landowners and with a great presence in political activity. Those born plebeians, on the other hand, even if they became rich, had their participation in political life difficult due to their non-noble social origin.