Ellen Hohmann
September 29, 1999
HI202
Essay I

What defines a member of the Roman nobility? First of all, one must be born into a certain family, noble by virtue of having been one of the primary landowners since some time in the remote Roman past, that is, noble by being "old money." Second of all, and this stems from being one of a family traditionally in control of a significant amount of land, one must continue to be in control of enough land to provide a strong financial base for the life of leisure demanded by a career in politics. These two qualifications required that a man of aristocratic birth be constantly aware of his position in the eyes of the world and perpetually occupied with accumulating power. Being a member of Rome’s aristocracy in the first three centuries of the Republic meant adhering to a rigid lifestyle which was designed to garner maximum power and prestige for a man’s country, his family, and the man himself.

Naturally, these are but ideals, and the term nobility actually extended by the fourth century to include several families of the plebeian class that had attained sufficient wealth and power to serve in consulships, such as the families of Cato the Elder and Cicero. Furthermore, noble families were not always financially solvent and were occasionally expelled from the noble class (Africa 1991, p.92-93). It is important to note, however, that just as in most other Western societies, the term "nobility" is not a measure of a person’s moral worth or decorum in behavior, but primarily an arbitrary distinction based upon birth, present and accumulated wealth, and the social mobility they provide.

In early Rome, power came to those who seized the greatest share of land and successfully defended it. The very founding of the city, according to legend at least, was based on such a principle. Following the two omens of birds in flight, an argument ensued between the factions of Romulus and Remus:

While perhaps an extreme example, Romulus nevertheless operated under the same motivation to remain in power as the Republican nobility. He recognized that the man who established himself as the master of his own estate was assured aposition of power in the community, and furthermore, the man who demonstrated the most physical prowess in defending the best piece of land would attain the highest position of power. The nobility, however, used different means for securing dominance: the power conferred by political office.

A career in politics occupied the majority of the time of the noble class. Other careers were available, but politics was the most reliable way of earning social prestige, or dignitas. Dignitas, meaning honor, authority, or dignity, was the abstract goal of the nobility. It involved gaining honor and glory for yourself and, by extension, your family and affecting an aura of superiority. According to Africa, the children of the nobility were impressed with the ideals of dignitas from an early age. They witnessed the awe-inspiring spectacle of Republican funerals, with their ancestor-masks, fasces, and other trappings of rank and authority (1991, p.94), and were present in a home in which their fathers’ roles as patronis would have been in high relief, with clientelae in more or less constant attendance; the more clientelae, the more dignitas. The seeds of a political career were thus started at the beginning of life, and the aristocratic man was expected to begin holding office as soon as possible.

Dignitas was also acquired through military exploits and appropriate marriages. Glory through conquest seems a natural contributor to dignitas, but a strong and productive marriage to a noble woman was also part of an aristocratic life. Military service was expected of every man in the Republic. It was a necessary precursor to a political career, and often, especially if one became consul or dictator, an inherent facet of the office held. Holding office was great, but "everlasting fame was the greatest prize" and celebrating a victory "the supreme moment of a Roman noble’s life," (Africa 1991, p.98). A further attraction of military service was the promise of spoils of victory, a particular boon to impoverished nobles. Marriage, too, was expected of every man, and another contribution he made to the dominance of the noble class. Although an institution that seems for us to belong in the personal realm, marriage for the Romans served two main (and very practical) functions: to produce as many children as possible to bolster the ranks and to strengthen political ties between powerful families. For this reason, it was a major coup when with the Canuleian Law, 445 BCE, the plebeians won the right to intermarry with patricians, a right that had previously been avoided by the nobility to prevent "the debasement of their blood and the subversion of the principles inhering in the gentes, or families," (Livy History of Rome IV.i, vi 3-12, in Lewis and Reinhold, vol. I, 1990, p. 118). Ironically, the right to intermarry was granted in lieu of the right of plebeians to hold the office of consul, a further example of the inseparable relationship of politics to the lives of the nobility.

What is significant about the role of politics and dignitas in the life of the nobility, however, is that for the most part, neither were made available to the plebeian class. "Holding a monopoly on dignitas, the nobles were convinced that they were superior to the commons. The masses, in turn, deferred to the nobility and asked only that worthy commoners be permitted to infiltrate its ranks," (1991, p.92). While his viewpoint takes a somewhat patronizing view of the plebeian class, it still conveys the point that the nobility remained a separate class from the plebians through propagating an illusion of superiority. Although the nobility owned most of the land, they did not work it themselves; although they boasted of their military exploits, their prowess in combat, after the earliest days of the Republic they did not fight those glorious battles themselves. Power was hoarded by the nobility through the centuriate system, in which the wealthiest proportion of the population dominated the vote, by refusing until 367 BCE to grant the plebeian class the right to hold the most influential office of consul, and by making other such prohibitions so as to restrict access into their rarefied world.

The clearest view into the world of the nobility, however, is through what they wrote about themselves. In the funeral oration for L. Caecilius Metellus, who had served as consul, dictator, and Pontifex Maximus, the highest goals for a noble life were summarized:

Metellus had fulfilled the requirements of the aristocratic lifestyle by achieving dignitas; he was successful in politics and military service, raised a large family, and through this service glorified both the family name and the state. Life for the nobility in the early Republic was thus a highly proscribed life that involved maintaining the power of both the family and the noble class as a whole through a certain set of roles and patterns of behavior.

Africa, T.W. The Immense Majesty: A History of Rome and the Roman Empire. NY: Harlan Davidson, 1991 repr.

Lewis, N. and Reinhold, M, eds. Roman Civilization. vol. I. 3rd ed. NY:Columbia, 1990.

Mellor, R., ed. The Historians of Ancient Rome. NY & London: Routledge, 1998.