- Patrician
The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elite families in
ancient Rome , including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high court officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West. Medieval patrician classes were once again formally defined groups of eliteburgher families in many medieval Italian republics, such as Venice and Genoa, and subsequently "patrician" became a vaguer term used foraristocrat s and elitebourgeoisie in many countries.Etymology
The word "patrician" is derived from the Latin word "patricius" (plural "patricii"), which comes from "patrēs", the plural of "pater" ("father"). "Pater" was one of the terms applied to the original members of the
Roman Senate . The word comes down in English as "patrician" from theMiddle English "patricion", from theOld French "patrician". In modern English, the word "patrician" is generally used to denote a member of the upper class, often with connotations of inherited wealth,elitism , and a sense ofnoblesse oblige .tatus
Patricians were bestowed special status as Roman citizens. They were better represented in the
Roman assemblies . The "Comitia Centuriata", the main legislative body, was divided into 193 voting "centuriae" (centuries). The first two classes (which consisted largely of patricians) together had 98 "centuriae", a number which was enough to obtain a majority, despite the fact that they were fewer in number. That meant that if the patricians acted in concord, they could always determine the result of the voting of the peoples assembly. So, although it was not forbidden for plebeians to hold magistracies, the patricians dominated the political scene for centuries. Strangely, the founding father of the Roman Republic,Lucius Junius Brutus (ancestor of Julius Caesar's assassin,Marcus Junius Brutus ) was a plebeian, and the four kings who had Roman gentilic names also came from plebeian families: (Numa Pompilius ;Tullus Hostilius ;Ancus Marcius ; andServius Tullius - i.e., all the kings exceptRomulus and the foreign Tarquinius).In the beginning of the Republic all priesthoods were closed to non-patricians. There was a belief that patricians communicated better with the Roman gods, so they alone could perform the sacred rites and take the auspices. This view had political consequences, since in the beginning of the year or before a military campaign, Roman magistrates used to consult the gods. Livy reports that the first admission of plebeians into a priestly college happened in 300 B.C. (Liv. X.7.9) when the college of Augurs raised their number from four to nine. After that, plebeians were accepted into the other religious colleges, and by the end of the republic, only minor priesthoods with little political importance like the Salii, the Flamens and the Rex Sacrorum were exclusively filled by patricians.
In the list of the names of the Romans who held magistracies (the
Fasti ), very few plebeian names appear before the 2nd century B.C. The turning point were two laws, the Licinian - Sextian law of 367 B.C. that ascertained the right of plebeians to hold the consulship, and the Genucian law of 342 B.C. that made it compulsory that one at least of the consuls be a plebeian.The ancient patrician gentes whose members appear in founding legends of Rome disappeared as Rome started becoming an empire and new plebeian families rose to prominence, such as the
Decii and theSempronii . Families such as the Horatii, Lucretii, Verginii and Menenii seem to vanish after the 2nd century B.C. Others, such as theJulii reappear only at the end of the Republic. There are some cases where the same gens name was shared by patrician and plebeian clans (for example the Appii Claudii were patricians and the Claudii Marcelli were plebeians).Patricians vs. Plebeians
The distinction between patricians and
plebeians in Ancient Rome was not defined by a simple rule in the ancient historical sources. Modern writers often portray patricians as rich and powerful families who managed to secure power over the less-fortunate plebeian families, though most historians argue that this is an over-simplification. As civil rights for plebleians increased during the middle and lateRoman Republic , many plebeian families had attained wealth and power while some traditionally patrician families had fallen into poverty and obscurity.Historian
Adrian Richard states that patrician families were initially those who held positions within the priesthoods, and that the ancient Senate, composed of patricians, was a religious advisory body. The Senate, acting as a council of religious elders, had political power because it was necessary to have their assent on new laws. The priestly class would confirm that the new laws were in keeping with "mos maiorum " and would give their "auctoritas " to the measures that could then be enacted.Patrician position
Patrician status still carried a degree of prestige at the time of the early
Roman Empire , and Roman emperors routinely elevated their supporters to the patrician caste en masse. The prestige and meaning of the status gradually degraded, and by the end of the 3rd-century crisis, patrician status, as it had been known in the Republic, ceased to have meaning in everyday life. The Emperor Constantine reintroduced the term, and "Patrician" became an honorific title bestowed to those who demonstrated faithful service to the Empire. There were often only a few patricians in the Empire at any given time, and sometimes only one.Fact|date=May 2007By the
5th century , the title generally denoted a man, commonly a general of the Roman army, who held the power behind the imperial throne. Patricians of this era includedStilicho ,Constantius III , Aëtius, Boniface, andRicimer ; Constantius III would later become co-emperor. The patrician title was occasionally used in Western Europe after the end of the Roman Empire; for instance,Pope Stephen II granted the title "Patrician of the Romans" to the Frankish rulerPippin III .In the Eastern Empire, where the emperors maintained their hold on power, the title retained its meaning as an honorific. The term fell out of use as the
Greek language replaced Latin as the language of the court. A member of the plebeian class could be elevated by showing great support towards the Senate, by living a life of pure dedication, and having no criminal history with members of the groups. Patricians could be demoted to plebeian status if they failed to fulfill their duties as a husband, or by murdering another member of the patrician society.The revival of patrician classes in medieval Italian republics, and also north of the Alps, is covered in
Patricianship .Use in fiction
In the satirical
fantasy series "Discworld " by English authorTerry Pratchett , the city ofAnkh-Morpork is run by a Presidential figure who is akin to the old Roman nobility. The ruler takes the title of Patrician, but is in all respects atyrant . In most of the novels, the Patrician in office is namedHavelock Vetinari and though he often puts up a democratic facade, he is a "de facto "dictator , albeit a relatively benign one.In the
science fiction "Foundation" trilogy byIsaac Asimov ,Ducem Barr is referred to as a Patrician of the Empire in the "Foundation and Empire " volume. Within the story, it is an inherited noble title, clearly derived of the Roman Imperial definition, which was used as a model for Asimov's Galactic Empire.In Ayn Rand's 1936 novel "The Fountainhead", the narrator makes several comparisons between the newspaper tyrant Gail Wynand and a patrician.
List of some patrician families
Definite
*Aemilia, Claudia, Cornelia, Fabia, Flaminia,
*Furia, Lucretia, Menenia, Cloelia,
*Horatia, Julia, Manlia, Nautia, Postumia
*Quinctilia ,Quinctia , Sergia, Servilia, Sulpicia
*Valeria, Veturia, Verginia, GeganiaList of Patricii
*Flavius Julius Constantius:
335 -337
*Flavius Stilicho :394 -408 (alsomagister militum )
*Flavius Constantius:417 -421 (later emperor February-September 421)
*Flavius Castinus :420s
*Bonifacius :432
*Flavius Aëtius :433 -454 (also magister militum)
*Petronius Maximus :445 -455 (later emperor March-April 455)
*Ricimer :456 -472 (also magister militum)
*Gundobad :472 -473 (also magister militum, and later King of the Burgundians473 -516 )
*Odoacer :476 -493 (also King of Italy)
*al-Harith ibn Jabalah :529 -569 (also King of theGhassanids )
*Kubrat d. mid 7th C.ee also
*
Patricianship References
* Kurt Raaflaub, ed. "Social Struggles in Archaic Rome: New Perspectives on the Conflict of the Orders" (
Blackwell Publishing , 2005)
* Gary Forsythe, 2005, A Critical History of Early Rome. University of California Press.
*Kenny Zeng, 2007, A History Of Ancient and Early Rome
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