Evidence: Social Structure

Question 1

Freeborn Men

Answer 1

• Dominant male was called the paterfamilias - a position of legal and social responsibility and rights
• All freeborn citizens had the right to vote locally
• Not all were eligible for political office: had to have prestige and wealth

Question 2

Common freemen (populus)

Answer 2

• Wore ordinary tunics
• Ordinary male lives went unrecorded

Question 3

Privileged

Answer 3

• Freeborn men sat in the front frows of the theatre

Evidence
* Roman patrician class members had estates in Campania: Proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus’ dedicatory altars and statue are on the terrace near Herculaneum’s suburban baths
* The Villa of the Papyri has several busts of Roman patricians
* Senatorial aristocrats builts maritime villas along the coast near Stabiae