Patrician Men In Ancient Roman

The Patricians were a formidable and prosperous class during the era of Ancient Rome. According to PBS’s article on Patricians , the word “patrician” is derived from the Latin word “patres”, meaning “fathers”, in reference to the founding fathers of Ancient Rome, and hence they were in-charge of the empire’s politics, religion, and military. The patricians were one of the first clans who occupied the seven hills and played a key role in advising the first kings. The Patricians and their families composed 5%-10% of the population during the imperial period, and often had slaves under their command. Patrician men lived very luxurious lives as they often treated themselves with rich, substantial banquets and dwelled in villas. These men who were

They ate a lot of fruit, chicken, goats, fish, shellfish, and desserts. These men would usually have the women or slaves go out to supermarkets to get their food. A common way these supermarket owners enticed the patrician men, was by exhibiting ther fruit, and livestock such as rabbits, chickens, baskets of snails and other kinds of meat. Patrician men thoroughly enjoyed their daily breakfast, with a wide selection of fresh meat, wine, fish, fruits, vegetables, and bread. They would usually have slaves serve them in bed. They used honey to sweeten food or wine, as Patricians weren 't familiarised with sugar. The patrician lunch would be from 11 am to 12 pm and was light, as they believed having a big meal would mean they would get tired and fall asleep. 4 hours later the patrician men took their dinner, taking anywhere between 1 to 4 hours to complete it. Dessert would consist of a fruit platter or a small cake made from honey. Patrician men usually hosted special dinner parties where the women were separated into one room with the children and all the men in another. These parties lasted hours, filled with an opulence of rich, appetizing food. Patricians usually ate lying down, without cutlery. They used a wet towel to tidy up after a meal. Patricians had slaves working in the kitchen, who served the meals and cleaned

The patrician men’s ability to indulge in such delicious meals, came from the power and position they held in soceity. Their strong postion in the Ancient Roman hierarchy can be traced back to the first Senate established by Romulus, where all the public offices were only open to the patrician men. This meant that, as Beard states in her book “SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome”, even though patrcian men were a member of the free citizen society they controlled all positions of authority such as the religious, judicial, political and military institutions of Rome. It was considered beneath them to be involved in commerce and trade. Patricians defended their position of power by making it illegal for classes to intermarry. In 494 BC, the Plebians threatened to leave Rome in order to force the Patricians to set a small council for the Plebians. Patricians later found out that “The patricians needed the Plebians more than Plebians needing Patricians”. This was due to the ‘Conflict of the orders’ (494 BC to 287 BC), where the Plebians sought political equality with the Patricians. In order to resolve the discrepancies of power and privileges, the ‘Patron-client relationship’ was made in the early Republic. This ‘treaty’ meant that Patricians, the “patrons”, would protect the Plebians, the “clients”, in return for assistance in politics and private life, and to follow the patron to war. Racheal Munro stated in her article on Roman rights that, This treaty was made to give Plebians