Equestrian Order
Social classes played a significant role in Roman society, with Cicero belonging to the equites, who were second from the top in regards to wealth and status in Roman senatorial aristocracy. Cicero gained his status as an equestrian due to his family’s significant wealth, history of knighthood and land ownership in Rome, however Cicero was not part of the same political circles that the wealthy were a part of, as shown by David Shotter, a retired Senior Lecturer in History and Classics who articulates that, “Cicero, whose country equestrian background did not introduce him to the circles and personalities in whose hands lay the power and the government of Rome.” (Shotter, 2003).
Equestrians are shown in the Relief below!
As part of the rising equestrian order, Cicero was one of the equites who posed a threat to the traditional cursus honorum standings through his rise to consulship, as equestrians are normally members of society, and not of the senate. Senior Lecturer in History and Classics, David Shotter endorses that, “That equestrians had become influential and important in the late Republic cannot be denied…” (Shotter, 2003)
“That equestrians had become influential and important in the late Republic cannot be denied…”
Due to the political threat the senators believed the equites posed, tense relationships formed between the two different classes, especially toward Cicero and his equestrian background. It was becoming more common for equites to try and become part of the senate, as highly acclaimed author Nigel Rodgers argues; “He also embodied the aspirations of the rising commercial equestrian class.” (Rodgers, 2012) The exclusive nature was one of the main reasons for the downfall of the Republic, as the senate were not open to change and new ideas from any lower rungs of society.
Watch the short video on the Cursus Honorum!
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Sources
Rodgers, N., 2012. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome. Leicestershire: Anness Publishing Limited.
Shotter, D., 2003. Rome and Her Empire. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited.
Williams, R., 2004. Cicero the Patriot. Illionois: Bolchazy-Caraucci Publishers Incorporated.
Wood, N., 1998. Cicero's Social & Political Thought. Oxford: University of California Press.
Shotter, D., 2003. Rome and Her Empire. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited.
Williams, R., 2004. Cicero the Patriot. Illionois: Bolchazy-Caraucci Publishers Incorporated.
Wood, N., 1998. Cicero's Social & Political Thought. Oxford: University of California Press.