patrician

Examples of patrician in the following topics:

• Roman Society Under the Republic

  • The patricians assented to their demands and the plebeian soldiers returned to battle.
  • Tribunes and aediles were technically not magistrates since they were only elected by fellow plebeians as opposed to the unified population of plebeians and patricians.
  • Ultimately, a new patricio-plebeian aristocracy emerged and replaced the old patrician nobility.
  • Whereas the old patrician nobility existed simply on the basis of being able to run for office, the new aristocracy existed on the basis of affluence.
  • Although a small number of plebeians had achieved the same standing as the patrician families of the past, new plebeian aristocrats were less interested in the plight of the average plebeian than the old patrician aristocrats.

• Early Roman Society

  • The most important division within Roman society was between patricians, a small elite who monopolized political power, and plebeians, who comprised the majority of Roman society.
  • These designations were established at birth, with patricians tracing their ancestry back to the first Senate established under Romulus.
  • Originally, all public offices were only open to patricians and the classes could not intermarry, but, over time, the differentiation between patrician and plebeian statuses became less pronounced, particularly after the establishment of the Roman republic.

• The Establishment of the Roman Republic

  • A number of patricians attended the debate, in which Brutus proposed the banishment of the Tarquins from all territories of Rome and the appointment of an interrex to nominate new magistrates and to oversee an election of ratification.
  • It was decided that a republican form of government should temporarily replace the monarchy, with two consuls replacing the king and executing the will of a patrician senate.
  • His choice was ratified by the comitia curiata, an organization of patrician families who primarily ratified decrees of the king.

• Crises of the Republic

  • The first century BCE saw tensions between patricians and plebeians erupt into violence as the Republic became increasingly more divided and unstable.
  • This system consisted of noble families of the senatorial rank (patricians), the knight or equestrian class, citizens (grouped into two or three classes of self-governing allies of Rome, landowners, and plebs or tenant freemen depending on the time period), non-citizens who lived outside of southwestern Italy, and at the bottom, slaves.
  • Caesar also facilitated the election of patrician Publius Clodius Pulcher to the tribunate in 58 BCE, and Clodius sidelined Caesar’s senatorial opponents, Cato and Cicero.

• Julius Caesar

  • Julius Caesar was a Late Republic statesman and general who waged civil war against the Roman Senate, defeating many patrician conservatives before he declared himself dictator.

• Theoderic the Great

  • Emperor Zeno subsequently gave Theoderic the title of Patrician and the office of Magister militum (master of the soldiers), and even appointed him Roman Consul.
  • In 488, Emperor Zeno ordered Theoderic to overthrow the German Foederatus Odoacer, who had likewise been made Patrician and even King of Italy, but who had since betrayed Zeno, supporting the rebellious Leontius.

• Odoacer and the Fall of Rome

  • Odoacer generally used the Roman honorific patrician, granted by the Emperor Zeno, but is referred to as a king (Latin rex) in many documents.
  • In 475 a Roman general named Orestes was appointed Magister militum and patrician by the Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos and became head of the Germanic foederati (barbarian mercenary armies for Rome).

• The Rise of Charlemagne

  • After the pope granted Charlemagne the title of patrician, he returned to Pavia, where the Lombards were on the verge of surrendering.

• The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

  • It was common for patrician families to adopt, and Roman emperors had adopted heirs in the past: The Emperor Augustus had adopted Tiberius and the Emperor Claudius had adopted Nero.

• Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

  • As the Roman Republic conquered Greek territory, expanding its imperial domain throughout the Hellenistic world, official and patrician sculpture grew out of the Hellenistic style many Romans encountered during their campaigns, making it difficult to distinguish truly Roman elements from elements of Greek style, especially since much of what survives of Greek sculpture is actually copies made of Greek originals by Romans.