OCR A-Level Ancient History H407
Relations Between Greek States and Non-Greek States, 492–404 BC
The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478–404 BC
The Culture and Politics of Athens, c.460–c.399 BC
The Rise of Macedon, c.359–323 BC
The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC–AD 68
The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88–31 BC
The Flavians, AD 68–96
Ruling Roman Britain, AD 43–c.128
The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88–31 BC
The senatorial and equestrian orders and the publicani
- 1 thing to know
- Component Group 2
Overview
Recall questions on the senatorial order, patricians and plebeians and the nobilis, land as respectable wealth and how senators evaded the ban on trade, equestrians and their business, the publicani and why Rome farmed its taxes, oppression of provincials, the Asian tax company and Crassus, clashes over the provinces, and the gap in wealth.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What defined membership of the senatorial order?
Model answer
A seat in the Senate won by holding the quaestorship, combined with a large property qualification and a way of life resting on landed wealth.
- 2
Distinguish a patrician from a plebeian.
Model answer
A patrician belonged to one of the ancient families that had once monopolised office, while everyone else was a plebeian however rich or distinguished.
- 3
Did the distinction between patrician and plebeian still matter by the Late Republic?
Model answer
It counted for little politically, since great plebeian houses dominated the consulship, but it still governed certain priesthoods and eligibility for the tribunate.
- 4
Define a nobilis.
Model answer
He is a man whose family counted a consul among its ancestors.
- 5
Why was land the only wholly respectable form of senatorial wealth?
Model answer
A law forbade senators large-scale trade and shipping, and landowning was held to be the only occupation fitting a man of rank.
- 6
How did senators get round the restriction on commerce?
Model answer
They invested through freedmen and agents and lent money at interest, so the profits reached them without their names appearing.
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Every question in The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88–31 BC, on a schedule.
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