CLA233H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter Week 3: Centuriate Assembly, Aedile, Praetor
Document Summary
Roman men were occupied with business affairs, word, and activities in the law courts. Romans believed themselves to be descendants of self-reliant farmers. They believed: early roman farmers owned the land they farmed, rural virtues were the source of imperial greatness. Eventually most of the agricultural land belonged only to a rich few: most farmers were now tenants on rented land or hired or slave labour. Senatorial class viewed urban areas as a space of stress and the farm retreat from work. While they idealized farmers, they did not give them political support. In the beginning only property owners were eligible for military service since they would fight to protect their own property. Too many farmers died in war, their families had to sell off their farms until eventually most farms belonged to only a few families who then displaced the farming families. The wealthy did not hire back displaced farmers but rather imported slaves.
