Cicero was a conservative in some ways. But I don't think he was particularly prejudiced or classist, for the time. Remember that he was technically a plebeian himself, although obviously a privileged and successful one.
Cicero's father was of the equestrian order, not patrician but definitely not plebeian. Think upper middle class from the midwest who goes to the right schools and ends up in DC.
Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Gaius Marius, Mark Anthony even Octavian (before being adopted by Ceasar) were technically all Plebeian. By mid/late Republic the Plebeian/Patrician distinction had lost almost all meaning, as most Patrician families had died out or were surpassed in wealth and political influence by more successful Plebeian families.
The Equites were purely a social/wealth based class, any Roman citizen could become one if he we satisfied the wealth requirements.
Calling equestrians the upper middle class is not accurate. They were firmly upper class, just the lower portion of the upper class. If the senatorial class was roughly the billionaires, then the equites were the ten and hundred millionaires. Perhaps not as rich as the very top of the upper class, but still a league above the upper middle class.
CalChris|4 years ago
qwytw|4 years ago
The Equites were purely a social/wealth based class, any Roman citizen could become one if he we satisfied the wealth requirements.
philipov|4 years ago