During the ancient Rome Republic period, people were categorized by ancestry and relationships, rank (eg.senator), achievements (eg.honours awarded them), money and citizenship. The only class that did not follow these rules, were the slaves. Slaves were thought of as being the property of the owner, with no rights of their own. Occasionally an owner gave a slave his or her freedom, and the slave then became a freedman. Freedmen had the same rights as a free born citizen of Rome.
Within the family, the father ruled and had special rights over everyone in the family, including the slaves. Patricians were the ruling class in ancient Rome, however Plebeians were in the majority of all ancient Roman citizens. Women and children who were related to a patrician were granted more protection than those who were related to a plebeian. Patricians and plebeians were in a constant social struggle, as plebeians wanted more power. Eventually plebeians were granted the right to stand for office.
Roman citizens were divided into six classes, the members of each class being ranked in order of wealth, generally property or money. The six classes were made up of; senators, nobles, Peregrini (free born citizens), Freedmen (freedmen were slaves that were freed by their master), Latin Right (a form of citizenship with limited rights) and Slaves (slaves were not citizens and had no rights).
Ancient Rome 