During the 3rd century, citizenship, free birth, and an Italian or other geographically central background lost their significance. Power, status, wealth, and membership of an ordo, which at one time were almost synonymous, became disconnected. As a result, the social underclass became more homogenized (and poorer), whereas the upper classes became more differentiated. Despite all differences between them, both town and country presented the image of large groups of destitute and oppressed people without any rights. The coloni may serve as an illustration: legally, they were free individuals with a right to property, but in fact they were serfs and, since Diocletian, bound to the soil, obliged to perform services for their lords, and to marry within their class. Imperial legislation openly recognized the fact that their position was no different from that of slaves. The elite, on the other hand, came to consist of rich, but as a group powerless, senators, powerful equites and military men, and locally important decuriones, who were increasingly exploited by the state. Apart from origins and property, political loyalty, legal education, and especially military talent now were avenues toward bettering one’s situation.
The reforms of the late 3rd century resulted in a formalization of the changes that had occurred earlier. Senators and equites merged into one single ordo: a new ordo senatorius. During the late 4th century, this new ordo saw the introduction of a hierarchy, from
Clarissimi via spectabiles to illustres, which was related to specific official functions. This constitutes the formalization of a hierarchical order that had been in the making for a long time. Heredity was now of little importance: whoever attained the rank of clarissimus, either in the army or in the bureaucracy, became a member of the senatorial class. The illustres were a select group: they were the ones who were genuinely rich and educated, former consuls and distinguished (former) ministers, who increasingly came to dominate the senates of Rome and Constantinople. Below the ordo, but still within the elite, were the bureaucrats (officiales) and the lower-ranking officers. Dignitaries of the church fell outside the official ranking, but should of course be considered as members of the elite. And finally there are the curiales, who more generally used to be called decuriones. Despite the fact that they were still mostly large landowners, it is doubtful whether they could still be seen as belonging to the elite; more than any other of the groups that have just been mentioned, they had fallen victim to the central government’s coercive policies. They certainly no longer belonged to the potentes; in the 4th century, this term was only used for members of the Senate, high-ranking civil administrators, and military commanders.
World History
