Patronage in ancient Rome

Patronage (clientela) was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus (plural patroni, "patron") and his client (cliens, plural clientes). The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client. Benefits a patron might confer include legal representation in court, loans of money, influencing business deals or marriages, and supporting a client's candidacy for political office or a priesthood. In return, the client was expected to offer his services to his patron as needed. A patron and client might hold the same social rank, but the former would possess greater wealth, power, or prestige that enabled him to help or do favors for the client.

The relationship was not a discrete unit, but a network, as a patronus might himself be obligated to someone of higher status or greater power, and a cliens might have more than one patron, whose interests could come into conflict. While the Roman familia ("family," but more broadly the "household") was the building block of society, interlocking networks of patronage created highly complex social bonds.^[1] Although one of the major spheres of activity within patron-client relations was the law courts, clientela was not itself a legal contract; the pressures to uphold one's obligations were moral, founded on the quality of fides, "trust," and the mos maiorum, "ancestral custom."^[2] Patronage was believed by the Romans to have been invented by Romulus and hence to date to the very founding of Rome. In the earliest periods, patricians would have served as patrons; both patricius, "patrician," and patronus are related to the Latin word pater, "father," in this sense symbolically, indicating the patriarchal nature of Roman society.

When a slave was manumitted, the former owner became his or her patron. The freedman or freedwoman had social obligations to the patron, which might involve campaigning on his behalf if he ran for election, doing requested jobs or errands, or continuing a sexual relationship that began in servitude. In return, the patron was expected to ensure a certain degree of material security for his client. Allowing one's clients to become destitute or entangled in unjust legal proceedings would reflect poorly on the patron and diminish his prestige.

Various professional and other corporations, such as collegia and sodalitates, awarded statutory titles such as patronus or pater patratus to benefactors. In the late Republic, patronage served as a model^[3] when conquerors or governors abroad established personal ties as patron to whole communities, ties which then might be perpetuated as a family obligation.^[4] This form of patronage in turn contributed to the new role created by Augustus as sole ruler after the collapse of the Republic, when he cultivated an image as the patron of the Empire as a whole.

Late antiquity and early Middle Ages

The significance of clientela changed along with the social order during late antiquity. By the 10th century, clientela meant a contingent of armed retainers ready to enforce their lord's will. A young man serving in a military capacity, separate from the entourage that constituted a noble's familia or "household", might be termed a vavasor in documents.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Carlin A. Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 176–177.
2. ^ Karl-J. Hölkeskamp, Reconstructing the Roman Republic: An Ancient Political Culture and Modern Research (Princeton University Press, 2010), pp. 33–35.
3. ^ Cicero, De officiis 1.35.
4. ^ Erich S. Gruen, "Patrocinium and clientela," in The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome (University of California Press, 1986), vol. 1, pp. 162–163.

This Ancient Rome-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · edit] Further reading Ernst Badian, Foreign Clientelae (Oxford University Press, 1959). John Rich, editor, Patronage in Ancient Society (Routledge, 1990). R.P. Saller, Personal Patronage in the Roman Empire (Cambridge University Press, 1984). External link The Roman Client (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) at LacusCurtius Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Roughscale sole Person-centered therapy Look at other dictionaries: ancient Rome — ▪ ancient state, Europe, Africa, and Asia Introduction       the state centred on the city of Rome. This article discusses the period from the founding of the city and the regal period, which began in 753 BC, through the events leading to the… …   Universalium Religion in ancient Rome — Ancient Roman religion Marcus Aurelius (head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter …   Wikipedia Imperial cult (ancient Rome) — Ancient Roman religion Marcus Aurelius (head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter …   Wikipedia Client (ancient Rome) — In ancient Roman society, a client (Latin, cliens ) was a plebeian who was sponsored by a patron benefactor ( patronus , a predecessor to the Italian padrino , godfather). The patron assisted his client with his protection and regular gifts; the… …   Wikipedia Rome — /rohm/, n. 1. Harold (Jacob), born 1908, U.S. lyricist and composer. 2. Italian, Roma. a city in and the capital of Italy, in the central part, on the Tiber: ancient capital of the Roman Empire; site of Vatican City, seat of authority of the… …   Universalium Rome — • The significance of Rome lies primarily in the fact that it is the city of the pope Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Rome     Rome     † …   Catholic encyclopedia Rome —    The city of Rome during the Renaissance stood for two related but distinct entities. First and foremost it was the Eternal City, the idealized capital of the ancient Roman Empire, which in turn was viewed as the culminating element in the… …   Historical Dictionary of Renaissance Ancient Egyptian technology — The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid construction… …   Wikipedia ancient Greek civilization — ▪ historical region, Eurasia Introduction       the period following Mycenaean civilization, which ended in about 1200 BC, to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It was a period of political, philosophical, artistic, and scientific… …   Universalium Egypt, ancient — Introduction  civilization in northeastern Africa dating from the 3rd millennium BC. Its many achievements, preserved in its art and monuments, hold a fascination that continues to grow as archaeological finds expose its secrets. This article… …   Universalium 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”