Roman class divisions derived from birth, not wealth or office.

Evidence

Patricians (derived from the root patre, meaning ‘father’) were the upper class in ancient Rome. Their ancestry was traced back by Roman historians such as Livy to the legend of Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, who is said to have appointed one hundred men as senators. Patricians claimed to be descendants of these first senators and the Sabine women kidnapped and raped for procreation. Plebeians were the general body of lower-class, free citizens. There were other lower classes like the peregrini and slaves. Most historians agree that the distinction between patricians, plebeians and other classes was based purely on birth. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1051

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• XREF: Feeds the reader’s implementation-and-scaling theme: birth-based hierarchy as a comparative model for caste.