Class Structures Grew more complex during this time period Low social mobility Social status generally inherited Political Elites (rulers and their advisors) Aristocracies (families of high birth who helped run government and whose wealth was based on land ownership) Religious Elites Merchants, Traders Artisans, Craftspeople Unskilled labor, Servants, Cultivators China Agricultural society with typical features of huge gap between landed gentry and the peasants, esp. in terms of access to culture and language In general, social status was inherited Tight family organization helped economic and social views of political life Scholar-Gentry China Status based on control of land and bureaucratic positions in the gov. Often inherited Ordinary Citizens Peasants, some had land and some worked for landlords All peasants had to work a designated number of days per year on public projects ScholarGentry Ordinary, but free, citizens Underclass Merchants, traders Non-Han Chinese on borderlands Slaves (although not as many as Rome) - Artisans Underclass India Caste system Varna- Sanskrit word for color and used by Aryans to distinguish classes By 1000 BCE 4 major classes (see right) 600 BCE – 600 CE caste system becomes more complex and each caste divided into jati (birth groups) and there is no movement between classes Family life also emphasized the them of hierarchy and tight organization Brahmins – priests and scholars Kshatriya – Warriors and Gov. officials Vaishya – Landowners, Merchants, Artisans Shudra – peasants, laborers Greece Athens Also distinguished between Sparta citizens and non-citizens Citizens vs. non However, Athenians okay with citizens luxury so clear urban-based Beyond that everyone aristocracy developed was pretty equal (wore Farmers lived outside the city simple clothing to show Reforms led to spread of this) democracy to all free male Distinctions based on citizens but deepened division military prowess and between free men and slaves athleticism 30% of population enslaved Rome Aristocrats controlled land that was worked on by tenant farmers Elite = Patricians and Commoners= Plebians Patron-Client relationship Patrons were wealthy people Clients served them in return for protection Gender Relations Patriarchial systems dominated all classical civilizations where men were seen as protectors of women These systems were accepted and legitimized by religious and cultural thought You need to look at the legal rights of women to determine how much freedom they actually had Gender in China Families run by older men and male children favored All women legally subordinate to men Supported by Confucian values Political positions for men Marriages arranged according to family ties Some women in elite families were educated in the arts, writing, and music Peasant women were cooks and house cleaners for men Gender in India Dominance of husbands and fathers Arranged marriages Lawbook of Manu – 1st Century BCE “women must never be independent” “When women are honored the gods are pleased” Women, however, were celebrated in stories and theory was much harsher than practice Women in the Mediterranean Spartan women free and equal with men and encouraged to be physically fit. Women also didn’t live with their husbands and often ran the city. Athenian women had much less equality Elite women confined to the home Peasant women had more freedom because of farm chores Women did have citizenship (which could be passed on to sons) No political rights, or rights to own property or business