Looking at those villas . . . I guess it’s always been good to be rich.
The interesting conclusions being drawn most recently is that there was not only the upward mobility that had been understood for a long while (people buying their freedom and rising to the status of citizen), but there was a very large middle class, which isn't surprising, most if not all societies have one. But the rich of Roman times were, relatively speaking, richer than the rich of most societies, historically. By the time the so-called republic fell, bout three dozen families pretty much owned Italy.