Studies in Roman social history have predominantly adopted an ‘upward’ perspective when analysing social mobility and have thus primarily been concerned with social rise and elite representation including patterns of social advancement, euergetic activities of the elites and forms of their self-fashioning – not without good reason: most of the extant sources (inscriptions in particular) give evidence of a person's social success and high station in society rather than a loss of status. Accordingly, social decline, though an inherent element in Roman hierarchic society, has not been given appropriate attention in modern research so far. K.'s monograph aims to shed light on this important and challenging socio-political issue by focussing on the causes and circumstances of social decline in the imperial period. ‘Social decline’ is briefly defined as the decrease or complete loss of dignitas (p. 12), which K. regards as the constitutive determinant of a person's social standing. Although the chronological scope of the study is defined as the first three centuries a.d., the main focus is on the early principate, due to the favourable source material for that period.
After providing a brief outline of the social fabric of Roman society (Chapters 1–2), K. discusses in Chapter 3, ‘Sozialer Abstieg – Vorbemerkungen und Kriterien’, the basic prerequisites for membership of the senatorial and equestrian ordines in order to identify those risk factors that could entail downward mobility. In this respect, K. highlights formal criteria such as a person's social origin and legal status, the significance of the maintenance and hereditability of rank within a senatorial or equestrian family, magisterial elections, wealth and the fulfilment of the minimum census or moral integrity as decisive factors when it came to downward social movement. K. rightly points out that cases of loss of status could only be recognised by official mechanisms of social control and refers to the imperial censorship, the lectiones senatus and the transuectio equitum as examples of institutionalised instruments that could monitor the dignitas of the Roman aristocracy.
On the basis of this general framework, K. explores the various potential causes for social decline by taking into account the overall social, economic and political structure of the Roman Empire. His systematic and detailed analysis is centred on three (frequently interrelated) key factors of downward mobility: the elite's financial situation, moral transgressions and political motives. As far as the financial background is concerned (Chapter 4: ‘Finanzielle Hintergründe für einen sozialen Abstieg’), K. considers several economic hazards to the financial stability of the Roman nobility. As a main risk factor he singles out lavish expenditure, pointing to a dangerous and precarious dilemma in social status: competition and maintenance. Although ‘conspicuous consumption’ – dining feasts, the sponsorship of games, luxurious housing, etc. – was primarily aimed at a demonstration of high status and thus served the elite to confirm and stabilise their high rank, this ambitious fulfilment of social expectations could equally result in overspending and impoverishment, which in turn came to endanger the maintenance of their position.
Chapter 5, ‘Abstieg wegen moralischer Unwürdigkeit oder rechtlicher Bescholtenheit’, examines lack of moral integrity as a cause for the exclusion of individuals from the ordines. K. properly assesses the often over-emphasised importance of the lectiones senatus and the dishonourable public performances of elite members in the theatre as rather exceptional examples of downward mobility; instead, he focusses on the significance of infamia after conviction in trials of maiestas, adultery and extortion as the most frequent threats of an immediate loss of rank and dignity. The following chapter, ‘Der Kaiser und die Oberschicht – Politische Gründe für den sozialen Abstieg’, considers various political reasons for dropping down the social ladder. They range from voluntary or forced retreats from the public and from political duties due to disloyalty, the elimination of political enemies by the emperor through the formal renunciation of his friendship (renuntiatio amicitiae), to denunciations and politically-motivated trials, especially the trials of maiestas. K., however, rightly views the prominent examples of maiestas trials as symptoms of a period of crisis and warns against overrating them as effective political instruments.
Chapter 7, ‘Der Abstieg in der Familienperspektive’, is particularly valuable because of the broader perspective it assumes: it turns to the question of intergenerational mobility and the consequences that downward mobility could have for the individual and their families, i.e. their children and their wives. K. discusses the difficulties that could arise for the following generations in securing continued membership of the ordines. Here, the fulfilment of formal qualifications, above all the financial prerequisites, constituted a permanent threat to the maintenance of status within the family. This observation will not be surprising; more instructive here is K.'s conclusion that the downward mobility of a senator or equestrian did not necessarily have detrimental effects on the careers of their sons. What exactly social decline implied for the individual and how they reacted to the change in status is dealt with in the final chapter (‘Der Abstieg – Das Ende aller Hoffnungen?’). The descent to a lower social level was visibly marked by the loss of the outward appearance of status, the status symbols and the forfeiture of special rights and privileges. However, the re-acquisition of the former rank was not impossible, which K. demonstrates by elaborating on the conditions for rehabilitation. The study closes with an unfortunately very brief summary and conclusion.
K. has assembled a plethora of aspects surrounding the complex issue of social decline in Roman society. As the sub-title clearly states, K.'s main objective is to analyse intrinsic social risks that the Roman nobility was faced with. He therefore examines various societal, economic and political factors for their potentiality and probability to bring about downward mobility. From a methodological point of view, it may be argued that this ‘tentative’ approach may lead to incomplete and speculative conclusions, and K. at times has to admit that certain conditions which he takes into consideration as risk factors were actually no more than marginal or rather untypical of individual social decline. K. discusses the various possible causes and circumstances of social descent quite cautiously and thoroughly, and shows much acumen and pragmatism in his analysis. Although some observations are not new, K. presents an admirably wide variety of ideas and perceptive thoughts related to the issue. As far as possible, he corroborates his statements by resorting to primary sources; in some parts, however, K.'s often generalising presentation of the subject matter would have benefited from a more in-depth and differentiating analysis of the extant documents, especially in view of the intriguing material he has gathered in the appendix.
The study's focus on the rather neglected, but obviously quite widespread social phenomenon of downward mobility in the Roman world certainly contributes to a further understanding of the socio-political structures and mentality of the imperial period and reveals several instructive insights beyond the book's subject: the dynamic nature of Roman social status, which required considerable efforts and strategies by the aristocracy to secure their social position; the intrinsic conformity pressure, which throws light on the underlying norms and ideals of the upper strata; and the intricate relationship between emperor and senate, who attempted to channel the emperor's authority over ‘status making’ by a strong ordo solidarity. K. is aware of the fact that he could only briefly touch upon these fundamental socio-cultural topics, and so his study may also be viewed as a base and incentive for further fruitful research in the still-growing field of Roman social history.
