Overview
Patronage bound Roman society through obligation, loyalty, protection, and reciprocal service. It connected households, clients, communities, armies, and political careers.
Importance
As Rome expanded, patronage became more abstract and more corruptible. Personal dependence increasingly replaced civic independence.
In the Livarva Trilogy
The Sulla manuscript gives patronage and fides a central role in explaining the moral fabric of the Republic.
This first atlas entry is drafted from the Livarva manuscripts and will be expanded with exact chapter and source references in a later version.