Property classes, elite wealth, and income distribution in the Late Republic

The evidence of the property qualifications of the classes seems to offer important clues for estimating the extent to which the distance between the poorer and the richer sectors of the Roman society increased over time. Moreover, this same evidence seems also to suggest that at least at the end of the third century the very rich among the Roman citizens were still very few. Building on these conclusions, the chapter explores whether the commonly held view that the immense wealth of the late republican elite was mainly derived from the exploitation of their agricultural estates, is still acceptable, in the light of some recent provocative studies which have argued forcefully against it.