What were the social classes during the time of St. Paul?

Question: What were the social classes during the time of St!. Paul!?
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There was a landowner class - largely the wealthy Roman citizens of the empire

There was a merchant class - some of these were also wealthy!.

There was an artisan class!. Paul was one of these!. Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was a tent maker!. He belonged to the tent makers guild, and that's the street where he stayed as he visited various cities in the eastern part of the Roman empire!. Paul was a Roman citizen - which is why his court case was referred to Rome at the end of his life!. Paul was a Greek speaking Jewish person who had initially persecuted Christians!. He is credited with writing 14 of the 27 books in the New Testament, and yet he never met Jesus and never heard Jesus preach

There was a professional soldier class - about 200,000 men in Paul's time - with aristocratic higher officers!. The soldiers preferred a more militant God like Mithras!. Of interest is that he festival of Mithras' birth was December 25th, the winter solstice, and the rebirth of the sun's light!. This became the date accepted as Jesus' birthday in the 4th century AD!. It was a familiar festival and no one knew the true day that Jesus was born anyway!.

There was a peasant class - farm workers - who would become the serfs of the Middle Ages after Rome fell in the 5th century AD!. Paul did not preach to this class very often because Paul concentrated on the urban centers rather than the countryside!.

Lastly, there was a slave class!. Many slaves were in the cities, so Paul found a good following there!. The slaves liked the idea that all men were equal in God's eyes!.

Women also flocked to the early Christian religion pleased with the idea that women were equal to men!. Women (unless they were the wives of wealthy upper class Romans) were largely treated as second class citizens in the Rome empire and had limited rights!. Women were allowed equal standing in the early Church!. But by the 4th century when the Christian (Catholic) Church was becoming wealthy and powerful, men had pushed women out of prominent positions!. There has never been a female priest, bishop, cardinal or pope in the Roman Catholic Church, and yet women were very influential in getting the early Church started!.

{I just finished a grad school course covering the early Christian Church!.}Www@QuestionHome@Com