The social hierarchy of a civilization refers to a system in which people are put at various several examples of the social hierarchy in some of the ancient civilizations, the highest rank at the top of the table:

We can see that the social hierarchy in the different ancient civilizations was fairly similar-the people were generally divided into 4 social classes, the nobles and priests being of the highest rank while the slaves and outcasts being of the lowest. The nobles and priests enjoyed higher status since they were important rulers of the country and leaders of the society. For instance in Mesoamerica, it is known that the high priests acted as advisors to the lords and nobles in the ruling of the country. In India, the priests were very important people, even more important than the kings and nobles as they were the only ones who could read and memorize the Vedas, which were great poems or hymns sung in praise of the Gods, and perform religious rituals.

The slaves and outcasts were placed at the bottom of the social ladder, since they were either prisoners of war, convicts, no-pay laborers, people who took on jobs that no one else wanted to do or simply servants to the rich and nobles. In the ancient civilizations such as India and Mesoamerica, the slaves were despised by all. Fa-Hie, a Chinese traveler who came to India during the rule of the guptas, mentioned that the outcasts lived in separate parts of the village and that their presence was regarded as a form of pollution to the environment!

It is interesting to note however, that the slaves in ancient Rome were very much differently treated from those in India and Mesoamerica. They, in contrast, possessed certain rights such as the right to get married and were given a lot of freedom. Some of the household slaves who were educated Greek prisoners-of-war served as tutors for the children of the Romans and were even regarded as friends! In fact, there was a Spartan joke which said that, it was impossible to tell the difference between a slave and a Roman citizen in the streets of Athens!

In between the 2 classes that have been mentioned above, we have the rest of the people of the country who possessed various jobs such as merchants, craftsmen and farmers. They were the ones who contributed largely to the economic and cultural well being of the society.

In today's society, the division of social classes still exists. However, we are more generally grouped into 4 social classes: the upper class, the working class, the middle class and the underclass. This method of classification is based on wealth occupation rather than on the traditional ranking. The upper class consists of the rich and wealthy who are able to enjoy a much higher living standard than the rest of the community. The working class is mainly made up of workers in factories and industries, who cannot survive without a salary and own few properties. The middle class consists of white-collar professionals like lawyers, doctors and teachers who enjoy a reasonable standard of living. The underclass are mainly the poor and unemployed, who are dependent on the country to provide them the basic needs of life. They are usually the ones who suffer from discrimination since they are regarded as useless and a burden to the society.

Now, would one prefer the ancient social division or the present one? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these 2 systems of social classification? Or are they similar in any way? Is there a better way in which the society should be grouped instead?

The Nobles

The Social Division of the Shang society was simple and well-defined.