Seneca devoted the longest of his moral essays to the subject of beneficia — that is, reciprocal exchange. Concerning the importance of exchange to the fabric of society, the philosopher noted that it was a custom ‘which more than any other binds together human society’. Seneca's typology of beneficia comprised three categories: the protection of life and liberty for oneself and one's kin; pecunia and honores (less vital, but nevertheless ‘useful’ for a full life); and favors which can be described as frivolous luxuries.

Studies of patronage in the Republic have concentrated on the political arena, especially the voting assemblies. Thus, when the selection of magistrates and the passage of legislation were effectively taken out of the hands of the assemblies, it has been thought by some that patronage should have disappeared. But this view does not take account of two facts: political competition did shift to another arena but did not disappear, and political support was only one type of beneficium, as indicated by Seneca. Indeed, during the late Republic political patronage was less prominent than economic and social beneficia in the commendationes of Cicero. As A. R. Hands has pointed out, the exchange of these latter favors often performed functions which are the concern of more formal institutions in the modern world. For patronage to have disappeared, the entire nature of Roman society (not just politics) would have had to undergo a radical transformation.

In this chapter I shall endeavor to show that the exchange of economic and social goods and services within the imperial aristocracy continued largely unchanged from the end of the Republic.