Quote:
Palestine, 1st Century
There was a very large disparity between rich and poor.
The upper class was made up of the temple priests and priestly aristocracy (including the Sadducees – a Jewish sect)
The middle class was comprised of traders and merchants, artisans (stonecutters, masons, sculptors) and craftsman (metal, wood, cloth dye). The Pharisees (another Jewish sect), sages, scribes, and teachers were also a part of the middle class.
The lower class was made of laborers (weavers, stone carriers, slaves (non-Jewish person taken into slavery because of debt), and the unemployable (lepers, blind, insane, crippled, etc.)
The Roman government required heavy taxation of its people. Tax collectors were local employees considered to be outcasts and traitors.
OK, so you evaded by spewing irrelevancy.