Nouveau Riche - History

History

The idea of nouveau riche and the struggle within the ranks of the dates from Antiquity, to Ancient Greece (ca. 8th c. BC – 7th c. AD) and the social class animosity between Old Money (inherited wealth) and the appropriators of new wealth. In the sixth century BC, the poet and aristocrat Theognis of Megara wrote how “in former days, there was a tribe who knew no laws nor manners . . These men are nobles, now, the gentlemen of old are now the trash.” This Greek poet wrote these words during a time in Greece, when money and economic growth in relation to trade gave rise to high class proprietors. In the Roman Republic the term "Homo novus" ("New Man") carried similar connotations.