other 98 percent of people who flew coach. They were the “nobodies” — a personis mediocribus, for whom greatness was out of the question. But they too had their own set of status categories. Some of the “nobodies” were citizens of the empire, which meant they enjoyed certain legal protections and rights. Others were freedmen who did not have the rights of citizens but had personal liberty. At the bottom of the pecking order were slaves. Conditions of slaves varied widely, but they had no rights,