Social Issues In The Roman Republic

Every civilization experiences times of great prosperity and peace, which leads to new advancements and peaceful relations. More importantly every civilization has to deal with times of crisis and conflict, it is how they deal with these situations that determine their success as a civilization. The social issues the Roman Republic faced were handled well and helped to establish a new form of law.
In the Roman Republic there were two classes of people, the Patricians and the Plebeians. Each citizen was born into their role, which means that they could be rich but still be considered a plebeian. Plebeians made up 95% of the population and patricians only made up 5% (Hunt, 149). This strict division between the classes led to many conflicts. This conflict is known as the Struggle of Orders. The struggle of orders consisted of the two classes striving for power (Hunt, 149). Most of the conflicts that arose from the struggle of orders were based on social and economic problems. While patricians made up the smallest of the population they held more power in politics and were usually wealthier.
The Twelve Tables promoted equality and mobility between classes, and made it impossible for public officials to judge cases based on the outcome they want (Hunt, 149). Each table was worded so that even the illiterate could understand the message as seen in the first table which states “If the plaintiff summon the defendant to court the defendant shall go” (Lualdi, 102). The eleventh table gave an answer to the wealthier plebeians who wanted to marry patricians. The table read “…There shall not be intermarriage between plebeians and patricians” (Lualdi, 107). The Twelve Tables helped to settle the conflict among the two classes. The Twelve Tables helped to put an end to this conflict by giving citizens a simple law code to follow that could not be changed by the judge’s