The Plebeians In Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome had two recognized classes of people living amongst the populace, the patricians and the plebeians. A patrician was described as a person of nobility or someone of noble origin. They had wealth, influence and political power over the plebeians. The plebeians were the commoners of the time, simple farmers and workers who considered second-class citizens and could not be part of the political system. While at first they were united to get rid of the Kings, thing quickly got sour between the patricians and the plebeians (Morey, 1901). The patricians for their part, instituted a republic comprising of members of it own clan while excluding the plebeians from holding any new political offices. They also froze them out of the Senate giving them very little or no political say in their affairs. Absolute power without checks and balances usually corrupts you and the patricians were no exception to this rule. The more the plebeians fought back against the patricians, the more authoritarian they became. Economically, the plebeians had been left devastated by the late wars. While they fought bravely for Rome, their property and economic interests were left neglected. As they came back from war, they would find themselves living in deplorable
What drove them to unite, as one, was the desire to rebel against the unjust law of debt that had left generations upon generations of plebeians in a continuous cycle of poverty. They banded together to desert from the Army and left Rome and the patricians with out anyone to fight on its behalf. They planned to form a new city that would be just and fair in direct contradiction to the way they had been treated. The patricians, knowing they needed the plebeians to ward off any enemies comprised and brought reforms to improve the