Running head: PLEBEIANS AND PATRICIANS 1

Plebeians and Patricians

Student Name

University of the People

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Plebeians and Patricians

Major political and economic differences between the classes, namely the plebeian class

and patrician class.

Within the Ancient Roman Republic the Patricians were the rich landowners that

typically had a house in the city and a villa in the country run by slaves "(Rymer). They didn't do

much of the physical work , they were nobleman, aristocrats, and the general upper ruling class.

The plebeians , while not necessarily poor, were free Romans and general common folk. They

were the non elite workers, such as farmers builders, merchants , and the general working class.

As time went on the plebeians lost political power and therefor lost economic

opportunities. The plebeians could still vote but not hold office or senate. The patricians abused

this power to make themselves more powerful.

These two classes had previously worked together to overthrow kings In these times of

war the patricians still lived comfortably. The plebeians had to give up on their livelihood to fight

wars. This means they left their homes and families to fight. During this time serving they could

lose everything back at home especially if their home was close to battles.

The major issue was that patricians were lending money to plebeians at this time. So after

fighting in the army and coming back, if you're fortunate enough, you could be faced with large

amount of debt and a destroyed field / no way to pay it back. If not able to payback debt one

would be thrown in jail, tortured, and treated as a salve.

It was the unjust debt law that led to the first revolt by the plebeians. The plebeians

decided they would no longer serve in army and deserted, marched, and proposed to form an

independent city in B.C.. 494. This forced the patricians hand. They lessened the punishment for
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debt and freed those imprisoned. Also there was a new office created to help stop oppression

upon the plebeians.

Throughout the period of Romanian power the Plebeians and Patricians had many power

struggles. At times they would work together but often the Patricians ( upper ruling class) would

be oppressive to the Plebeians (working class). This was most noticeably seen when dealing with

wartime and debt. Those two factors ultimately led to the first secession and improvements

thereafter. Unfortunately for the plebeians this was not the last time a secession , or attempted

secession was needed. This sort of power struggle between the classes has been seen throughout

history and is still seen today.

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References

Rymer, E. (n.d.). Plebeians in Ancient Rome. Retrieved December 13, 2017, from

http://historylink101.com/2/Rome/roman-plebeians.htm

Morey, W. C. (n.d.). THE STRUGGLE FOR ECONOMIC RIGHTS . Retrieved December 13,

2017, from http://www.forumromanum.org/history/morey07.html