Causes Of The Plebian Revolt

Patricians hold all the offices in ancient Rome and plebeians who outnumbered them were mostly farmers, craftsmen and soldiers. Therefore one can understand that practically while plebeians had no rights or knowledge, they were in an advantageous position as patricians couldn’t defend the city or do any kind of job without their help. Plebeians couldn’t tolerate the increasing debt and the abuse of patricians and demanded equality, by blackmailing the patricians

Document 3 directly identifies that Rome got its wealth from the conquering of new lands, (for example, loot and plunder) and after there was no longer land to be conquered, less money came in. This lead to the raising of prices and the lowering of wages, as explained as Document 4. Because of the expenses surrounding plundering these new lands, taxes were raised, also adding to the economic tension. Taxes were

The economy of Rome was suffering. Rome had a great deal of money but they didn’t know what to use it for. Too much money was being used to provide protection and keep unity in the empire. Cities began to crumble that became poor and some cities even began to lose control. The senate became dishonest and then they started giving away their spots in office. Some people murdered or assassinated the emperors (Doc. A), and that’s when city revolts fired up and citizens of Rome started rebelling against government. The civilizations economic rottened.

Chapter three labeled "Empire Urban life and imperial Majesty in Rome,China,and India. In Republican Rome a man named Romulus inaugurated traditional distinction between the patricians and the plebian. The patricians were the where the land owners who were also aristocrats that served as priests, magistrates, lawyers and/or judges. The plebian were the lower classed poor people who consisted of craftsmen, merchants and laborers. In 510 BCE the roman people expelled the last Etruscan kings and decided to rule themselves with without the need for a monarchy.

To start off with, economic problems and corruption very much contributed to the fall of Rome. According to Document E written by the Roman ambassador Priscus, “...taxes are very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others...The climax of misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice.” This piece from the text explains how even during a time of peace Rome was out of hand. Most citizens even, “Considered his new life...better than his old life among the Romans,” when the Huns took over. When the ambassador states, “ The climax of misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice,” means that the worst part of being miserable in Rome is having to pay for your own rights. Although the constitution and law was fair at the time, the governors were not following what the former generations had intended and were destroying the state. It also states in the Brain Pop video titled “ The Fall of Rome,” that most of Rome’s leaders were paying their soldiers to stay loyal during time of war. They began to lose money and had to print cheaper coins, which drastically changed the currency. The emperors who did this did not find the resolution but went on to steal money from Rome’s treasure to throw feasts and festivals.

The struggle of the plebeians to gain rights and an opportunity for advancement within Roman society and political structures is known as “the conflict of orders.” (McManus, Barbara F. "Conflict of Orders: Fifth to Fourth Centuries BCE. " Conflict of Orders. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 20ure of society denied that opportunity.

Only the highly educated and wealthy class made up the Senate. The Concilium Plebis only consisted of representatives for the Plebeians, and the Comitia Centuriata represented most of the landowning class. Both the popular assemblies were given pre-discussed debates, and any disagreements with the Senate were rare. Furthermore, the Consuls, who were the most prestigious magistrates and “the military and political heads of state” were also advised by the Senate (Gwynn, 20).

Gladiators, chariot races, plays; this civilization had it all. They possessed different moral values, and were extremely discriminative. They created the first democracy, and it hasn’t changed. Their downfall was governmental corruption. If you haven’t already caught on, these were to one and only Romans.

As Rome was facing attacks from the outside there was an even deeper problem happening from within and it was their economy. Rome’s constant war and overspending in building its empire was becoming costly. As their treasury depleted they decided to impose hard taxation to account for the new expense they were generating. Which actually caused many people who were apart of the upper class to move to the countryside to avoid the oppressive taxes(Andrews) . Another economic problem is that inflation began to occur. Marcus Aurelius increased the copper content of the silver coins and then after that there was even more severe inflation on it way(Starr 144-145). A third problem with the economy, also politically, was that there was an ever growing expansion of bureaucracy. The expansion of their government caused more and more officials to have to be paid. Not to mentions cities already were having a hard

The patricians foresaw that if they let them go, they population would be insignificant and easy for their enemies to conquer them. In fact, they constitute about 95% of the population. Moreover, Plebeians were the people who did all the dirty works for the Republic. Since they were poor, they work on the land of the rich Patricians and gave food to Rome and even engage in trade for better food and prosperity of the city. Lastly, being poor means they had nothing to loss and yet plebeians were fighting to defend the Republic.

They claimed that their ancestry gave them authority to make laws for Rome. The plebeians were citizens of Rome with the right to vote. However, they were barred by law from holding the most important government positions. In time, Rome’s leaders allowed the plebeians to form their own assembly and elect representatives called tribunes. Tribunes protected the rights of the plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials. (page 156)

Rome felt under constant threat, at the beginning of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was initially ruled by the rich and powerful. This ruling began “After the overthrow of the monarchy, Roman nobles, eager to maintain their position of power, established a republican form of government”(p.129). Later on, this power to the rich would prove chaos. The patricians who “were descendants of the original senators appointed during the period of the kings were great landowners, who constituted an aristocratic governing class”(p.129). The plebeians did not have this power of authority like the patricians did. The plebeians were “constituted the considerably larger group of non-patrician large landowners, less wealthy landholders, artisans, merchants, and small farmers”(p.129). These people could vote with the patricians but could not be elected into office, they could not marry someone out of the patricians and vice versa, it was forbidden for these groups to intertwine.

They were allowed to vote, but they were forbidden from holding office and that really prevented their voice from being heard. The Plebeians, who had fought for the newly formed republic were not any better off under this new government than they were under the rule of their previously overthrown king. This divide started as a class war and the Plebeians wanted a more equal distribution of wealth, the majority of which was held by the

Before the Twelve Tables, there were major problems and struggles. Both of the groups, patricians and plebeians, were able to vote, but only the patricians were granted the right to be elected to government positions. They were both able to make legal agreements and have marriages, but it was forbidden for a patrician and a plebeian to intermarry.There was conflict amongst Rome because everyone wanted the right to be equal, and they were not being treated

Moving the Plebeians to the city would make to manage each social class. Yet this move put plebeians in great danger. There were many plebeians in the ancient Roman Empire who were unemployed because the slaves always got the jobs available. His lead to the lack of quality house supplies. There were often fires in the apartments because their cooking space was limited and the plebeians had cheap ovens that didn't work well. They lived in filthy neighborhoods were crime was often committed. Surprisingly, the death rate was higher than the birth rate in ancient Rome.In conclusion the most important case of the fall of the roman empire was overpopulation within the city. Million of plebeians were forced to live in the city after the land was