Differences Between Roman Republic And Roman Empire

To begin, the Roman Republic seemed to have several problems before Octavian or Caesar Augustus entered as the ruler. There were political problems between the classes which caused much of the trouble. There were a few classes, the Nobiles which contained the patricians and the plebeians. There were two types of aristocratic leaders the optimates the populares. There was conflict between the two aristocratic groups, which had caused more political turmoil. (p. 112)

It is clear that the dynamics that characterized Rome’s society during the Republic were never easy. There was a constant push and pull of intentions and interests between Patricians and Plebeians. The Patricians always wanting to maintain economic and political supremacy while the Plebeians were in constant

One of the most important advances during the initial history of the Roman Republic was the "Struggle of the Orders." The “Struggle of the Orders” was also known as the “Conflict of the Orders. “ This was a political struggle that lasted about two hundred years. There were two groups that were divided, the Patricians and the Plebeians. It was a conflict between the two. The Patricians were superior to the most of citizens. They became a Patrician through wealth, the ownership of land, or were born into it. They were aristocrats that were extremely privileged citizens who took advantage of their privileges. Even though the Patricians were outnumbered by the Plebeians, they had control over the social, political and economic power in Rome. The

Romans efforts to remove and expel the last Tarquin of Rome from the kingdom in 510 BC, and the consequent war against the Latins and the Tarquin had unified Romans and the two classes of patricians and plebeians (Morey, 1901a). Patricians were from the aristocratic families with wealth and political influence and a strong belief in their ability to rule, while plebeians were the rest of Romans, unprivileged, ignored, without any say in the political decisions or a chance to economic prosperity (Wasson, 2014). We will look at political and economic factors that hold plebeians down after the war and how they managed to recognize their value, revolt against the system and change it for the better.

In this paper, I will be using information I learned from our reading’s this week to discuss the economic and political differences between the patricians and the plebeian classes and how those differences ultimately led to the plebeian revolt. To start the discussion one must first understand the history between the patricians and plebeians. The plebeians and the patricians had been allies working together to fight the kingship that was Rome and convert it to a republic. However, while both fought together, when the republic of Rome was first created, it was not a democracy but rather ruled by the privileged few, an aristocracy. The patricians becoming the wealthy aristocracy that got the majority of the spoils of the war, while the plebeians received little and had little governing rights.

The Roman Republic and the Roman Empire both made advancements in the way of life, but both ended with their own conflicts and civil wars. Both kingdoms lasted about the same amount of time making it difficult to distinguish which one was greater. They both show times of great conquest and demolishing civil wars. The two were similar in their expansion of land, language, and resources. At the same time, they were very different with their views on government, religion, and leaders (Compare and Contrast the Roman Republic with the Roman Empire).

After the fall of the kingship, Rome was essentially made up of two economic classes of free people. The first were the Patricians, who were the wealthy who according to legend were the descendants of Romulus, founder or Rome. (Morey, 1901) The second group, were the middle to lower class called Plebeians, or Plebes for short. As is the case in many societies, the interests of the aristocracy and the common people were at odds. Under the new Roman Republic, the Patricians had all of the economic, social, and political power, and the Plebeians had very little opportunity to arise from their class. As one would expect, this was a recipe for conflict between the classes.

The plebeians were farmers who lost their living in the war against the last monarch leaving them of need of reimbursement. The patricians lived in the cities, so they were not effected as their plebian counter parts. “In this way, while serving their country, they were deprived of their houses and fields, and of the means of subsistence, and so were reduced to a condition of poverty and great distress.” (1901, William C. Morey) The plebeians fought for the same freedoms, so discontent could only rise as it was becoming more and more obvious their rights did not expand while

Patricians continued to dominate Rome, although the plebeians did receive some governmental rights. They had tribunes, which had the power to intervene in political matters and veto measures they considered were unfair. The plebeians gained the right to hold almost all state offices and became eligible to have one

The Roman Republic was a “democratic” republic, which allowed first citizens to vote, and to choose their governors in the senate (Hence, their consuls). However, it was a nation ruled by its aristocracy, and, consequently, the entire Republic`s power was concentrated in a few individuals. Furthermore, the Senate was controlled by Patricians, which directed the government by using wealth to buy control and power over the decisions of the senate and the consuls. This situation aroused the inconformity of the people; as result, a civil war took place in the Republic (destroying it), and then the Roman Empire was born.

According to Morey, W. (1901), “In Ancient Rome history development”, the patricians and plebeians made a great history by United and in their effort drive out the monarchy kingship system. This was the time the Roman populous was fed up with their tyrant Kings. The time when they were overthrowing the Kings, such as Brutus, they began to make new laws, and make many political changes such as the valerian laws. Condemning anyone claiming to be King as traitor, the formation of three voting assemblies, etc. but backtracking, even though both united in order to overthrow the Kings, Unfortunately, upon the overthrow of the kingship and the birth of the new republic, the major victories, and power fell into hands of the patricians only.

("Plebs", n.d.) The Patricians and The Plebeians, and The Causes and Consequences of The Revolt The patricians were generally more wealthy than the plebeians. The patricians also had more privilege than the plebeians. For example, the patricians were better represented in the Roman assemblies (at the beginning of the Republic) and only patricians could hold political offices, and all priesthoods were composed of patricians ("Patrician (ancient Rome)", n.d.).

In the fight for Rome's transfer from a monarchy to a republic, the Roman populace united in its entirety to achieve one goal, to get rid of the kings. The Roman population consisted of two classes: The Patricians and The Plebians, in which their unity was crucial in the long struggle of ending the unjust monarchy. While the plebians were less privileged in the aspects of economics and politics under the former monarchy, the early Roman Republic witnessed an absolute domination from the patricians to the economic and political life in Rome. The patricians’ oppression put the plebians in even greater distress than they already suffered under the rule of the kings, which led to an inevitable revolt, known as the first secession. This paper discusses the economic and political differences between the patrician and the plebeian classes that ultimately led to the first plebeian revolt.

The patricians and plebeians were the two tribes that united to rule out the kingship in Rome. When the struggle to remove kingship ended, the patricians gained more power from the victory than its alliance the plebeians. Even though the plebeians could vote in the comitia centuriata, they could not hold office. Patricians were richer as compared to plebeians and despite Rome becoming a republic; it was an aristocratic way of government and not democracy. In this text I am to discuss how this economic and political imbalance between the two orders led to the inferior Romans known as plebeian to revolt.

The Plebeians were the merchants, farmers, and the craft workers of Rome. The Plebeians refused to fight in Rom’s way in after the Senate declared war in 491 BC. This was because the Patricians forbade the Plebeians from taking part in the Senate, so they stood their grounds and decided not to take part in their war. It is told that the Plebeians removed themselves from the city until a time they had the right to elect their own leaders, which This Historians calls the struggle of the orders. Also, their great struggle aid in the continued effort of the plebeians to achieve political equality to safe guard economic relief for their less fortunate people, and to break the political and religious control (monopoly) of the patricians. The Plebeians didn’t remain under the control the Patricians forever. It took some time, but bit by bit, closer to the end of the early republic they were partly successful and took back some control they could of the old priesthoods, the office of interim head of state and possibly the senate leader. In the late republic to the 1st century BC, distinctions between patricians and plebeians lost political importance for differences or distinctions; in fact, some patricians were adopted and became plebeians and so on. Regarding the first plebian revolt: It led to the removal of debts and the freedom at last from the hash laws and control they were put under. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.) the tribune was elected by the plebeians which symbolizes freedom and where their people now had a voice. Their objectives were to offer their people, mostly the less privilege a better and safe livelihood. The