Differences Between The Patricians And The Plebeian

Ancient Rome was split into two classes: the aristocrats, known as the patricians, and the lower class, known as the plebeians. They lived harmoniously alongside each other for a while, but after Rome began to rise from it’s ashes the plebeians became resentful and decided to take action. To fully understand the degree of their anger some light needs to be shined on their situation, and how the patricians treated them.

This new republic was plagued by tension arising from the class differences of the patricians and plebeians. The Gracchi brothers attempted to equalize things, Gaius Gracchus proposed a redistribution of farm land that would benefit the plebeians. The end result was rather unfortunate as he was killed; his other brother was also killed ten years later for similar reasons.

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

The wise oligarch notes the helpfulness and power of the poor, yet the Athenian government provides the poor with little freedom of society. Even when Athens has a lower population than Rome, Athens drastically lack variety in the people they elect or give power to. Judging by Rome’s guidelines and statistics, one of the Roman citizenship system’s best qualities are the wide distribution of power in the common people. A content plebian population results in a quiet and prosperous

Plebeians pressured the patricians to make political concessions, one result being the publication of laws which served as a check on decisions by judicial officers. New officials and tribunes were created and were drawn from non-elite classes. They could veto or block actions the Assembly or officials that threatened lower order interests.

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.

Looking at Rome’s political struggles at the dawn of the first century B.C., it becomes apparent that the groundwork for Caesar’s Republic shattering revolt was lain down by Marius and Sulla. To be more specific, the stage was set by the class struggles between the Aristocracy, who demanded control of the Republic by virtue of tradition, and the masses, which demanded a voice.

In The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti highlights the many significant people and events that characterized the late Roman Republic. Specifically, he focuses on the time period between the election of Tiberius Grachus, to the rise of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. In this account of history, Parenti presents the social, political, and economic aspects of the Roman culture from the perspective of the Roman commoner, or plebeian. Using this perspective, he also spends a great amount of time examining the causes and effects of the assassination of Julius Caesar. The views that Parenti presents in this book stand in sharp contrast with the views of many ancient and modern historians, and offer an interesting and enlightening perspective into class struggle in the society of the Roman republic.

Furthermore, the various wars had left the Plebeians destitute and many had to receive loans from the Patricians to survive. Yet, a harsh law of debt put the Plebeians completely under the mercy of the Patricians; and without the knowledge of the laws, a Plebeian could find his property, freedom, or even life forfeited by a cunning Patrician. As a result, was many of the Plebeians found suicide to be the only exit to their misery.

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

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)

The Romans and Latium formed a coalition with the aid of a treaty, but the agreement soon came to an end and the treaty was abandoned and then renewed. The Latium felt that Rome wanted to be the head of the Latium again, so they proposed that they get absolute equality with the Romans and when their proposal was rejected they went to war to fight for their independence. Latium was defeated and Rome dissolved the league because it seemed safe to deal with one city at a time and not the whole league. This was meant to strip/ limit the Latium their power because by taking away their self governance they could not rebel or continue with war against Rome.

In this paper, I will discuss the historic events of a Roman coup as written by Gaius Sallustius also known as Sallust. Early Rome, according to Sallust’s best knowledge, was built by two groups of people, exiled Trojan soldiers under Aeneas and native aborigines without government or law. For a time after the founding of this settlement, they prospered and no ill intents of human nature toward another were found. As the city continued to grow in wealth, size, and number it was soon the envy of neighboring kingdoms who were wrought with greed. The Romans having held ground and won these neighboring kingdoms through battle, established a city founded on monarchy law and created allies with nearby kingdoms. After the seed of tyrannical rule was developed Rome changed government and appointed two rulers with annual power, the king and the senate. Now as Rome was under new command of the usurper Sulla the Roman army, for the first time, indulged in women, drink, material wealth, and riches. Now these plagues of sin have taken hold of young romans and continued their destructive paths to conquer the minds of all Rome. This was the setting for Sallust’s history about the

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.