The Plebeians In Ancient Rome

The Pax Romana was characterized by political stability, an increase of commerce, as well as cultural diffusion. Augustus was the emperor during this period, he got rid of the declining Senate and introduced the Principate; allowing an effective bureaucratic government to be introduced to Rome. Overtime Rome also granted the conquered populations the opportunity to become citizens. With the help of Rome’s technical innovations like roads, concretes, and arches the amount of trade that went on increased drastically. With military posts on these roads people felt safe traveling to other regions to trade. Because of this Rome’s culture and religion was able to diffuse, especially to the west. All these things were able to create a period of prosperity in Rome.

Romans were a civilization that originated after the Greek culture. They, like Greeks, saw an extreme significance in the idea of a love for one’s country and loyalty. The Romans, however, were more concerned with public affairs such as education, sanitation, and health. They held a strong connection with their ancestors and wished to imitate what the ancient Romans did. Although Romans rejected the idea of a Rex, or king, they favored the common hero. They wanted a leader who a “regular Joe”, someone who was average and could still led an average life after doing extraordinary things. The Romans also had a very defined government that was broken into consuls, senate, and assembly. There were two consuls who served in place of the king as the leaders of the Roman Empire. Next in succession was the senate, comprised only of patricians who debated and passed legislation. Finally, there was the assembly made for the plebeians to approve laws.

In its time, the Roman Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen. The fact that the Romans were able to control and obtain an empire of this size was due to plenty of factors, but the main ones are the Roman army, the Roman roads, Pax Romana, the borders of the empire, and the benefits of the barbarians who became ruled by the empire. On their own, these factors wouldn’t do much at all, but such a combination brought great success.

As Rome conquered communities, more and more people were becoming Romanized, and noticed as Roman citizens. Of course these new citizens were expected to pay taxes, allowing the empire to grow economically as well as militarily. During the Roman rule of Augustus, Caesar and Trajan, Rome's laws were continually improved making Rome ever more powerful and ethical. (Ferril)

Some policies and institutions of the Roman Republic were useful to help them succeed in conquering first Italy and then the Mediterranean world. Before of the institution of the republic, the romans were a monarchy since their beginning and they were basically a pastoral people. Rome suffer several changes and improvements under the control of the Etruscan kings. The Etruscan were civilization settled north of Rome in Etruria, and they once had control over almost all the Italic peninsula. The Etruscans influences in Rome were profound, they transformed Rome from a pastoral community to a city (91). The Etruscan built the street and roads that help the development of temples, markets, shops, streets, and houses. They basically brought urbanization to Rome. It is fairly to say that the Rome republic was a fusion between the elements of the Etruscan civilization and the Rome elements. The combination of the different political institutions and policies made the Romans succeed in their conquest territories.

Rome’s ferocity in the regal period began a cycle of war they would eventually become infamous for. Their soldiers came from all but the poorest of social classes and a large chunk of the Roman army was dependent upon the revenue war brought in. Any land won would be given to the wealthiest of Romans, usually patricians, who would use it as a means to control the poorer classes, usually plebeians. During

With all that was now available to the Romans, building bridges and writing poetry, having a life full of culture, surely the Romans were now unbeatable. With each new ruler came a slight change in government, some of whom wanted to go back to the original system and others clamoring for more sole power over the city and it's

The Plebeans were less wealthy people of Rome. They were farmers and working class people who could not hold Government officers. Then there were the slaves who were conquered people from other countries or people in debt. The social structure also involved the Pate Family, which was when the male members of the family were in charge. In the United Sates today there is an Upper Class of rich and powerful people, The middle class of working class people, and the lower class, which are made up of poverty stricken

Rome used its military aggressively. The Roman army had started from mainly farmers, and gaining new farming lands from other countries, for the its growing population or later retiring soldiers, was often one of the military’s main objectives. Only in the late Empire did the Roman military's goal become keeping control over its territories.

With the entire Mediterranean shore and large parts of Europe under their control, Ancient Rome is undoubtedly one of the most successful ancient empires. At the heart of the control of these vastly different territories was the military. A large

This attempt failed; however, holds significance to the Principate as it acted as a steady source of employment and income for many plebeians in the region, and contributed to their sense of civic pride and

Why were plebeians so important to Rome? In ancient Rome, the upper class of aristocrats, the patricians, were wealthy and powerful, but few, so to expand Rome's territory, as well as to protect it, they needed the large population of common people, plebeians, to furnish soldiers for the growing army. While Rome had always been threatened by neighboring states, military threats from its rivals increased as its borders grew, and as well, it had to maintain control over the territories it had already conquered. Roman colonies needed protection, as did Romain resources, especially valuable or strategic ones. Furthermore, the city of Rome itself needed defending.

Subsequently, the Senate, the Equestrians, and regular citizens stood to gain power, prestige and silver from Rome’s military success.

Ancient Rome in 338 BC had finally defeated the alliance between the Latin Cities, which then allowed her to gain control over Latium. From here she began forming alliances and conquered many states in Italy. Through the vital cooperation, attribution to military success by providing men for the Roman army, and protection that her allies offered, Rome’s boundaries were pushed further. Her expansion had spread from her immediate surrounding areas of the Mediterranean until her power stretched out both east, west and south of the actual city of Rome (149 BC). Therefore, Rome’s successful expansion is due to the loyalty of her allies.

The Roman gladius obviously falls within the military aspect of the arguments. From the economic aspect, Rome rose to power for multiple reasons (Schroeder). They used a standardized currency, the denarius, to facilitate trade across their growing borders and since it was standardized, it encouraged more economic transactions. Another reason is that they traded across the Mediterranean Sea. This expanded their political influence since Rome and another country could help each other out with trading different exotic resources that weren’t readily available in their respective countries. From a geographical standpoint, Rome started out on the Italian Peninsula. Most of the northern border was covered in mountains which across the center of the country down to the coast. This allowed Rome to focus on certain choke points on where they could possibly be invaded. Also due to the geography of the land, Rome did not have many natural harbors and the few that were there were controlled and protected. There was also lots of volcanic soil and arable ground which could be used to grow ample food for the countries growing population. This allowed the country to keep its people well fed and support growing birth rates (Anderson). From a militaristic standpoint, the military allowed the country to grow rapidly and contribute to the economy. It’s