Patricians Vs Plebeians Essay

Introduction

The patrician class of Rome grew out of those Romans who were advisors to the old Etruscan kings who ruled from 616 to 509 BCE. Their names meant that they were, or chose, the “patres” (fathers) of the state. As befitted such a title, they were wealthy, upper-class landowners, the sorts of men you would expect to be royal advisors. However, this meant that there had to be a class that was not part of that fatherhood, that wealthy elite, and indeed there was - the plebeians, whose name is derived from “plebs,” meaning many. While Rome eventually rebelled against its Etruscan rulers, the rules of law put in place instead were only better for the patricians - more democratic, more open, but only for the few, and not for the many:
It was not just that the patricians numbered so much fewer than the plebeians, but still created laws: this alone might have been borne. Nor was it that they were generally wealthier: there were plebeians that could match the patricians in wealth. Rather, it was the aristocratic, segregated nature of the rule of the patricians, combined with the oppressive nature of said rule, that really brought about the revolution (Morey, 1901, pp 53).

There was a bit of class struggle involved in the revolt, and this came about mostly because the patricians were at an advantage after the recent wars - not only had they already been wealthier, but, being based out of the city proper, they had no fields that had gone into disrepair, and no lands that were razed by the enemies. Despite the fact that their wealth had only remained secure via good fortune, they utilized their advantage to exploit the plebeians, enslaving them for their unavoidable debts. This was exacerbated by patrician seizure and private use of public lands, adding insult to injury, as the only democratic right afforded to the plebeians was allegedly the military one, and the lands were supposed to be public as a part of the spoils of war (Morey, 1901, pp
As the World Heritage Encyclopedia puts it, a “secessio plebis was ... similar to a general strike taken to the extreme” (2014). This meant that the secession brought the city of Rome essentially to a halt, stopping food and workshop production until needs were met, in addition to depriving it of its army.

This secession was from 495-493 BCE, and involved the plebs seceding to Mons Sacre. From it, they gained a few rights concerning debt, but, most importantly, this secession resulted in the creation of the first public office held by a plebeian, the Tribune of the Plebs - these tribunes had the power to veto magistrates on behalf of plebeians, and were rendered “inviolable,” or unarrestable (World Heritage Encyclopedia, 2014; Morey, 1901, pp