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Plebeians
The Origins and History of
the Plebeians
Following the founding of
Rome by Romulus the Roman people consisted only of
Patricians and their Clients. The Patricians formed the Populus Romanus,
or sovereign people, the elite Romans. Tullus Hostilius, an
early ruler of Rome, made war
against the Etruscans. The
Albans, under their dictator Mettius Fuffetius, followed him
to the war as the subjects of Rome.
In the battle against
the Etruscans, the Alban dictator withdrew to the hills, but
when the Etruscans were defeated he descended to the plain,
and congratulated the Roman king. Tullus pretended to be
deceived. On the following day he summoned the two armies to
receive their praises and rewards. The Albans came without
arms, and were surrounded by the Roman troops. They then
heard their sentence. Their dictator was to be torn in
pieces by horses driven opposite ways; their city was to be
razed to the ground; and they themselves, with their wives
and children, transported to Rome. Tullus assigned to them
to live on the Caelian Hill. Some of the noble families of
Alba were enrolled among the Roman patricians, but the great
majority of the Alban people were not admitted to the
privileges of the ruling class. These people were the origin
of the Roman Plebs, who were thus quite distinct from the
Patricians and their Clients. The Patricians still formed
exclusively the Roman people. The Plebs were a subject-class
without any share in the government.
The Plebeian Order
The Plebeian order was composed of the
lowest class of freemen. Those who resided in the city, were
called “Plebs urbana;” those who lived in the country,
“Plebs rustica.” But the distinction did not consist in name
only, the “Plebs rustica.” were the most respectable.
Plebeians - The Plebs
urbana
The Plebs urbana consisted not only of the poorer mechanics
and laborers, but of a multitude of idlers who chiefly
subsisted on the public bounty, and whose turbulence was a
constant source of of problems to the Roman government.
There were leading men among the Plebeians who were kept in
pay by the corrupt magistrates in order to influence the
'mob'.
Trade and manufactures were considered as servile
employments, the plebs had no encouragement to work; and the
numerous spectacles which were exhibited, particularly the
shows of gladiators, served to increase their natural
ferocity.
Patricians v
Plebeians
The Patricians and Plebeians formed two distinct orders in
the state. After the banishment of the kings the Patricians
retained exclusive possession of political power. The
Plebeians, it is true, could vote in the
Comitia Centuriata, but,
as they were mostly poor, they were outvoted by the
Patricians and their clients. The Consuls and other
magistrates were taken entirely from the Patricians, who
also possessed the exclusive knowledge and administration of
the law. In one word, the Patricians were a ruling and the
Plebeians a subject class. But this was not all. The
Patricians formed not only a separate class, but a separate
caste, not marrying with the Plebeians, and worshiping the
gods with different religious rites. If a Patrician man
married a Plebeian wife, or a Patrician woman a Plebeian
husband, the state refused to recognize the marriage, and
the offspring was treated as illegitimate.
Plebeians
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