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Patricians And Plebeians Essay

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Patricians and Plebeians: The struggles after the Kings

In Rome, there were the plebeians and the patricians who lived in the territory and had previously joined forces in order to drive out tyrannical kings. However, there were several dividing aspects among these two groups that weakened the Roman Republic even after the kings were driven out. Among the most alarming differences was the unequal power distribution in which the patricians enjoyed more power in the government than the plebeians, the unequal distribution of land, and the poverty of the plebeians that stemmed greatly from the unjust law of debt. All of these differences gave rise to the first plebeian revolt in Rome (Gill, 2017).

After the kings were driven out of Rome, a new form of government came about, but it was an aristocracy rather than a democracy. In this aristocracy it was the patricians who were in charge since they usually had more money than the plebeians. Furthermore, the plebeians were not able to hold any of the new offices formed in the new government after the kings. Plebeians were also not allowed to be a part of the senate. These initial differences among plebeians and the patricians made the struggle difficult among these two groups because plebeians wanted a more equal distribution of wealth (Morey, 1901). …show more content…

The plebeian’s land was neglected while they served in the military (Morey, 1901). Thus, after the struggle, they were pushed to take out loans to survive. In this aspect, Roman law was unjust because it gave very harsh punishment to debtors: they could be arrested and thrown in dungeons or become the slaves of loaners (Gill,

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