The purpose of this paper is to examine how the differences between the plebeians and the patricians in the early part of Rome’s history caused dissention and eventually led the plebeians to rise up against the patricians. These differences included both economic and political inequalities and the struggles of the plebeians against these inequalities led to many reforms that helped to equalize the status of the two classes.
Discussion
The first difference highlighted by Morey is the different economic standing of the two classes, especially after the ouster of Rome’s kings (Morey, n.d.). Patricians were generally wealthy city-dwellers whose property was protected during the wars by both city walls and by the plebian army. Plebeians, on the other hand, were working class people, including farmers and craftsmen, whose land and businesses were neglected or destroyed while they fought in the army (Plebians, n.d.). After the conflicts had ended, the patricians were able to go on with life as normal but many of the plebeians were left without income or homes and had to borrow money to survive. Legally, any person unable to pay a debt could be imprisoned and enslaved, leading to the “desperate condition of the debtors” and a cycle of poverty
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In addition, two new officials were elected from the plebeian class called tribunes. Tribunes were given the power to counteract any magisterial action against a plebeian that they considered to be too harsh and they were to be able to perform their duties without interference. These efforts addressed the political inequality between the two classes, while another proposed action would have addressed the economic inequality: the failed “agrarian law” of Spurius Cassius that would have redistributed Rome’s public land to the plebeians (Morey,