Introduction
Ancient Rome was constituted of two classes, the patricians who were mostly the descendants of the aristocrats and the plebeians who descended mostly from the freed men or mostly immigrants. The two classes could unit to fight against the common enemy in order to protect the city. However, political power and the economic were in the hands of the patricians. Although they were the majority in ancient Rome, the plebeians were poor and had to worked the land of the rich patricians and some were even slaves to the patricians. Even though poverty put them into this state, they were still very important to Rome. In this essay, I will try to analyze what role did they play in Rome which made them that important, then follow with a conclusion.
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Before the passage of the Lex Canuleia law (445 B.C), the plebeians were excluded from all political activities and from holding public offices except that of military tribune. During those days, the plebeians were also forbidden to marry patricians. But the activities of the plebeians made their role crucial in Rome.
As average or poor citizens of Rome, the plebeians were hard working and could be called the working class of Rome. They were farmers, bakers, builders, or craftsmen who worked extremely hard to support their families and pay their taxes (Pbs.org, n.d). Of course the state of Rome needs these taxes to support government activities and invest in the military as the state was frequently engaged in wars.
Although the plebeians could not read nor write, those who were doing extremely well could save money to increase their rank toward the upper class. However, life was a struggle for the majority. Because they were the majority in Rome during those days, there was therefore the risk of political unrest, mob roisting, or rebellion against the upper class who were of course the