The Power Of Order Was A Social Conflict Between Plebeian And Patricia

Essay 3: The Struggle of Orders

The Struggle of Orders was a social conflict between plebeians and patricians during the beginning of the development of the early Roman Republic. Although official action was taken around 494 B.C.E., many of the issues between these two social classes were boiling even before. From what historians have gathered from this time period, usually came from the educated upper class who favored the Senate and embodied the division in politics amongst these two groups of people.

It is said to be that power of ruling the government was in the hands of the patricians. Patricians were the privileged aristocrats who made up the minority of the Roman Republic. Yet they still made the majority of civil law and ruling of issues. This became a rising problem for the common people of the Republic (plebians). This is because they felt their voices were not being heard by the government. Even though they did have a right to participate in the events of their administration, they weren’t being taken seriously.

This wasn’t just a political issue, but a socio-economic one as well. Many of the patricians were landowners and ruled over plebeians in the economy. Nexum, debt slavery enforced by landowners, had become a big stressor for plebeians and created

It wasn’t until 494 B.C.E. that plebians went on strike. They would refuse to be a part of the economy, some even left the Republic and created their own political offices, but most importantly many of them refused to serve in the army. Since plebians made up the ranks of the Roman Republic army, it was very strategic of them to up and leave. The Roman Republic heavily depended on the military advantage the army had over their neighbors, so the Senate had to comply with the plebians’ demand for reform. The government slowly started instituting new changes to its