Introduction
The early Romans were suffered under the rule of Tarquinus Superbus. Therefore, they united their efforts to expel Tarquines (510 BCE) and created a republic, a form of government in which elected official share power (Morey 1901b).
However, in the beginning Rome was a aristocratic republic, not a democratic republic, in which only a small group of citizens could sit in public office. This group of aristocrat was the patricians (Morey 1901c). The patricians were the descendants of the old families that made up the early Romans (Morey 1901a). On the other hand, there was another group of people who populated Rome the most, the plebeians. They made up about 95 percent of Rome’s population (Frey & Bergez 2004: 318). They consisted mainly of people from other cities that had been conquered and brought to Rome or of people who ran from their cities and sought refuge in Rome. In the beginning, they were considered subjects, and not citizens, without any private nor public rights (Morey 1901a).
Just like the kings, the …show more content…
Most of the patricians were wealthy, their houses were placed inside the city, protected by the city walls. On the other hand, most plebeians were poor, their houses were in the rural area without protection. While they went to war to protect the state, their farms were not taken care of or destroyed by the enemy. As the result, they went bankrupt and were forced to lend money to the patricians. To make things worse, the law of debt at the time was very harsh for them. If they could not pay their debt, they had to sell their belonging, farm, or even their family and themselves as slaves (Morey 1901c). Because the burden of life was so hard on them, finally they decided to secede. They marched out of the city, camped on a nearby hill, and proposed to form their own city (493 BCE). This was the first revolt of the
The early Romans were suffered under the rule of Tarquinus Superbus. Therefore, they united their efforts to expel Tarquines (510 BCE) and created a republic, a form of government in which elected official share power (Morey 1901b).
However, in the beginning Rome was a aristocratic republic, not a democratic republic, in which only a small group of citizens could sit in public office. This group of aristocrat was the patricians (Morey 1901c). The patricians were the descendants of the old families that made up the early Romans (Morey 1901a). On the other hand, there was another group of people who populated Rome the most, the plebeians. They made up about 95 percent of Rome’s population (Frey & Bergez 2004: 318). They consisted mainly of people from other cities that had been conquered and brought to Rome or of people who ran from their cities and sought refuge in Rome. In the beginning, they were considered subjects, and not citizens, without any private nor public rights (Morey 1901a).
Just like the kings, the …show more content…
Most of the patricians were wealthy, their houses were placed inside the city, protected by the city walls. On the other hand, most plebeians were poor, their houses were in the rural area without protection. While they went to war to protect the state, their farms were not taken care of or destroyed by the enemy. As the result, they went bankrupt and were forced to lend money to the patricians. To make things worse, the law of debt at the time was very harsh for them. If they could not pay their debt, they had to sell their belonging, farm, or even their family and themselves as slaves (Morey 1901c). Because the burden of life was so hard on them, finally they decided to secede. They marched out of the city, camped on a nearby hill, and proposed to form their own city (493 BCE). This was the first revolt of the