DOCSLIB.ORG

B.A. History (Hons.) Sem. II Social Formations and Cultural Patterns of the Ancient and Medieval World Teacher: Dr. Richa Malhotra Date: 23Th March 2020

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
B.A. History (Hons.) Sem. II Social Formations and Cultural Patterns of the Ancient and Medieval World Teacher: Dr. Richa Malhotra Date: 23Th March 2020 B.A. History (Hons.) Sem. II Social Formations and Cultural Patterns of the Ancient and Medieval World Teacher: Dr. Richa Malhotra Date: 23th March 2020 Dear Students, Hope you all are fine and taking all precautions to stay safe and healthy. I have sent on two online Sofo books in Hindi to Sofo WhatsApp group and email group, one by S.R. Goyal and second by R.N. Tripathy. Today, we are discussing unit I topic - Conflict of the Orders: Imperial Expansion and Social Tension in the Roman Republic. Important terms related with Conflict of Orders • Patricians: In early Rome, the patricians (patricii) were a highly privileged aristocratic class of Roman citizens; membership in this class was hereditary and could be achieved only by birth until the end of the Republic. The name probably stems from the Latin word patres, “fathers,” which was applied to the earliest members of the Roman Senate, from whom the patrician clans claimed descent. • Plebeians: The plebeians (plebei, from plebs, “common people”) were all the Roman citizens who were not patricians. Originally, patricians were forbidden to marry plebeians, so there was no possibility of movement from one order to another. • Order – Groups • Proletariat – Lowest class of citizens, property less citizens • Secessio/ secession - Withdrawal or the threat of withdrawal from the Roman state during times of crisis. • Consul – highest official of Roman Republic • Gentes – kinship group- clan • Comitia - assembly • Comitia Curiata – assembly of all Roman people • Comitia Centuriata – assembly of all Roman citizens (Patricians and Plebeians) • Comitia Tributa – assembly • Councilium Plebis – assembly of Plebeians • Tribunes – elected officials of Roman Republic • Censors – one of the two powerful magistrates • Decemvir - one of the ten magistrates to rule in Rome • Aediles- junior magistrates • Nexum- Debt bondage • Assidui- Small peasants Summary of the topic: The story of the conflict of Orders begins with the beginning of the Republic in Rome in 509 BCE. The year 509 BCE, is important when the monarchy ended and Republican form of government began which was ruled by senators and a constitution. These senators were aristocrats (Patricians) who misused their privileges. They exploited the people (Plebeians) who were oppressed, had no privileges, no political rights /voice and were stricken with hunger, poverty and powerlessness. This conflict continued roughly from 494 BCE to 287 CE. This led to a struggle between the people (plebeians) and the aristocrats (Patricians) that is called the Conflict of the Orders. The term "Orders" mean groups, it refers to the patrician and plebeian groups of Roman citizens. To help resolve the conflict between the orders, the patrician order gradually gave up most of their privileges and gradually introduced various reforms (code of the Twelve Tables-450 BCE, Nexum abolition -326BCE and Lex Hortensia- 287 BCE) but retained vestigial and religious one. Conflict of the Orders: Patricians and Plebeians During the time of the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic, Roman society was divided between two important classes – the patricians and the plebeians. Originally, the patricians were part of the ruling class and enjoyed greater privileges and rights than the plebeians. Following the Conflict of the Orders, however, the distinction between patrician and plebeian lost importance, as the plebeians (at least the wealthiest among them) could now aspire to political power. According to roman historian Livy, after Rome was founded, Romulus selected 100 men to form the Roman Senate, which would govern the newly-formed city. By virtue of their rank, these men were called ‘patres’ (meaning ‘fathers’), and their descendants formed the patrician class. As the ruling class of Rome, the patricians enjoyed a variety of privileges. For example, it was only members of the patricians who were allowed to hold political and religious offices. Unlike the patricians, the origin of the plebeian class was not recorded by the ancient authors. This is not surprising since in ancient period no one recorded the history of common people and the plebeians were not part of Rome’s ruling elite but were members of the general citizenry. The plebeians were powerless citizens of Rome and they wanted to change the status quo. This resulted in the Conflict of the Orders, a struggle between the patrician and the plebeian classes that lasted from 500 to 287 BC. The Conflict of the Orders began as a result of the dissatisfaction felt by the plebeians regarding the status quo in Rome. Till then, political power was monopolized by the patrician class. The situation deteriorated further around the end of the 6 th century BC. In 509 BC, Tarquinius Superbus, the last Roman king was deposed, and the Roman Republic was founded. One of the consequences of this change from monarchy to republic was the increase in the power held by the patricians. An example of this is the loss of access by the plebeians to public land (which had been regal domain during the Roman Kingdom). In order to increase their wealth, the patricians seized these lands and either rented them out, or had slaves work on them. The plebeians were oppressed by hunger, poverty, and powerlessness. Allotments of land didn't solve the problems of poor farmers whose tiny plots stopped producing when overworked. Some plebeians whose land had been sacked by the Gauls couldn't afford to rebuild, so they were forced to borrow. Interest rates were exorbitant, but since land couldn't be used for security, farmers in need of loans had to enter into contracts (nexa), pledging personal service. Farmers who defaulted (addicti), could be sold into slavery or even killed. Grain shortages led to famine, which repeatedly (among other years: 496, 492, 486, 477, 476, 456 and 453 B.C.) compounded the problems of the poor. Some patricians were making a profit and gaining slaves, even if the people to whom they lent money defaulted. But Rome was more than just the patricians. It was becoming the main power in Italy and would soon become the dominant Mediterranean power. What it needed was a fighting force. Referring back to the similarity with Greece mentioned earlier, Greece had needed its fighters, too, and made concessions to the lower classes in order to get bodies. Since there weren't enough patricians in Rome to do all the fighting the young Roman Republic engaged in with its neighbors, the patricians soon realized they needed strong, healthy, young plebeian bodies to defend Rome. In the first few decades following the expulsion of the last king, the plebeians had to create ways of dealing with problems caused or exacerbated by the patricians like poverty, occasional famine and lack of political clout. Their solution to at least the third problem was to set up their own separate, plebeian assemblies, and secede. Since the patricians needed the physical bodies of the plebeians as fighting men, the plebeian secession was a serious problem. The patricians had to yield to some of the plebeian demands. Codified Law After inclusion in the ranks of the ruling class via the office of tribune and the vote, the next step was for the plebeians to demand codified law. Without a written law, individual magistrates could interpret tradition however they wished. This resulted in unfair and seemingly arbitrary decisions. The plebeians insisted that this custom end. If laws were written down, magistrates could no longer be so arbitrary. There is a tradition that in 454 B.C. three commissioners went to Greece to study its written legal documents. In 451, upon the return of the commission of three to Rome, a group of 10 men was established to write down the laws. These 10, all patricians according to the ancient tradition (although one appears to have had a plebeian name), were the Decemviri [decem=10; viri=men]. They replaced the year's consuls and tribunes and were given additional powers. One of these extra powers was that the Decemviri's decisions could not be appealed. The 10 men wrote down laws on 10 tablets. At the end of their term, the first 10 men were replaced by another group of 10 in order to finish the task. This time, half the members may have been plebeian. Cicero, writing some 3 centuries later, refers to the 2 new tablets, created by the second set of Decemviri (Decemvirs), as "unjust laws." Not only were their laws unjust, but the Decemvirs who wouldn't step down from office began to abuse their power. Although failure to step down at the end of the year had always been a possibility with the consuls and dictators, it hadn't happened. Appius Claudius, who had served on both decemvirates, acted despotically. This early despotic Appius Claudius pursued and brought a fraudulent legal decision against a free woman, Verginia, daughter of a high ranking soldier, Lucius Verginius. As a result of Appius Claudius' lustful, self-serving actions, the plebeians seceded again. To restore order, the Decemvirs finally abdicated, as they should have done earlier. The 12 tablets were an important move in the direction of what we would call equal rights for the plebeians, but there was still much to do. The law against intermarriage between the classes was repealed in 445. When the plebeians proposed that they should be eligible for the highest office, the consulship, the Senate wouldn't completely oblige, but instead created what we might call a "separate, but equal" new office known as military tribune with consular power. This office effectively meant plebeians could wield the same power as the patricians. According to Cornell the "code" was a list of injunctions and prohibitions. There are specific areas of concern: family, marriage, divorce, inheritance, property, assault, debt, debt-bondage (nexum), freeing of slaves, summonses, funeral behaviour and more.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Pink Collar Work
    September 2017 Pink collar work Gender and the Ohio workplace Lea Kayali Introduction Women are an essential part of the Ohio and national workforce. However, men consistently earn more than women. We call this wage disparity the gender pay gap. Improving jobs and compensation for women will boost our economy and provide more opportunity and security to women and their families. Husbands, sons and fathers depend on the salaries of women in their lives. Equal pay concerns all of us. Analysts cite several reasons for the gender wage gap. These include discrimination, differential compensation for jobs that have historically attracted men and women, occupational choice, level of labor force participation, and hours of work. This report provides an overview of the job market women face and considers these variables and the effect they have on the gap. Women in the workforce: An overview Women are a little less than half (48 percent) of Ohio’s workers.1 Men are more likely both to be in the labor force (68 percent) than women (57 percent) and to be employed (65 vs. 57 percent). Women comprise a far higher share of part-time workers than men do. It’s hard for families with children to send all adults into the workforce full time, so the lower-paid parent often works part time to manage more of the parenting. Figure 1 Ohio labor force statistics by gender, 2016 Source: EPI analysis of CPS Labor Force Data 1People are part of the workforce if they are working or are unemployed but actively seeking work.
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational Migrant Brazilian Women in “Pink Collar Jobs” in The
    © COPYRIGHT by Lucilia V. Tremura 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DEDICATION To Ricardo, My Dear Son TRANSNATIONAL MIGRANT BRAZILIAN WOMEN IN “PINK COLLAR JOBS” IN THE GREATER WASHINGTON D.C. AREA BY Lucilia V. Tremura ABSTRACT The study of transnational migrant Brazilian women in “pink collar jobs” in the Greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area comprises thirty-four Brazilian women who chose the United States as their place to be called home. It is termed transnational because of the permanent ties connecting these women to their country of origin, Brazil, and their country of adoption, the United States. The expression “pink collar jobs” indicates low paid jobs, mainly performed by women, no expertise necessary, in the service sector. The Washington D.C. metropolitan area has become a new destination for immigrants with a large concentration of Latin Americans. Brazilian presence is among these diverse groups of immigrants, with an increasing participation on the market. This research focuses on transnational migration in women‟s context, with all the nuances that involve the process of migration and incorporation into the labor market. Three research questions explore the topic: ii 1. Why do Brazilian women engage in transnational migration from Brazil to the United States? 1. a. How do social networks affect their transnational migration? 2. How do the social construction of gender and ethnicity influence the occupational choices of this group of Brazilian women, in light of their backgrounds and the job perspectives they anticipated? 3. In what ways do pink collar jobs shape their identity, social interaction and job satisfaction? The answers to these questions delineate the main characteristics, aspirations and satisfactions of these migrant workers as they embrace the United States as their new home.
    [Show full text]
  • Civis Romanus Sum Citizenship in Ancient Rome Was Valued Not Only
    Civis Romanus Sum Citizenship in Ancient Rome was valued not only for the rights and social status it provided, but also for the sense of patriotism and honor it instilled in the Roman people. The gravity of citizenship allowed the Roman Empire’s multitudinous regions to become vastly and impossibly connected by a sense of pride for one Italian city. Citizenship was a commodity valuable enough for soldiers such as Mucius Scaevola to give their right hands for, as well as for plebeians to secede and fight for with their lives. Citizens felt an unbreakable bond between themselves and their nation; they were dedicated to representing and defending Rome at any cost. It was this strong sense of identity that united so many people and created such a dominant empire. Roman citizenship was one of the most prized possessions a European inhabitant could have, bearing the magnitude of rights, ranking, honor, and a powerful sense of Roman identity. Although some Roman people were born into citizenship, the rest of the population yearned for such rights and status, and took whatever action they could to become true, legal members of Roman society. Citizenship included suffrage, the right to run for and occupy office, the right to not be tortured, crucified, or be sentenced to death unless found guilty of treason, the right to marry, to hold property, and to have a trial, as well as various “public” and “private” prerogatives. Romans born into a noble family inherited citizenship and social status; they made up the patrician class, while the lower plebeian class was made up of free non-citizens.
    [Show full text]
  • PROFESSOR of PRACTICE (Revised 9/18)
    V-20 PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE (Revised 9/18) I. Definition Appointees in the Professor of Practice series are distinguished professionals, either practicing or retired. A few may have traditional academic backgrounds, but most do not. The working title of Professor of Practice helps promote the integration of academic scholarship with practical experience. Appointees provide faculty, undergraduate students, and graduate students with an understanding of the practical applications of a particular field of study. Professors of Practice teach courses, advise students, and collaborate in areas directly related to their expertise and experience. Appointment may be made as Professor of Practice or Visiting Professor of Practice. The underlying title of Adjunct Professor will be used for payroll purposes. II. Appointment and advancement criteria Evaluation of the candidate for appointment or advancement as Professor of Practice or Visiting Professor of Practice shall take into account the nature of the duties and responsibilities and shall adjust accordingly as to the emphasis placed on each of the following four criteria: 1. Professional competence and activity For appointments, departments must identify the candidate’s leadership in, and major contributions to, the field in question as well as document what credentials from practice he or she will bring to bear in teaching, research, and service. At the time of review, the department must demonstrate the appointee’s continued record of exemplary professional practice and leadership in the field. 2. Teaching contributions Professors of practice will design and teach undergraduate and graduate courses based on their expertise. Appointees are expected to teach primarily in professional programs at the graduate level.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2012 Men at Work: Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C. Seth G. Bernard University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Bernard, Seth G., "Men at Work: Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C." (2012). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 492. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/492 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/492 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Men at Work: Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C. Abstract MEN AT WORK: PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION, LABOR, AND SOCIETY AT MID-REPUBLICAN ROME, 390-168 B.C. Seth G. Bernard C. Brian Rose, Supervisor of Dissertation This dissertation investigates how Rome organized and paid for the considerable amount of labor that went into the physical transformation of the Middle Republican city. In particular, it considers the role played by the cost of public construction in the socioeconomic history of the period, here defined as 390 to 168 B.C. During the Middle Republic period, Rome expanded its dominion first over Italy and then over the Mediterranean. As it developed into the political and economic capital of its world, the city itself went through transformative change, recognizable in a great deal of new public infrastructure.
    [Show full text]
  • Refractions of Rome in the Russian Political Imagination by Olga Greco
    From Triumphal Gates to Triumphant Rotting: Refractions of Rome in the Russian Political Imagination by Olga Greco A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Comparative Literature) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Valerie A. Kivelson, Chair Assistant Professor Paolo Asso Associate Professor Basil J. Dufallo Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Paloff With much gratitude to Valerie Kivelson, for her unflagging support, to Yana, for her coffee and tangerines, and to the Prawns, for keeping me sane. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ............................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter I. Writing Empire: Lomonosov’s Rivalry with Imperial Rome ................................... 31 II. Qualifying Empire: Morals and Ethics of Derzhavin’s Romans ............................... 76 III. Freedom, Tyrannicide, and Roman Heroes in the Works of Pushkin and Ryleev .. 122 IV. Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov and the Rejection of the Political [Rome] .................. 175 V. Blok, Catiline, and the Decomposition of Empire .................................................. 222 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 271 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Partisan Dealignment and the Rise of the Minor Party at the 2015 General Election
    MEDIA@LSE MSc Dissertation Series Compiled by Bart Cammaerts, Nick Anstead and Richard Stupart “The centre must hold” Partisan dealignment and the rise of the minor party at the 2015 general election Peter Carrol MSc in Politics and Communication Other dissertations of the series are available online here: http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/mediaWorkingPapers/Electroni cMScDissertationSeries.aspx MSc Dissertation of Peter Carrol Dissertation submitted to the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, August 2016, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc in Politics and Communication. Supervised by Professor Nick Couldry. The author can be contacted at: [email protected] Published by Media@LSE, London School of Economics and Political Science ("LSE"), Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE. The LSE is a School of the University of London. It is a Charity and is incorporated in England as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act (Reg number 70527). Copyright, Peter Carrol © 2017. The authors have asserted their moral rights. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher nor be issued to the public or circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. In the interests of providing a free flow of debate, views expressed in this dissertation are not necessarily those of the compilers or the LSE. 2 MSc Dissertation of Peter Carrol “The centre must hold” Partisan dealignment and the rise of the minor party at the 2015 general election Peter Carrol ABSTRACT For much of Britain’s post-war history, Labour or the Conservatives have formed a majority government, even when winning less than half of the popular vote.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the TROUBLE with ARISTOCRACY Hans Van
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UCL Discovery 1 THE TROUBLE WITH ARISTOCRACY Hans van Wees and Nick Fisher ‘The history of aristocracies … is littered with self-serving myths which outsiders have been surprisingly willing to accept uncritically’, a recent study warns (Doyle 2010, xv). Our volume shows that ancient ‘aristocracies’ and their modern students are no exception. In antiquity, upper classes commonly claimed that they had inherited, or ought to have inherited, their status, privilege and power because their families excelled in personal virtues such as generosity, hospitality and military prowess while abstaining from ignoble ‘money-making’ pursuits such as commerce or manual labour. In modern scholarship, these claims are often translated into a belief that a hereditary ‘aristocratic’ class is identifiable at most times and places in the ancient world, whether or not it is in actually in power as an oligarchy, and that deep ideological divisions existed between ‘aristocratic values’ and the norms and ideals of lower or ‘middling’ classes. Such ancient claims and modern interpretations are pervasively questioned in this volume.1 We suggest that ‘aristocracy’ is only rarely a helpful concept for the analysis of political struggles and historical developments or of ideological divisions and contested discourses in literary and material cultures in the ancient world. Moreover, we argue that a serious study of these subjects requires close analysis of the nature of social inequality in any given time and place, rather than broad generalizations about aristocracies or indeed other elites and their putative ideologies.
    [Show full text]
  • Calendar of Roman Events
    Introduction Steve Worboys and I began this calendar in 1980 or 1981 when we discovered that the exact dates of many events survive from Roman antiquity, the most famous being the ides of March murder of Caesar. Flipping through a few books on Roman history revealed a handful of dates, and we believed that to fill every day of the year would certainly be impossible. From 1981 until 1989 I kept the calendar, adding dates as I ran across them. In 1989 I typed the list into the computer and we began again to plunder books and journals for dates, this time recording sources. Since then I have worked and reworked the Calendar, revising old entries and adding many, many more. The Roman Calendar The calendar was reformed twice, once by Caesar in 46 BC and later by Augustus in 8 BC. Each of these reforms is described in A. K. Michels’ book The Calendar of the Roman Republic. In an ordinary pre-Julian year, the number of days in each month was as follows: 29 January 31 May 29 September 28 February 29 June 31 October 31 March 31 Quintilis (July) 29 November 29 April 29 Sextilis (August) 29 December. The Romans did not number the days of the months consecutively. They reckoned backwards from three fixed points: The kalends, the nones, and the ides. The kalends is the first day of the month. For months with 31 days the nones fall on the 7th and the ides the 15th. For other months the nones fall on the 5th and the ides on the 13th.
    [Show full text]
  • GLADIATOR by David Franzoni Revisions by John Logan SECOND
    GLADIATOR by David Franzoni Revisions by John Logan SECOND DRAFT October 22, 1998 FADE IN: EXT. FOREST - DAY Germania. The far reaches of the Roman Empire. Winter 180 A.D. Incongruously enough, the first sound we hear is a beautiful tenor voice. Singing. A boy's voice. CREDITS as we hear the haunting song float through dense forests. We finally come to a rough, muddy road slashing through the forest. On the road a GERMAN PEASANT FATHER is herding along three sickly looking cows. His two SONS are with him. His youngest son sits on one of the cows and sings a soft, plaintive song. They become aware of another sound behind them on the road -- the creak of wood, the slap of metal on leather. The Father immediately leads his cattle and his sons off the road. They stand-still, eyes down: the familiar posture of subjugated peoples throughout history. A wagon train rumbles past them. Three ornate wagons followed by a mounted cohort of fifty heavily-armed PRAETORIAN GUARDS. The young boy dares to glance up at the passing Romans. His eyes burn with hatred. INT. WAGON - DAY Mist momentarily obscures a man's face. Frozen breath. The man is in his 20's, imperious and handsome. He is swathed in fur, only his face exposed. He is COMMODUS. He glances up. COMMODUS Do you think he's really dying? The woman across from him returns his gaze evenly. She is slightly older, beautiful and patrician. A formidable woman. She is LUCILLA. LUCILLA He's been dying for ten years.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristocratic Identities in the Roman Senate from the Social War to the Flavian Dynasty
    Aristocratic Identities in the Roman Senate From the Social War to the Flavian Dynasty By Jessica J. Stephens A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Greek and Roman History) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Professor David Potter, chair Professor Bruce W. Frier Professor Richard Janko Professor Nicola Terrenato [Type text] [Type text] © Jessica J. Stephens 2016 Dedication To those of us who do not hesitate to take the long and winding road, who are stars in someone else’s sky, and who walk the hillside in the sweet summer sun. ii [Type text] [Type text] Acknowledgements I owe my deep gratitude to many people whose intellectual, emotional, and financial support made my journey possible. Without Dr. T., Eric, Jay, and Maryanne, my academic career would have never begun and I will forever be grateful for the opportunities they gave me. At Michigan, guidance in negotiating the administrative side of the PhD given by Kathleen and Michelle has been invaluable, and I have treasured the conversations I have had with them and Terre, Diana, and Molly about gardening and travelling. The network of gardeners at Project Grow has provided me with hundreds of hours of joy and a respite from the stress of the academy. I owe many thanks to my fellow graduate students, not only for attending the brown bags and Three Field Talks I gave that helped shape this project, but also for their astute feedback, wonderful camaraderie, and constant support over our many years together. Due particular recognition for reading chapters, lengthy discussions, office friendships, and hours of good company are the following: Michael McOsker, Karen Acton, Beth Platte, Trevor Kilgore, Patrick Parker, Anna Whittington, Gene Cassedy, Ryan Hughes, Ananda Burra, Tim Hart, Matt Naglak, Garrett Ryan, and Ellen Cole Lee.
    [Show full text]
  • Patricians and Plebeians Under Etruscan Rule the Patricians Create a Republic Between 616 and 509 B.C.E., the Over Time, the Etruscans Ruled Rome
    Patricians and Plebeians under Etruscan Rule The Patricians Create a Republic Between 616 and 509 B.C.E., the Over time, the Etruscans ruled Rome. During this patricians began to time, Roman society was divided into resent Etruscan two classes, patricians and plebeians. rule. In 509 B.C.E., a group of patricians, Upper-class citizens, called led by Lucius Julius patricians, came from a small group Brutus, rebelled. of wealthy landowners. Patrician They drove out the comes from the Latin word pater, last Etruscan king. In which means “father”. The patricians place of a choose from among themselves the monarchy, they “fathers of the state”, the men who created a republic. advised the Etruscan king. Patricians In a republic, controlled the most valuable land. elected officials Patricians were the elite in They also held the important military govern for the Roman society and religious offices. Brutus denounced the Etruscan kings and was people. elected one of the first consuls in the new republic. Free non-patricians called plebeians were mostly peasants, laborers, craftspeople, and shopkeepers. To the patricians, “the people” meant themselves, not the plebeians. The word plebeian comes from plebs, The patricians put most of the power in the hands of the Senate. The which means ”the common people”. Senate was a group of 300 patricians elected by patricians. The Plebeians made up about 95 percent of senators served for life. They also appointed other government Rome’s population. They could not be officials and served as judges. priests or government officials. They had little voice in the government.
    [Show full text]