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Why did the plebeians establish their own assembly in 494 B.C.?
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How did the struggle between the patricians and the plebeian affect roman government?
The Roman government broadened its scope after the struggle. The Plebeians received attention from the government and enjoyed the protection of their civil rights. The government revoked the patriciansâ?? sole right to serve in the government.
How did Plebeians gain power in Rome?
The plebeians were commoners; that is, non-patricians. The patricians were the aristocracy. The poor plebeians rebelled and created the plebeian movement to fight for their economic grievances which came form their poverty. They created their leaders, the plebeian tribunes. The leaders were rich plebeians who had the education needed to lead a movement. The rich plebeians used the agitation of the plebeian movement for political self-promotion. They demanded access to the offices of state and eventually they succeeded in gaining access to all of them, including the top one, the consulship. Besides using the agitation of the plebeian movement, the rich plebeians also were supported by liberal patricians who favoured the change (conservative ones opposed it). At the end of this process the rich plebeians were co-opted into a patrician-(rich) plebeian oligarchy , and were included in the equite (cavalrymen) rank, which was turned into the lower the of the nobility. At this point the rich plebeians turned their back on the poor plebeians. The conflict between patricians and plebeians had been called the conflict of the orders. Writings of this conflict usually focuses on the process of gaining access to the offices of state. However, it should be remembered that the plebeian movement was meant to be concerned about the economic plight of the poor and that this was never addressed properly.
How did plebeian representation change in the government?
At the beginning of the Roman Republic the patricians monopolised the Roman state by monopolising the consulship (the office of the two annually elected heads of the Republic), the seats of the senate and the priesthoods. In the first plebeian rebellion (the first plebeian secession), the plebeians created their own institutions: the plebeian tribunes, the leaders of the plebeian movement, the aediles , their assistants, and the Plebeian Council, the assembly of the plebs. These institutions were independent and in conflict with the institutions of the patrician-controlled Roman state and their main purpose was to defend the plebeians from abuse by the patrician aristocracy. This was the beginning of the 200-year Conflict of the Orders between patricians and plebeians (the commoners). The poor plebeians fought for their economic grievance (indebtedness, the interest rates of loans, food shortages and shortages of land for the poor to farm). The rich plebeians fought for power-sharing with the patricians. Therefore, plebeian representation was the result of bitter and intense political conflict. They plebeians often mobilised their movement to press for their issues. Eventually the rich plebeians obtained power-sharing by gaining access to the consulship and the other offices of state which were created as the Republic developed and to some of the priesthoods. The economic grievances of the poor p-plebeians were not addressed properly
How did characteristics of the roman republic change over time?
After the overthrow of the Roman Monarchy, the Roman Republic retained the institutions of the Monarchy, except for replacing the king with two annually elected consuls as the heads of the Republic. The senate, which had been an unelected advisory body for the king, became the advisory body of the consuls and remained an unelected body. The Republic retained the assemblies which had been created by the 5th King of Rome, Servius Tullius: the Assembly of the Soldiers and the Assembly of the Tribes (districts). The Republic created new officers of state in addition to the consuls who took on various aspects of administration: the praetors (created in 366 BC) and the censors (created in 442 BC) became the senior officers along the consuls. The curule aediles (created in 367 BC) and the quaestors (created before 420 BC) became the junior officers. These officials were elected annually, expect for the censors whose term of office was originally five years and then was reduced to 18 months. The Republic did not have a centralised executive and the officers acted independently within the remit of their office. During the first rebellion by the poor plebeians (commoners) against the patrician-controlled state in 494 BC, the plebeians created the leaders of their movement, the plebeian tribunes, and their own assembly, the Plebeian Council. The plebeian aediles were also created to assist the plebeian tribunes. The plebeian tribunes were recognised as the representatives of the plebeians, but not as officers of state and were not fully integrated into the Roman state. The resolutions of the Plebeian Council were not recognised as laws binding on all Roman citizens because it did not include the patricians (the aristocracy). Over time the resolutions of the Plebeian Council became recognised as binding on all Roman citizens and this assembly became the legislative body. Bills were presented to the vote of the Plebeian Council by the plebeian tribunes. Previously the consuls presented bills to the vote of the Assembly of the Soldiers. The Assembly of the Soldiers became the body which elected the senior officers of state. It also voted on war and peace and acted as a court of appeal for capital punishment cases. The assembly of the Tribes became the body which elected the junior officers of state. It also acted as an court of appeal for other cases. In 82 BC appeals were removed from these two assemblies and transferred to a special jury court called quaestiones perpetuae.
How did the plebeians eventually gain a larger role in the the roman republic?
The plebians revolted until a tribune was created in which they could elect their own representatives.The Struggle of the Orders was a fight for political equality with the Patricians. While Rome was a war, all of the Plebeians left the city in secession and created the office of the Plebeian Tribune. This was the first real power the Plebeians had ever had. They wanted full power in the Senate, but a small group of Patricio-Plebeian aristocrats continued to hold the means to control the Plebeian council. Since this aristocracy was based on societal structure it needed to be overthrown by revolution. This was done when Caesar crossed the Rubicon and began a civil war that changed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.After a couple of secessions (that is they withdrew from the city, and refused to fight) they progressively gained some concessions in office-holding and Senate membership from the Patricians who controlled the magistracies, priesthoods and law courts. They then hit on the idea of a Plebeian Assembly from which the Patricians were excluded. Here they produced laws, and elected Tribunes of the Plebs, who had immunity, could introduce and veto laws in the Senate, and became senators (which each year further diluted the Patrician proportion in the Senate).
