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			<h1>Inequalities in Rome</h1>
			<p>Written in <span title="Greek and Roman Civilization">HIST 1421</span> of <a href="http://www.uopeople.edu/">University of the People</a>, finalised on 2017-05-03</p>
		</header>
<p>
	The removal of the kings of Rome and the establishment of a republic had been a combined effort of both the Patricians and the Plebeians.
	However, the new government structure wasn&apos;t set up to reward both castes for their efforts.
	Instead, the Patricians reaped most of the rewards, while the Plebeians got next to nothing.
	The Plebeians could vote on issues, but they weren&apos;t allowed to hold office (Morey, 1901).
	Patrician rule was a harsh one, and the Plebeians wouldn&apos;t stand for it.
</p>
<h2>Patrician rule</h2>
<p>
	One problem was that of wealth distribution.
	The wealthy Patricians lived within the city walls.
	When they went to war, their homes, belongings, and families were kept safe.
	However, the Plebeians lived out in the country.
	When they went to war, their homes went unguarded.
	Their homes and belongings were ravaged my enemy troops, and their families were driven off.
	With their farms destroyed, they had no way to sustain themselves.
	They resorted to borrowing from Patricians, but due to unjust debt laws, that often ended poorly.
	If one couldn&apos;t pay one&apos;s own debts, several harsh consequences could be in store, up to and including becoming a slave to one&apos;s lender (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<p>
	The Patricians also deprived the Plebeians of the land won by war.
	As the Plebeians had no direct say in government, the Patricians were able to rig the system in their favour.
	They allowed themselves to rent this public land, making it effectively private property.
	This kept Plebeians from using it, despite their help in having acquired it (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<p>
	Another way in which Plebeians and Patricians were treated unequally was that Plebeians weren&apos;t allowed to know the laws.
	While Plebeians could be penalised for breaking laws, they had no way to know what actions to avoid!
	Patricians viewed the laws as being too &quot;sacred&quot; to be shared with the lower class, yet somehow, not also too &quot;sacred&quot; to be <strong>*enforced*</strong> on the lower class.
	As stated above, the obvious flaw in that reasoning is that you penalise citizens for things without warning and without a way to avoid it.
	However, a more subtle problem came from this situation as well: Patricians were able to <strong>*selectively enforce*</strong> the laws as well!
	Furthermore, Plebeians and Patricians were forbidden from marrying and interbreeding.
	They were required to remain as two distinct peoples (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<h2>The first Plebeian revolt</h2>
<p>
	Having no direct say in government and no way to address the debt they acquired, the Plebeians decided not to serve in the army any longer.
	After all, it was serving in the army that&apos;d gotten them into this mess!
	While the Patricians benefited from Plebeian service, the Plebeians were drained of everything they had for it.
	The Plebeians deserted their general and marched to Mons Sacer, where they planned to secede and build their own city (Morey, 1901).
	This would be a disaster for the Patricians though.
	While the Patricians held all the spoils of war, victory would&apos;ve been impossible without the Plebeians.
	Without the Plebeians serving in and bulking up the army, Rome would surely fall next time.
</p>
<h2>Results of the first revolt</h2>
<p>
	To appease the Plebeians and keep them from leaving, the Patricians cancelled their unpayable debts and released those imprisoned because of their debts.
	Additionally, four new offices were set up, and only Plebeians could serve in them.
	Two of these offices were of the two Tribunes of the People.
	These tribunes protected the Plebeians from the Patricians by holding checks over the Patrician magistrates.
	The tribunes could veto any act of a magistrate if it unjustly impacted a citizen.
	The tribunes could not be arrested, and anyone that interfered with them in their duties could be put to death.
	This ensured that the tribunes were not manipulated by the Patricians.
	The other two new offices were of the aediles, who assisted the tribunes.
	However, the Plebeians weren&apos;t allowed to chose who would serve in these offices, at least not until later (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<p>
	The tribunes were allowed to call an assembly, called the Plebeian Assembly, to address the people.
	They gathered information on what the people cared about and the magistrates were not allowed to disperse the assembly or interrupt the tribunes while they spoke.
	This assembly could also pass laws that applied to Plebeians, though these laws didn&apos;t apply to the upper-class Patricians (Morey, 1901).
	However, this right to address the people and the legal protection of the Tribunes of the People was often disregarded (Morey, 1901).
	They had these things in theory, but not really in practice.
</p>
<p>
	To address the problem of unfair land distribution, Spurius Cassius, a Patrician consul, proposed new law that would allow Plebeians more fair access to land owned by the public.
	Cassius&apos;s proposal was rejected, and upon completion of their year-long term, they were charged with treason.
	They were accused of attempting to become king and were beheaded (Morey, 1901).
	While they met with a grizzly fate and their proposal was rejected, this proposal did pave the way for later decisions.
	To make up for rejecting this proposal and to attempt to put an end to later discontent among the Plebeians, one thing the Patricians gave the Plebeians was the public land of Aventine Hill (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<p>
	However, the problem of unwritten and unknown laws was not addressed in any way at first.
	Later though, a tribune named Gaius Terentilius Harsa proposed the laws be made public.
	Their proposal involved appointing a commission to gather up and publicise the laws known by the Patricians.
	The Patricians opposed this though, wanting their laws kept secret from the lower class &quot;unworthy&quot; of knowing them, and a decade of turmoil began.
	Trying to appease the Plebeians without actually making the laws public, the Patrician senate increased the number of Plebeian Tribunes of the People from two to five, then again from five to ten.
	They also (as mentioned in the preceding paragraph) gave the Plebeians the use of Aventine Hill&apos;s public land and set a limit as to how much a magistrate could fine someone.
	This was meant to distract the Plebeians away from their goal of making the laws public, but it didn&apos;t work.
	Eventually, before the second revolt, the Patricians had to give in and the laws were made public.
	The decemvirs, a commission of ten people, were chosen to write up the existing laws to be shared with everyone.
	These laws would apply to both Plebeians and Patricians, bringing them closer to equality under the law.
	While compiling the laws, the decemvirs would have full control of the government, and all other political offices would be disbanded for that time period (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<p>
	The first wave of decemvirs ruled for a year and gathered enough laws to inscribe on ten brass tablets, but the work was not quite finished.
	A second wave of decemvirs was appointed.
	These decemvirs inscribed the remainder of the laws onto two more brass tablets, for a total of twelve.
	Finally, the laws were known to all they applied to!
	However, unlike the first wave of decemvirs, the second wave refused to resign.
	Furthermore, they used their control over the government in an oppressive manner, discriminating against Plebeians, as they hated the lower class.
	Their rule was so oppressive that eventually, the Plebeians had had enough.
	They had to act.
	And thus, the second Plebeian revolt began (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<h2>The second Plebeian revolt</h2>
<p>
	It&apos;s not known for sure what the final straw was for the Plebeians.
	However, legend says Appius Claudius, the leader of the tyrannical second wave of decemvirs that wouldn&apos;t step down, tried to take possession of a Plebeian soldier&apos;s child.
	The soldier, Virginius, killed their child, Virginia, to spare them from this dishonour.
	The Plebeian army was moved by this tragedy, and once more left for Mons Sacer to secede from the city.
	They refused to defend this tyrannical rule through their military service any longer.
	Many non-military Plebeians followed suit and moved to Mons Sacer as well (Morey, 1901).
</p>
<h2>Results of the second revolt</h2>
<p>
	Like before, the Patricians saw that the loss of the Plebeians would spell disaster for their city, and once more, the Patricians had to back down.
	The oppressive decemvirs finally resigned, and Rome was restored to its pre-decemvir state, aside from the fact that the laws remained public knowledge and the twelve tablets remained in public view.
	After the two Plebeian revolts, the Patricians finally began to sympathise with the Plebeians.
	They saw that the Plebeians not only had the courage to defend Rome against attack, but also had the determination to defend themselves against the Patricians.
	Two Patrician consuls were elected, Valerius and Horatius, who treated the Plebeians with the dignity and respect they deserved (Morey, 1901).
	The right of the Plebeians to address the people and the legal protections of the tribunes were finally actualised.
	The Plebeian Assembly was reorganised to include Patricians, given the power to write laws that were binding to Plebeians and Patricians alike, and renamed the comitia tributa.
	Additionally, new legislation was passed to allow intermarriage and interbreeding.
	Finally, the two people were able to blend into one.
</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>
	The Plebeians came far in obtaining full citizen rights through these two revolts.
	However, they still had a ways to go before they could be considered equal to the Patricians.
	For example, while Plebeians could hold office as a Tribune of the People or aedile, they couldn&apos;t become a consul and quaestor.
	The Patricians still reserved these later offices for themselves (Morey, 1901).
	With as much progress as they&apos;d made though, the future looked bright.
	One day, they&apos;d obtain the equal rights they deserved.
</p>
<div class="APA_references">
	<h2>References:</h2>
	<p>
		Morey, W. C. (1901). Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 7. Retrieved from <a href="https://forumromanum.org./history/morey07.html"><code>https://forumromanum.org./history/morey07.html</code></a>
	</p>
	<p>
		Morey, W. C. (1901). Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 8. Retrieved from <a href="https://forumromanum.org./history/morey08.html"><code>https://forumromanum.org./history/morey08.html</code></a>
	</p>
	<p>
		Morey, W. C. (1901). Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 9. Retrieved from <a href="https://forumromanum.org./history/morey09.html"><code>https://forumromanum.org./history/morey09.html</code></a>
	</p>
</div>
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