Everything about Plebs totally explained
In
Ancient Rome, the
plebs were the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the
patricians. A member of the
plebs was known as a
plebeian (
Latin:
plebeius). The term is used more commonly today to refer to one who is in the middle or lower class, or who appears to be; however, in Rome, plebeians could become quite wealthy and influential.
Ancient tale
The true origin of the distinction between plebeians and
patricians is unknown; there's little evidence for any sort of ethnic basis, nor many signs of a distinction during the
time of the kings. However, the populace of the city of Rome during the reigns of
Romulus,
Numa Pompilius, and
Tullus Hostilius were all called
patrician as they were the only inhabitants of Rome. It is during the reign of
Ancus Marcius that the plebeians came to Rome from diplomatic alliances as secondary citizens. In any case, around the time of the foundation of the
Roman Republic, the plebeians were excluded from religious colleges and magistracies, and the law of the
Twelve Tables disallowed intermarriage (which was finally allowed by the
Lex Canuleia). At the same time, plebeians were enrolled in the
gentes and tribes, served in the army, and could become military
tribunes.
Even so, the "
Conflict of the Orders" over the political status of the plebeians went on for the first two centuries of the Republic, ending with the formal equality of plebeians and patricians in
287 BC. The plebeians achieved this by developing their own organizations (the
concilium plebis), leaders (the
tribunes and plebeian
aediles), and as the ultimate weapon used the
secessio, by which the plebeians would literally leave Rome, effectively boycotting the city. This is recorded to have happened five times, although only the last (in 287) is believed to be accurately documented.
After this period, the plebeians were gradually incorporated into the Senatorial elite. The distinction between members of patrician families and members of wealthy senatorial plebeian families became essentially a legal, rather than a social one — at least one consul each year had to be a plebeian, and only plebeians had the right to act as
Tribune of the People and to vote in the
Plebeian Council. By the first century BC, many of the wealthiest and most prominent senatorial figures were actually plebeians, as many of the old patrician families died out.
Still later, during the
Empire the term was often used of anyone not in the senatorial or equestrian orders.
Modern usage
In British, Irish and Australian English
pleb is a derogatory term for someone thought of as inferior, common or ignorant. A pleb is seen as the lowest form of society and the highest form of loser. In
Dutch it's used literally; someone may be part of the Plebeians. See also:
prole.
Plebes, are
freshmen at the
U.S. Military Academy,
U.S. Naval Academy,
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina,
Valley Forge Military Academy and the
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Plebs'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://plebs.totallyexplained.com">Plebs Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
