The Plebs as a Subject

The Roman Republic arose in 509 BCE after the expulsion of Rome’s last, seventh king — Tarquin the Proud.

Initially, the republic really was exclusively a patrician project, but its preservation and transformation into a powerful state became the result of the bitter struggle of the plebeians for their rights.

Below is a history of the emergence of the republic and the struggle of the orders, divided into key stages.

1. How the republic emerged: a patrician project

The word “republic” (res publica) translates as “public affair.” However, in 509 BCE, “society” meant only the patricians — the hereditary aristocracy.

• Reason for the coup: The last king, Tarquin the Proud, ruled as a tyrant, repressed the senators, and disregarded the rights of the nobility. The final straw was the violence committed by the king’s son against the virtuous Roman woman Lucretia.
• Who led it: The patricians, led by Lucius Junius Brutus, launched the revolt. The king was expelled, and instead of one-man rule, elected positions for two consuls were established (for a term of one year).
• Result: Royal power was destroyed, but the full extent of political, religious, and military power ended up in the hands of a narrow circle of patrician families. The plebeians (the non-noble population) remained without rights.

2. How the plebs gained recognition: the era of secessions

The plebeians constituted the majority of the Roman army and the city’s economic base. The patricians needed them to wage wars, and the plebeians used this as their main lever of pressure. Their principal weapon became secessions — withdrawals from the city (a kind of military strike). In the face of the enemy, the patricians were forced to make concessions.

The plebs sought recognition over the course of two centuries through the following key milestones:

• 494 BCE — The First Secession and the emergence of the plebeian tribunes. The plebeians, fully armed, withdrew to the Sacred Mount, refusing to defend Rome. Frightened, the patricians reached an agreement and allowed the plebeians to elect their own protectors — tribunes of the plebs. These tribunes possessed the right of veto (they could overturn any decision by patrician magistrates) and personal inviolability.
• 451–450 BCE — The Laws of the Twelve Tables. Before this, the patricians judged cases according to unwritten customary law, which allowed them to interpret the laws to their own advantage. The plebeians secured the recording of the laws on bronze tablets and their display in the Forum. This laid the foundation for the famous Roman law.
• 445 BCE — The Canuleian Law. The strict ban on marriages between patricians and plebeians was lifted. This allowed wealthy plebeian families to merge with noble patrician ones.
• 367 BCE — The Licinian-Sextian Laws. The plebeians gained the right to hold the highest state office — the consulship. The law required that one of the two annual consuls must be a plebeian. The maximum amount of public land that one person could seize was also limited (a blow to the patrician oligarchy).
• 287 BCE — The Hortensian Law (the final point). It was established that the decisions of the plebeian assemblies (plebiscites) had the force of law for the entire Roman people, including the patricians, and did not require Senate approval.

Thus, the republic began as a patrician project, pursued by those who wanted to rid themselves of royal tyranny for the sake of their own freedom. But it was precisely the struggle of the plebeians that transformed it from a closed aristocratic oligarchy into the classical Roman Republic with a complex system of checks and balances.