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| - As of the latter part of the fifth century BCE, Rome could be characterized as an aristocratic community of peasants. It occupied an area of about 400 square miles, and no more than about 150,000 people, divided into seventeen districts or tribes. They were a mostly rural people who only occasionally would make their way into the, by now, fortified town. Citizens were divided in upper class Patricians, and lower class Plebians. And then there were the non-citizen slaves and outlanders. Not at all unsimilar to the various Greek city-states of the time.
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| abstract
| - As of the latter part of the fifth century BCE, Rome could be characterized as an aristocratic community of peasants. It occupied an area of about 400 square miles, and no more than about 150,000 people, divided into seventeen districts or tribes. They were a mostly rural people who only occasionally would make their way into the, by now, fortified town. Citizens were divided in upper class Patricians, and lower class Plebians. And then there were the non-citizen slaves and outlanders. Not at all unsimilar to the various Greek city-states of the time. What separated Rome from the Greek states was the nature of constitutional power. At that point, power was predominantly held in the hands of a nominated body known as the "Senate". Initially only Patricians could be nominated to the Senate, and up to 510 BCE they were nominated by a King. In 510 BCE, they did away with monarchy and replaced the last King with a pair of elected rulers called "Consuls". The only role the Plebians had at that point was to vote on who would be Consul and various other offices. Though all citizens might have the right to vote, Rome was still very much a class based society with little to no intermarriage or other movement between the classes. Much of the internal history of early Rome seems to focus around the issue of class rights and the struggles involved. When the "Latin War" led to excessive debts resulting in former soldiers being put into chains to satisfy Patrician creditors, it led to the strike of 494 BCE, when Plebians left Rome to start the building of a town of their own, so as to reclaim their rights as citizens. Rather than see the creation of a new town, the Patricians gave in to Plebian demands, and Plebians acquired the privilege of having their own officers, Tribunes, and Aediles. Because of problems associated with relying on Patrician memory, the "Twelve Tables" were published from 451-450 BCE, forming the basis of Roman Law. In 376 BCE, Licinius promulgated what became known as the Licinian Rogations which precipitated another struggle that in 367 BCE brought about further improvements in Plebian status, not the least of which was the ability to hold any number of elective offices, including the Senate.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)