Patrician Society Essay

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In this essay am going to discuss about how the economic and political differences between the patricians and the plebeian classes, and what led to the plebeian to revolt against the patricians.

The Roman society was divided into three classes, the patricians, plebeians, and slaves. The patrician was a small group of wealthy and powerful landowners , they were the upper class of the roman citizens, patricians were not required to pay tax but they could participate in government ,could vote and own land. According to William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel, The patricians were the economically, politically and socially dominant group. Being born a patrician meant automatic access to wealth, political power, and a high social and ritual status. Patricians were able to exercise a high degree of control over Roman religion. When the republic came into existence the patricians converted the senate into an exclusive oligarchical institution for governing Rome. Membership in the patrician class was inherited. The patricians were able to influence the proceedings of the comitia curiata by choosing appropriate presiding officers. …show more content…

Plebeians couldn’t participate in the government, they were not allowed to own land but they were required to pay taxes. According to Max Rennebohm, the plebeians made up the majority of the citizen population of Ancient Rome and occupied the economic range anywhere below the ruling patrician class and above the slave class. A Senate made up of 100 men from traditional patrician families and 200 conscripti, selected from other wealthy families, ruled the Roman Republic, which began in 509 BCE. The Senate elected two Consuls with executive authority to oversee the city’s day-to-day governance for a one-year

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