Roman Social Structure

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People think of Rome as one of the most successful societies history has to offer, but that has not always been the case. It took sometime for Rome to get it right, and that started with the Republic. The Early part of the Republic gave the Patricians an advantage taking control of the society. They did not give the Plebeians fair rights, which caused a conflict. War was not required to solve the conflict. Their societal structure can be comparable to the French, only they solved their problem differently. The structure of the Roman Republic first benefited the rich through laws and difficulty to change classes, but unlike the French, The Roman Republic resolved their conflict without war.
The Patrician people originated mostly of families that has lots of land or wealth in the past. With all this wealth, it was easy for the Patricians to take control of the government. Many of the Plebeians were living in poverty. Though not all the Plebeians were poor, a large percentage of the Plebeians that first went against the Patricians were wealthy Plebeians. Part of the reason they pushed for equality was they believed that their wealth entitled them to the same rights as the Patricians. There were several problems with the social …show more content…

In 491 BC when the Senate declared war the Plebeians chose not to fight as a protest against the Senate. The Plebeians said they would continue to rebel until they got fair representation in the government. This would become known as the Struggle of the Orders. The Patricians knew the best choice was to give in to the Plebeians demands of representation in the government. The Patricians and the Plebeians agreed on the Law of Twelve Tables in 449 BC. The Twelve Tables was a formative document within Roman Law. This system was much fairer than the one before. This law system even held elected officials accountable, only the trial would wait until he left

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