Conflict Of The Orders

The Conflict (or Struggle) of the Orders was a series of largely peaceful political conflicts in which plebeians, especially the wealthy, sought greater political power and influence in the Republic. Most estimates have the patricians as comprising from one-tenth to one-fourteenth of the total population of Rome, but they had far more power than their absolute size would suggest. All clients were plebeians, and as such were subject to a patrician’s control under the system of [patronage]. Plebeians were also excluded from institutions such as the Consulship and the Senate.

The first major action taken by the plebeians was something like a strike. In 494 B.C.E. they committed to one another one the Aventine Hill just outside of Rome that they would not return unless their demands were met. As the Republic could not go on well without them, the patricians allowed for the creation of the office of Tribune, which would allow plebeians from the various parts of Rome to elect officials to represent them in conflict with patricians.

The second major event was the passing of the “Law of the Twelve Tables”. Up until this point, the legal standing of the plebeians was ambiguous and ill-defined, owing partly to the fact that there was not yet a codified, written expression of plebeian status in law. In 450 B.C.E., after great pressure, a ten-person commission of patricians was appointed to codify Roman law. This codification was enacted by the Assembly of centuries and the twelve large wooden tables placed in the Forum. The tables were subsequently destroyed by invading Gauls, but we do have parts of them that have come down in other writings and they provide one of our best views into Roman legal thought.  

The greatest victory for the plebeians came in 287 B.C.E, when it was recognized that the laws enacted by the Plebian Council would have the force of law on all Roman citizens, regardless of social rank. In addition, they were not subject to the veto of the Senate.