Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

926 PLEBES. PLEBES.
exaggerated to what he possibly might have done, ing more. The struggle which thus originated beor would have wished to do. In this light we tween the two parties, is, as far as the commonalty
have to regard the story that he intended to lay is concerned. one of the noblest that has ever been
down his royal dignity and to establish the govern- carried on between oppressors and oppressed. On
ment of two consuls, one of whom was to have the one hand we see a haughty and faithless olibeen a plebeian. garchy applying all means that the love of dominion
During the reign of the last king the plebeians and selfishness can devise; on the other hand, a
not only lost all they had gained by the legislation commnonalty forbearing to the last in its opposition
of his predecessor (Dionys. iv. 43, 44); but the and resistance, ever keeping within the bounds of
tyrant also compelled them to work like slaves in the existing laws, and striving after power, not for
his great architectural works, such as the cloacae the mere gratification of ambition, but in order to
and the circus. obtain the means of protecting itself against fraud
On the establishment of the republic, the comitia and tyrannyl The details of this struggle belong
centuriata, and perhaps the whole constitution, to a history of Rome and cannot be given here; we
such as it had been before the reign of the last Tart- can only point out in what manner the plebeians
quinius, were restored, so that the patricians alone gradually gained access to all the civil and religicontinued to be eligible to all the public offices. ous offices, until at last the two hostile elements
(Liv-. iv. 6, vi. 40, &c., x. O.) That the comitia became united into one great body of Roman citicenturiata were restored immediately after the zens with equal rights, and a state of things arose
banishment of the Tarquins, may be inferred from totally differemnt from what had existed before.
the words of Livy (i. 60), who says, that the first After the first secession, in B. c. 494, the pleconsuls were elected ex coinzmeztacriis Servii Tdllii, beians gained several great advantages. First, a
for these words probably refer to the coinitia law was passed to pIrevent the patricians from
centuriata, in which, according to the regulations taking usurious interest of money which they freof king Servius, the elections were to be held. quently lent to inlpoverished plebeians (Dionys.
There was still no coiIrmmbium between the two vi. 83); secondly, tribunes were appointed for the
orders, and the populus was still in every respect protection of the plebeians [T'RIsBclN]; and lastly,
distinct from the plebs. Considering the fact that plebeian aediles were appoinlted. [AEDILES.]
the patricians reserved for themselves all the Shortly after, they gained the right to summon
powers which had formerly been concentrated in before their own comitia tributa any one who had
the king, and that these powers were now given to violated the rights of their order (Fest. s. v. Sacer
a number of patrician officers, we must admit that snons; Gbttling, p. 300, &c,), and to make decrees
the plebeians at the commencement of the republic (plebiscitc), whicb, however, did not become
were worse off than if the kingly rule had coil- bindinlg upon the whole nation until the year a. c.
tinued under the institutions introduced by Ser- 449. [PLEsr SCrTuM.] A few years after this
vius. They, however, soon gained some advantages. (445, 1;. c.), the tribune Calluleius established, by
The vacancies which had occurred in the senate his rogations, the colnubima between patricians
during the reign of the last king were filled up and plebeials. (Liv. iv. 44, v. 11, 12; Dionys. x.
with the most distinguished among the plebeian 60, xi. 28; Cic. d e Pe mubl. ii. 37.) He also
equites ( ptres conscripti, Liv. ii. 1; Dionys. v. 13; attempted to divide the consulship between the
Fest. s. v. Qui patres; Plut. Public. 11; SENATvS), two orders, but the patricians frustrated the realisaand Valerius Publicola carried a number of laws by tion of this plan by the appointment of six miliwhich the relations between patricians and ple- tary tribunes, who were to be elected from both
beians were more accurately defined than they had orders. [TRIBUNI.] But that the plebeians
hitherto been, and which also afforded some pro- might have no share in the censorial power,
tectionto the plebeians. [LEGES V.ALEtIAE.] Both with which the consuls had been invested, the
orders acted in common only in the army and the military tribunes did not obtain that power, and
comitia centuriata, in which, however, the patri- a new curule dignity, the censorship, was estacians exercised an overwhelming influence through blished, with which patricians alone were to be ilnthe number of their clients who voted in them; vested. [CENSOR.] Shortly after the taking of
and in addition to this all decrees of the centuries Rome by the Gauls, we find the plebeians again in
still required the sanction of the curiae. Notwith- a state little better than that in which they had
standing these disadvantages, the plebeians occu- been before their first secession to the mons sacer.
pied a position which might soon have enabled In B. c. 421,- however, they were admitted to the
them to rise to a perfect equality with the patri- quaestorship, which opened to them the way into
cians, had not a great calamity thrown them back, the senlate, where henceforth their number conand put an end to their political progress. This tinned to increase. [QutA;STOR; SENATUS.] In
was the unfortunate war with Porsenna, in which B. c. 367, the tribunes L. Licinius Stolo and L.
a great number (a third) of the plebeians lost their Sextius placed themselves at the head of the comestates, became impoverished, and perhaps for a mnonalty, and resumed the contest against the
time subject to the Etruscans. patricians. After a fierce struggle, which lasted
In the meanwhile, the patricians, not satisfied for several years, they at length carried a rogation,
with the exercise of all the authority in the state, according to which decemvirs were to be appointed
appear not seldom to have encroached upon the for keeping the Sibylline books instead of duumrights granted to the plebeians by the Valerian virs, of whom half were to be plebeians. (Liv. vi.
laws. (Liv. ii. 27.) Such proceedings, and the 37, 42.) The next great step was the restoration of
merciless harshness and oppression on the part of the consulship, on condition that one consul should
the rulers, could not fail to rouse the indignation always be a plebeian. A third rogation of Licinius,
and call forth the resistance of the plebeians, who which was only intended to afford momentary regradually became convinced that it was impos- lief to the poor plebeians, regulated the rate of ilisible to retain what they possessed without acquir- terest. From this time forward the plebeians also