Plebs

Plebs (plebeians) ( lat. Plere - fill) - the population of ancient Rome , initially not enjoying political rights , unlike the patricians ^[1] .

Rome was replenished by the people as a result of the conquests of neighboring tribes and cities . And initially the newcomer population belonged to various Roman tribes . They were established on a generic basis and reflected the union of three ethnic components: Latins , Sabines and Etruscans . Full members of the Roman community gradually turned into a privileged part of society. They were called patricians and initially only they made up the "Roman people."

Subsequently, the newcomer population was no longer included in the tribes, that is, they could not be part of the ancient clans and were considered “Roman people”, they could not use the communal land, take part in religious rites. Landless plebeians were mainly engaged in craft and petty trade. Some of them were very rich people. But the poor and rich plebs before the patricians were equally disenfranchised. Therefore, initially having no rights, the plebeians eventually gained the right to elect the so-called plebeian tribunes , which had the right to veto decisions of patrician magistrates. Initially, their decisions were law only among the plebeians, but during the long struggle the rights of the patricians and plebeians were equalized.

In the middle of the V century BC. e. under the pressure of the plebeians, laws were written down on 12 copper boards and put on display in the central square of Rome. It is worth noting that they enacted a law prohibiting marriages between plebeians and patricians, but it lasted less than a year, and about 445 BC. e. thanks to the efforts of the tribune of Guy Canulea was canceled.

At the beginning of the III century BC. e. the patrician and wealthy plebeian elites merged into one estate - nobility and in 287 BC. e. A law was passed that decisions of plebeian assemblies ( plebiscites ) are binding on all citizens, regardless of origin. Since that time, patricians and plebeians ceased to be different classes-estates. Wealthy citizens formed the estate of horsemen , and all the poor were plebs, including free artisans, peasants, and small merchants.

In medieval Europe , the urban poor were so often called.