The Plebs was the general body of Roman citizenship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Toga_Illustration.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Toga_Illustration.png/220px-Toga_Illustration.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/f/fa/Toga_Illustration.png/220px-Toga_Illustration.png (as distinguished from Slavery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Fileadlock-silver-medium.svg" class="image" title="This page is semi-protected."><img alt="This page is semi-protected." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Padlock-silver-medium.svg/40px-Padlock-silver-medium.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/f/fa/Padlock-silver-medium.svg/40px-Padlock-silver-medium.svg.png) in Ancient Rome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png. They were distinct from the higher order of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrician_(ancient_Rome). A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian (Latin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg" class="image"><img alt="Alt text" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg/200px-Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/b7/Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg/200px-Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg: plebeius). This term is used today to refer to one who is or appears to be of the middle or lower order; however, in Rome plebeians could become quite wealthy and influential. In Latin the word plebs is a Singular - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Fileisambig_gray.svg" class="image"><img alt="Disambig gray.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Disambig_gray.svg/30px-Disambig_gray.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/5f/Disambig_gray.svg/30px-Disambig_gray.svg.png Collective noun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and its Genitive case - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="Question book-new.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png is plebis. The origin of the separation into orders is unclear, and it is disputed whether the Romans were divided under the early kings into patricians and plebeians, or whether the clientes (or dependents) of the patricians formed a third group. The nineteenth century historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Ambox_outdated_content.svg" class="image"><img alt="Ambox outdated content.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Ambox_outdated_content.svg/40px-Ambox_outdated_content.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/b1/Ambox_outdated_content.svg/40px-Ambox_outdated_content.svg.png held that plebeians began to appear at Rome during the reign of Ancus Marcius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Ancus-Martius.jpg" class="image"><img alt="Ancus-Martius.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Ancus-Martius.jpg/200px-Ancus-Martius.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/a/a1/Ancus-Martius.jpg/200px-Ancus-Martius.jpg, possibly foreigners settling in Rome as naturalized citizens. In any case, at the outset of the Roman Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Spqrstone.jpg" class="image" title="SPQR of Roman Republic"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Spqrstone.jpg/85px-Spqrstone.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/a/a3/Spqrstone.jpg/85px-Spqrstone.jpg, plebeians were excluded from magistracies and religious colleges. Later on, after a general strike by the plebeians, the law of the Twelve Tables - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png was promulgated, and Tabula XI explicitly forbade intermarriage (which was eventually reversed by the Lex Canuleia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:She-wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg" class="image"><img alt="Stub icon" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/She-wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg/40px-She-wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/6/6a/She-wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg/40px-She-wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg). However, before the Twelve Tables plebeians were forbidden to know any laws, but were still punished for breaking them. Despite these inequalities, plebeians still belonged to Gens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, served in the army, and could become military Tribune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png. Even so, the "Conflict of the Orders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png" over the political status of the plebeians went on for the first two centuries of the Republic, ending with the formal equality of plebeians and patricians in 287 BC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The plebeians achieved this by developing their own organizations (the Plebeian Council - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png), leaders (the Tribune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png and plebeian Aedile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Roman_SPQR_banner.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/98/Roman_SPQR_banner.svg/150px-Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.png). When the plebeians felt the situation had become dire, they would instigate a Secessio plebis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Secessio_plebis.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Secessio_plebis.JPG/300px-Secessio_plebis.JPG"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/d/dd/Secessio_plebis.JPG/300px-Secessio_plebis.JPG, a sort of general strike where plebeians would literally leave Rome, leaving the patricians to themselves.
