Plebeians

Plebeians in Ancient Rome were free inhabitants who did not belong to patrician families. A plebeian was not a slave: he could be a farmer, craftsman, trader, soldier or wealthy citizen, but in the early Republic plebeians had fewer political and religious rights than patricians.

In brief:

• plebeians were free people, not slaves;
• the main difference from patricians was origin and access to power and religious-political privilege;
• the Conflict of the Orders produced tribunes of the plebs and wider citizen rights;
• wealthy plebeians later joined Rome's new ruling elite.

Quick answer

The key difference from enslaved people was personal freedom and, for many, citizenship. The key difference from patricians was descent and early political privilege.

Common follow-up questions

Was a plebeian an enslaved person? No. A plebeian could be a free citizen; an enslaved person lacked personal freedom.

Were plebeians poor? Not always. Plebeians included poor people, artisans, farmers and wealthy families, but they were not patrician nobles.

Plebeians, patricians and slaves

The origins of the patrician–plebeian division are known chiefly through later Roman tradition. Plebeians were free members of the Roman community, not people wholly deprived of citizen rights. Restrictions principally concerned access to certain offices, religious functions and marriage with patricians.

During the struggle of the orders, plebeians secured their own tribunes and assembly. The Twelve Tables, traditionally dated to 451–450 BCE, recorded legal rules; their original text does not survive. The marriage prohibition was removed by the lex Canuleia in 445 BCE, not a few months after the Twelve Tables.

The Licinian–Sextian laws of 367 BCE opened the route to the consulship; Lucius Sextius Lateranus became the first plebeian consul in 366. The lex Hortensia of 287 BCE made plebiscites binding on all citizens. Patrician and plebeian families did not disappear afterwards, although their political opportunities became more alike.

Plebeians differed considerably in wealth and occupation. Wealthy plebeian families entered the governing nobility, while many other citizens remained craftspeople, farmers or hired workers. Plebeian ancestry should be equated neither with poverty nor with membership of the equestrian order.

FAQ

Were plebeians slaves? No. Plebeians were free inhabitants of Rome, although in the early Republic they had fewer rights than patricians.

How did plebeians differ from patricians? Patricians linked status with old families and religious-political privileges, while plebeians gained rights through the Conflict of the Orders.

When did plebeian rights expand? Key stages include tribunes of the plebs, the Twelve Tables, access to magistracies and the Lex Hortensia of 287 BCE.

Related topics

• Patricians
• Roman Republic
• Roman Kingdom
• Roman society: orders and social relationships
• Roman citizenship: rights and legal status