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The Rise of the Roman Republic 33.1 Introduction In the last chapter,you learnedaboutEtruscanand Greekinfluenceson Rome.Early Rome was ruled by Etruscankings fiom northernltaly. In this you will learnhow the Romansoverthrewthe Etruscansand created chapter, a republicaround509 s.c.e.A republic is a fbrm of government with electedleaders. AncientRomanstold an interestingstory aboutthe overthrowof their Etruscan masters.One day,two Etruscanprinceswent to seethe famous oracleat Delphi, in Greece.A RomannamedLuciusJuniusBrutustraveled withthem. At Delphi,the princesaskedthe oraclewhich of them would be the next ng of Rome.The oracleanswered,"The next man to haveauthorityin will be the man who first kisses mother."Hearingthesewords, tus pretendedto trip. He fell on his , and his lips touchedthe Earth, motherof all living things." Backin Rome.Brutusled the revolt droveout the Etruscankinss. He one of the first leadersof the republic.In this way,the oracle's riouswords cametrue.The ns were now free to sovernthemves.But not all Romanswereequal. r in the early republicbelonged richmencalledpatricians. The iorityof Romans,the plebeians, no say in the government.In this , you will seehow a long strugbetweenpatriciansand plebeians the governmentof Rome. The Riseof the RomanRepublic317 33.2 Patricians and Plebeians Under Etruscan Rule Senate a groupof 300men elected to governRomeinthe Ro m an Republic consul oneof two chief le a d e rs intheRoman Republic 0neof theheroes of theearly Ro m a Republic n wasLucius JuniusBrutus. Here,Brutusis promising to support thenew r e p u b lic. Between616 and 509 s.c.e.,the Etruscansruled Rome. During this time, Romansocietywas divided into two classes, patriciansand plebeians. Upper-classcitizens,calledpatricians, came from a small group of wealthy landowners.Patricianscomesfrom the Latin word patres,which means"father." The patricianschosethe "fathersof the state,"the men who advisedthe Etruscanking. Patricianscontrolledthe most valuableland. Thev also heldthe importantmilitary and religiousoffices. Lower-classcitizens,calledplebeians,were mostly peasants, laborers,craftspeople,and shopkeepers. The word plebeians comesfrom plebs, which means"many." Plebeiansmadeup about95 percentof Rome's population.They could not be priests or governmentofficials. They had little say in the government. Yet they still were forced to servein the army. 33.3 The Patricians Create a Republic Over time, the patricianscameto resent Etruscanrule. In 509 n.c.e.,a groupof patriciansrebelled.They drove out thelast Etruscanking. In place of a king, theycre ated a republic. In a republic, electedofficials work for the interestsof the people. To the patricians,"the people"meant patriciansthemselves,not the plebeians. They put most of the power in the hands the Senate.The Senate was a groupof 300 men that the patricianselected.The senatorsservedfor life. They alsoappoi ed other governmentofficials and served asjudges. Two electedleaderscalled consuls sharedcommandof the arrnv.The Senate was supposedto advisethe consuls.In the Senate'sdecisionswere treatedas The creationof the republic gave a more democraticgovernment.But only the patricianscould participatein that government. 318 Chapter 33 I I ( I ( t I tr c li A fz ir fc bt iti be th th cc cri wi qu ne ha wl to wc sei pal 33.4The PlebeiansRebel Rome was now a repubic, but the patriciansheld all thepower. They made sure thatonly they could be part of the government.Only :liliji iiltriiriil 'HJi!i theycould becomesenators consuls.Plebeianshad obeytheir decisions. use laws were not writdown, patriciansoften ged or interpretedthe to benefit themselves. a result,a small group of ilies held all the power Rome. The plebeianshad to fight what they wanted.They to demandmore pollrights. The struggle n the plebeiansand patricianswas known as \\ Conflict of the Orders.or ss .\. ict betweenthe classes. Theconflict grew espeheatedduring times of . The new republic frey fought _warsagainst ing tribes.Plebeians Formanyyears,plebeians strugto fight in the arrny even though the patriciansdecided gledto gaina shareof thepolitical to go to war. Plebeiansresentedthis. by patricians. Thestruggletook a dramaticturn in 494 s.c.E.By then, Rome powerenjoyed a city of between25,000 and 40,000 people.Most of the ion were plebeians.Angry over their lack of power, the iansmarchedout of the city and campedon a nearbyhill. refusedto come back until the patriciansmet their demands. Romewas in crisis. Work in the city and on the farms came halt.Without the plebeians,patriciansfearedthat the army be helplessif an enemy struck at Rome. "A greatpanic thecity," wrote Livy, a famous Roman historian.The ns had little choice but to compromise. The Rise of the Roman Republic 319 veto to refuseto approve pr o p o sals of government made 33.5 The Plebeians Gain Political Equality The plebeians'revolt led to a major changein Romangovernment.The patriciansagreedto let the plebeianselectofficials bytheSenate calledTribunesof the Plebs.The tribunes spokefor the tribune anofficialof the plebeiansto the Senateand the consuls.Later,they gainedthe R om a Republic n elected by ple b e ians to protect theirrights power to veto, or overrule,actionsby the Senateand government officialsthat they thoughtwere unfair.Over time, the numberof tribunesgrew from 2 to 10. Plebeianscould alsoelecta lawmakingbody,the Council Ple b e ia ns wona majorvictory of Plebs.However,the councilmadelaws only for plebeians, pa tricians wh e n agreed to post not patricians. Rome's lawsontheTwelve Tables. The plebeianshad gainedsomeimportantrights.But they$ill had lesspower than the patricians. Over the next 200 years,thepleto beiansuseda seriesof protests graduallywin political equality. First, they demandedthat the laws be written down. That way,the patricianscouldn't changethemat will. Around 451 B.c.E.,thepatricians agreed.The laws werewritten down on tabletscalledtheTwelve Tables. Next,in 367 e.c.e.,a newlaw said that one of the two Romanconsulshad to be a plebeian.Former consulsheld seatsin the Senate, so this changealso madeit possible fot plebeiansto becomesenators. Finally,in 281 B.c.E.,theplebeiansgainedthe right to passlaws for all Romancitizens.Now,assemblies of all Romancitizenscould approveor rejectlaws.Theseplebeianassemblies alsonominated th consuls,the tribunes,andthemembers of the Senate.More andmore plebeiansservedalongsidepatriciansin the Senate.After 200yean of struggle,the plebeianshadwon their fight for equality. 320 Chanter33 E b a. ai rt ir St is E re o\ p( el, th Pl, of dir sfi Rome'srepublicanform of governmentinspiredfutureagesln ruled EuropeandAmerica.Rome set an exampleof a government a writtenc',rtstituti7n(setof basiclaws).Futurerepublicans citizenship, alsopointedto Romanidealsof electedassemblies. bodies andcivic duty.They adoptedthe modelof governmental could checkeachother'spower.Above all, they were Cicero.a famousRoman ired by the spirit of republicanism. sman,capturedthis spirit when he wrote."The people'sgood thehiehestlaw." 6 Ghapter Summary In this chapter,you learnedhow the Romans overthrew the ns and createda republic' Romanswere proud of their lic. Sometimes,during times of war, they handedpower to a dictator.Dictatorswere men who were given special for a limited period of time. But for the most part, leadersruled Rome for 500 Years. Becauseof the conflict betweenpatriciansand plebeians, RomanRepublic becamemore democraticover time' The ianseventuallywon more political power' In time, most theimportantdifferencesbetweenpatriciansand plebeians In the next chapter,you will learn how Rome grew from a republicinto a mightY emPire. , ma sne n a t o rs ln t h eS e n a t eRo d e b a t eimP d o rt a dn et c is io n s facingthecitY. .Ph",' The Rise of the Roman RePublic 321