PlebsIn ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman
citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians.
A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian. The true origin
of the distinction between plebeians and patricians is unknown;
there is little evidence for any sort of a racial basis, nor
many signs of a distinction during the time of the kings. In any
case, around time of the foundation of the Roman Republic, the
plebeians were excluded from religious colleges and
magistracies, and the law of the Twelve Tables disallowed
intermarriage. At the same time, plebeians were enrolled in the
gentes and tribes, served in the army, and could become military
tribunes. Even so, the "Conflict of the Orders" 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. The plebeians achieved this
by developing their own organizations (the concilia plebis),
leaders (the tribunes and plebeian aedi