+what class were the plebians in
The plebeians were the general body of citizens, including the common people and peasants. I guess you could say that the patricians improved Rome by running it correctly, as they were the ones in power, and that the plebeians improved Rome by growing most of the food. The patricians were the elites of Rome, the rulers and leaders of society. The patricians could be described not just as powerful individuals, but the social class at the top of the hierarchy. The plebeians were the common urban people (I'd argue not peasants who are rural ;-) who had much less influence on the way things were run. The Plebeians (Plebs) made up the majority of Rome's inhabitants. Plebeians were a class of citizens who were usually non aristocratic farmers, artisans and shopkeepers, and some were wealthy. plebeian - of or associated with the great masses of people; the common people in those days suffered greatly; behavior that branded him as common; his square plebeian nose; a vulgar and objectionable person; the unwashed masses. unwashed, vulgar, common. Patricians and Plebians were different and alike in ways. Patricians and Plebians both had the right to vote yet, only Patricians could hold high positions. Patricians were mostly wealthy landowners while Plebians were mostly farmers. Plebians had little power. In the ancient eastern church, there were (broadly) 2 schools of biblical studies: the Antiochene and the Alexandrian. Antiochene scholars emphasized the literal, historical method whereas Alexandrians were more prone to allegorization. Over time the plebeians were able to amass wealth and great power. By the time of Caesar, the patrician Claudius chose to become a plebeian (something he could do through adoption) in order to hold an important political office, the Tribune of the Plebs. Romes working class, the plebeians had little individual power. Some attempts had been made, I noticed, to infuse new blood into this dwindling frame, by repairing the costly old wood-work here and there with common deal; but it was like the marriage of a reduced old noble to a plebeian pauper, and each party to the ill-assorted union shrunk away from the other. By the first century AD, plebeians comprised a formal class, which held its own meetings, elected its own officials and kept its own records. The term plebeian referred to all free Roman citizens who were not members of the patrician, senatorial or equestrian classes. Today, the term plebeian is synonymous with lower class. In early Rome, the plebeians (also known simply as plebs) may have been that part of the Roman population whose origin was among the conquered Latins (as opposed to the Roman conquerors). Plebeians were contrasted with the patrician nobility. Deep ruffs, painfully wrought bands, and gorgeously embroidered gloves, were all deemed necessary to the official state of men assuming the reins of power, and were readily allowed to individuals dignified by rank or wealth, even while sumptuary laws forbade these and similar extravagances to the plebeian order.
Social class