1.26 to 1.30

The Struggle of the Order (494-287 B. C.) To right their wrongs the plebeians went on what today would be called a general strike. In 494 BC they marched out of Rome in a body and threatened to make a new city. This strike terrified the patricians. They agreed to cancel all debts and to release people who were in prison for debt. Furthermore, the plebeians were granted the right to be represented by new officials, called tribunes. The tribunes had the right to veto the act of any magistrate which was unjust to any citizen. From this beginning the plebeians went on to gain other rights. They soon won recognition for an assembly of their own, the concilium plebis. They forced the appointment of commissions of ten men, called decemvirs, to put state laws into writing and to have them engraved on 12 bronze tablets. This took place in 450 BC. They won the right to marry patricians by the lex Canuleia in 445 BC. They won appointment or election to public offices, one after another. The chief of these, which were established to relieve the consuls of the growing burdens of administration, were those of quaestors, or treasurers; censors, who kept the lists of the citizens, assessed taxes, and supervised public morals; and praetors, or judges. The struggle was a long one, and it was not until 367 BC that it was decided one of the two consuls should be a plebeian. In 350 BC the plebeians were admitted to the dictatorship. This was an extraordinary magistracy whereby supreme power at critical times was given to one man. Admission to these offices carried with it admission to the Senate, since vacancies were filled from those who had last been elected to public office. The Roman Senate of the republican period has been called the "most distinguished and important political body which has ever existed in the world." Its members were appointed for life, and executives were bound to submit to it all important measures. In theory it was a purely advisory body. Since its members were former magistrates, however, any advice it gave was almost certain to be accepted. No magistrate would dare challenge such a body unless he was prepared to back up his act by force of arms.