And so they were the
true people of Rome.
=The Plebs.=--The plebeians were descended from the foreigners[117]
established in the city, and especially from the conquered peoples of
the neighboring cities; for Rome had gradually subjected all the Latin
cities and had forcibly annexed their inhabitants. Subjects and yet
aliens, they obeyed the government of Rome, but they could have no
part in it. They did not possess the Roman religion and could not
participate in its ceremonies. They had not even the right of
intermarrying with the patrician families. They were called the plebs
(the multitude) and were not considered a part of the Roman people. In
the old prayers we still find this formula: "For the welfare of the
people and the plebs of Rome."
=Strife between Patricians and Plebeians.=--The people and the plebs
were like two distinct peoples, one of masters, the other of subjects.
And yet the plebeians were much like the patricians. Soldiers, like
them, they served in the army at their own cost and suffered death in
the service of the Roman people; peasants like them, they lived on
their domains.
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