Plebeians

The precise origins of the group and the term are unclear, but may be related to the Greek, plēthos, meaning masses.^[1]

In Latin, the word plebs is a singular collective noun, and its genitive is plebis. Plebeians were not a monolithic social class. Those who resided in the city and were part of the four urban tribes are sometimes called the plebs urbana, while those who lived in the country and were part of the 31 smaller rural tribes are sometimes differentiated by using the label plebs rustica. (List of Roman tribes)

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Grammatical number

Grammatical number

In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions. English and other languages present number categories of singular or plural, both of which are cited by using the hash sign (#) or by the numero signs "No." and "Nos." respectively. Some languages also have a dual, trial and paucal number or other arrangements.

Collective noun

Collective noun

In linguistics, a collective noun is a word referring to a collection of things taken as a whole. Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing. For example, the collective noun "group" can be applied to people, or dogs, or objects.

List of Roman tribes

List of Roman tribes

Tribes were groupings of citizens in ancient Rome, originally based on location. Voters were eventually organized by tribes, with each Roman tribe having an equal vote in the Tribal Assembly.

In the annalistic tradition of Livy and Dionysius, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was as old as Rome itself, instituted by Romulus' appointment of the first hundred senators, whose descendants became the patriciate.^[2] Modern hypotheses date the distinction "anywhere from the regal period to the late fifth century" BC.^[2] The 19th-century historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr believed plebeians were possibly foreigners immigrating from other parts of Italy.^[3] This hypothesis, that plebeians were racially distinct from patricians, however, is not supported by the ancient evidence.^[1][4] Alternatively, the patriciate may have been defined by their monopolisation of hereditary priesthoods that granted ex officio membership in the senate.^[5] Patricians also may have emerged from a nucleus of the rich religious leaders who formed themselves into a closed elite after accomplishing the expulsion of the kings.^[6]

Certain gentes ("clans") were patrician, signalled by their family names (nomen). In the early Roman Republic, there are attested 43 clan names, of which 10 are plebeian with 17 of uncertain status.^[2] A single clan also might have both patrician and plebeian branches sharing a nomen distinguished by a cognomen.

There existed an aristocracy of wealthy families in the regal period, but "a clear-cut distinction of birth does not seem to have become important before the foundation of the Republic".^[1] The literary sources hold that in the early Republic, plebeians were excluded from magistracies, religious colleges, and the Senate.^[1] Those sources also hold that they were also not permitted to know the laws by which they were governed. However, some scholars doubt that patricians monopolised the magistracies of the early republic, as plebeian names appear in the lists of Roman magistrates back to the fifth century BC.^[7] It is likely that patricians, over the course of the first half of the fifth century, were able to close off high political office from plebeians and exclude plebeians from permanent social integration through marriage.^[8]

Plebeians were enrolled into the curiae and the tribes; they also served in the army and also in army officer roles as tribuni militum.^[1]

Conflict of the orders

The Conflict of the Orders (Latin: ordo meaning "social rank") refers to a struggle by plebeians for full political rights from the patricians.^[9] According to Roman tradition, shortly after the establishment of the Republic, plebeians objected to their exclusion from power and exploitation by the patricians. The plebeians were able to achieve their political goals by a series of secessions from the city: "a combination of mutiny and a strike".^[10]

Ancient Roman tradition claimed that the Conflict led to laws being published, written down, and given open access starting in 494 BC with the law of the Twelve Tables, which also introduced the concept of equality before the law, often referred to in Latin as libertas", which became foundational to republican politics.^[11] This succession also forced the creation of plebeian tribunes with authority to defend plebeian interests.^[9] Following this, there was a period of consular tribunes who shared power between plebeians and patricians in various years, but the consular tribunes apparently were not endowed with religious authority.^[12] In 445 BC, the lex Canuleia permitted intermarriage among plebeians and patricians.^[13]

There was a radical reform in 367–6 BC, which abolished consular tribunes and "laid the foundation for a system of government led by two consuls, shared between patricians and plebeians"^[14] over the religious objections of patricians, requiring at least one of the consuls to be a plebeian.^[15] And after 342 BC, plebeians regularly attained the consulship.^[16] Debt bondage was abolished in 326, freeing plebeians from the possibility of slavery by patrician creditors.^[17] By 287, with the passage of the lex Hortensia, plebiscites – or laws passed by the concilium plebis – were made binding on the whole Roman people.^[18] Moreover, it banned senatorial vetoes of plebeian council laws.^[19] And also around the year 300 BC, the priesthoods also were shared between patricians and plebeians, ending the "last significant barrier to plebeian emancipation".^[18]

The veracity of the traditional story is profoundly unclear: "many aspects of the story as it has come down to us must be wrong, heavily modernised... or still much more myth than history".^[20] Substantial portions of the rhetoric put into the mouths of the plebeian reformers of the early Republic are likely imaginative reconstructions reflecting the late republican politics of their writers.^[7] Contradicting claims that plebs were excluded from politics from the fall of the monarchy, plebeians appear in the consular lists during the early fifth century BC.^[7] The form of the state may also have been substantially different, with a temporary ad hoc "senate", not taking on fully classical elements for more than a century from the republic's establishment.^[21]

Noble plebeians

The completion of plebeian political emancipation was founded on a republican ideal dominated by nobiles, who were defined not by caste or heredity, but by their accession to the high offices of state, elected from both patrician and plebeian families.^[22] There was substantial convergence in this class of people, with a complex culture of preserving the memory of and celebrating one's political accomplishments and those of one's ancestors.^[23] This culture also focused considerably on achievements in terms of war and personal merit.^[16]

Throughout the Second Samnite War (326–304 BC), plebeians who had risen to power through these social reforms began to acquire the aura of nobilitas ("nobility", also "fame, renown"), marking the creation of a ruling elite of nobiles.^[24] From the mid-4th century to the early 3rd century BC, several plebeian–patrician "tickets" for the consulship repeated joint terms, suggesting a deliberate political strategy of cooperation.^[25]

No contemporary definition of nobilis or novus homo (a person entering the nobility) exists; Mommsen, positively referenced by Brunt (1982), said the nobiles were patricians, patrician whose families had become plebeian (in a conjectural transitio ad plebem), and plebeians who had held curule offices (e.g., dictator, consul, praetor, and curule aedile).^[26] Becoming a senator after election to a quaestorship did not make a man a nobilis, only those who were entitled to a curule seat were nobiles.^[27] However, by the time of Cicero in the post-Sullan Republic, the definition of nobilis had shifted.^[28] Now, nobilis came to refer only to former consuls and the direct relatives and male descendants thereof.^[28] The new focus on the consulship "can be directly related to the many other displays of pedigree and family heritage that became increasingly common after Sulla" and with the expanded senate and number of praetors diluting the honour of the lower offices.^[29]

A person becoming nobilis by election to the consulate was a novus homo (a new man). Marius and Cicero are notable examples of novi homines (new men) in the late Republic,^[30] when many of Rome's richest and most powerful men – such as Lucullus, Marcus Crassus, and Pompey – were plebeian nobles.

Later history

In the later Republic, the term lost its indication of a social order or formal hereditary class, becoming used instead to refer to citizens of lower socio-economic status.^[1] By the early empire, the word was used to refer to people who were not senators (of the empire or of the local municipalities) or equestrians.^[1]

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Livy

Livy

Titus Livius, known in English as Livy, was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled Ab Urbe Condita, ''From the Founding of the City'', covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on familiar terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a friend of Augustus, whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, he exhorted to take up the writing of history.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was atticistic – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.

Romulus

Romulus

Romulus was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these traditions incorporate elements of folklore, and it is not clear to what extent a historical figure underlies the God-like Romulus, the events and institutions ascribed to him were central to the myths surrounding Rome's origins and cultural traditions.

Barthold Georg Niebuhr

Barthold Georg Niebuhr

Barthold Georg Niebuhr was a Danish–German statesman, banker, and historian who became Germany's leading historian of Ancient Rome and a founding father of modern scholarly historiography. By 1810 Niebuhr was inspiring German patriotism in students at the University of Berlin by his analysis of Roman economy and government. Niebuhr was a leader of the Romantic era and symbol of German national spirit that emerged after the defeat at Jena. But he was also deeply rooted in the classical spirit of the Age of Enlightenment in his intellectual presuppositions, his use of philologic analysis, and his emphasis on both general and particular phenomena in history.

Overthrow of the Roman monarchy

Overthrow of the Roman monarchy

The overthrow of the Roman monarchy was an event in ancient Rome that took place between the 6th and 5th centuries BC where a political revolution replaced the then-existing Roman monarchy under Lucius Tarquinius Superbus with a republic. The details of the event were largely forgotten by the Romans a few centuries later; later Roman historians invented a narrative of the events, traditionally dated to c. 509 BC, but this narrative is largely believed to be fictitious by modern scholars.

Gens

Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps. The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of individuals' social standing depended on the gens to which they belonged. Certain gentes were classified as patrician, others as plebeian; some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in imperial times, although the gentilicium continued to be used and defined the origins and dynasties of Roman emperors.

Roman naming conventions

Roman naming conventions

Over the course of some fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of nomenclature that differed from that used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of a combination of personal and family names. Although conventionally referred to as the tria nomina, the combination of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen that have come to be regarded as the basic elements of the Roman name in fact represent a continuous process of development, from at least the seventh century BC to the end of the seventh century AD. The names that developed as part of this system became a defining characteristic of Roman civilization, and although the system itself vanished during the Early Middle Ages, the names themselves exerted a profound influence on the development of European naming practices, and many continue to survive in modern languages.

Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

Cognomen

Cognomen

A cognomen was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name, the nomen gentilicium, in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings.

Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Roman Senate was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome. It survived the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 509 BC; the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC; the division of the Roman Empire in AD 395; and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476; Justinian's attempted reconquest of the west in the 6th century, and lasted well into the Eastern Roman Empire's history.

Conflict of the Orders

Conflict of the Orders

The Conflict of the Orders, sometimes referred to as the Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebeians sought political equality with the patricians. It played a major role in the development of the Constitution of the Roman Republic. Shortly after the founding of the Republic, this conflict led to a secession from Rome by Plebeians to the Sacred Mount at a time of war. The result of this first secession was the creation of the office of plebeian tribune, and with it the first acquisition of real power by the plebeians.

Lex Canuleia

Lex Canuleia

The lex Canuleia, or lex de conubio patrum et plebis, was a law of the Roman Republic, passed in the year 445 BC, restoring the right of conubium (marriage) between patricians and plebeians.

Childhood and education

The average plebeian did not come into a wealthy family; the politically active nobiles as a whole comprised a very small portion of the whole population. The average plebeian child was expected to enter the workforce at a young age. Plebeians typically belonged to a lower socio-economic class than their patrician counterparts, but there also were poor patricians and rich plebeians by the late Republic.

Education was limited to what their parent would teach them, which consisted of only learning the very basics of writing, reading and mathematics. Wealthier plebeians were able to send their children to schools or hire a private tutor.^[31]

Living quarters

Ruins of insulae

Plebeians in ancient Rome lived in three or four-storey buildings called insula, apartment buildings that housed many families. These apartments usually lacked running water and heat. These buildings had no bathrooms and was common for a pot to be used. Not all plebeians lived in these run-down conditions, as some wealthier plebs were able to live in single-family homes, called a domus.^[31]

Attire

Plebeian men wore a tunic, generally made of wool felt or inexpensive material, with a belt at the waist, as well as sandals.^[32] Meanwhile, women wore a long dress called a stola.^[31]

Meals

Since meat was very expensive, animal products such as pork, beef and veal would have been considered a delicacy to plebeians. Instead, a plebeian diet mainly consisted of bread and vegetables. Common flavouring for their food included honey, vinegar and different herbs and spices. A well-known condiment to this day known as garum, which is a fish sauce was also largely consumed.^[31]

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Insula (building)

Insula (building)

In Roman architecture, an insula was one of two things: either a kind of apartment building, or a city block. This article deals with the former definition, that of a type of apartment building.

Domus

Domus

In Ancient Rome, the domus was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories. The modern English word domestic comes from Latin domesticus, which is derived from the word domus. The word dom in modern Slavic languages means "home" and is a cognate of the Latin word, going back to Proto-Indo-European. Along with a domus in the city, many of the richest families of ancient Rome also owned a separate country house known as a villa. Many chose to live primarily, or even exclusively, in their villas; these homes were generally much grander in scale and on larger acres of land due to more space outside the walled and fortified city.

Tunic

Tunic

A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin tunica, the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome, which in turn was based on earlier Greek garments that covered wearers' waists.

Stola

Stola

The stola was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. It was also called vestis longa in Latin literary sources, pointing to its length.

Garum

Garum

Garum is a fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, ancient Greece, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantium. Liquamen is a similar preparation, and at times they were synonymous. Although garum enjoyed its greatest popularity in the Western Mediterranean and the Roman world, it was earlier used by the Greeks.

United States military academies

Plebes (first-year students) marching in front of Bancroft Hall, United States Naval Academy

In the U.S. military, plebes are freshmen at the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, Valley Forge Military Academy and College, the Marine Military Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Georgia Military College (only for the first quarter), and California Maritime Academy. The term is also used for new cadets at the Philippine Military Academy.

Philippine Military Academy

Since the construction of Philippine Military Academy, the system and traditions were programmed the same as the United States Military Academy. First Year Cadets in PMA are called Plebes or Plebos (short term for Fourth Class Cadets) because they are still civilian antiques and they are expected to master first the spirit of Followership. As plebes, they are also expected to become the "working force (force men or "porsmen") in the Corps of Cadets. They must also know the different plebe knowledges.

British and Commonwealth usage

Early public schools in the United Kingdom would enroll pupils as "plebeians", as opposed to sons of gentry and aristocrats.

In British, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and South African English, the back-formation pleb, along with the more recently derived adjectival form plebby,^[33] is used as a derogatory term for someone considered unsophisticated, uncultured,^[34] or lower class.^[35]

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Plebe Summer

Plebe Summer

Plebe Summer is the summer training program which is required of all incoming freshmen to the United States Naval Academy. The program lasts approximately 7 weeks and consists of rigorous physical and mental training. The stated purpose of Plebe Summer according to the Academy is to "turn civilians into midshipmen".

Bancroft Hall

Bancroft Hall

Bancroft Hall, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is said to be the largest contiguous set of academic dormitories in the U.S. Bancroft Hall, named after former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and famous historian/author George Bancroft, is home for the entire brigade of 4,000 midshipmen, and contains some 1,700 rooms, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) of corridors, and 33 acres (13 ha) of floor space. All the basic facilities that midshipmen need for daily living are found in the hall. It is referred to as "Mother B" or "The Hall" by Midshipmen.

Freshman

Freshman

A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.

United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. It is the oldest of the five American service academies and educates cadets for commissioning into the United States Army.

Marine Military Academy

Marine Military Academy

The Marine Military Academy is a private college preparatory academy located in Harlingen, Texas, US, offering a college preparatory curriculum for boys in grades 7–12 plus one year of post-graduate study. The school was founded in 1965. Its traditions and ideals are inspired by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), but the school is not affiliated with the USMC except through its Junior ROTC program.

United States Merchant Marine Academy

United States Merchant Marine Academy

The United States Merchant Marine Academy is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen to serve as officers in the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the United States Armed Forces and the transportation industry. Midshipmen are trained in different fields such as marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship.

Georgia Military College

Georgia Military College

Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, until 1900. Although it is a state-funded institution, GMC is not affiliated with either the University System of Georgia or the Technical College System of Georgia.

Academic quarter (year division)

Academic quarter (year division)

An academic quarter refers to the division of an academic year into four parts.

Philippine Military Academy

Philippine Military Academy

The Philippine Military Academy also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It was established on December 21, 1936, by the virtue of National Defense Act of 1935. It is patterned after the United States Military Academy, in West Point, New York. The academy is located in the city of Baguio, and serves as the primary training school for future officers of the AFP.

Followership

Followership

Followership is the actions of someone in a subordinate role. It can also be considered as a specific set of skills that complement leadership, a role within a hierarchical organization, a social construct that is integral to the leadership process, or the behaviors engaged in while interacting with leaders in an effort to meet organizational objectives. As such, followership is best defined as an intentional practice on the part of the subordinate to enhance the synergetic interchange between the follower and the leader.

Australian English

Australian English

Australian English is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and de facto national language; while Australia has no official language, English is the first language of the majority of the population, and has been entrenched as the de facto national language since European settlement, being the only language spoken in the home for 72% of Australians. It is also the main language used in compulsory education, as well as federal, state and territorial legislatures and courts.

New Zealand English

New Zealand English

New Zealand English (NZE) is the dialect of the English language spoken and written by most English-speaking New Zealanders. Its language code in ISO and Internet standards is en-NZ. English is the first language of the majority of the population.

The British comedy show Plebs followed plebeians during ancient Rome.^[36]

In Margaret Atwood's novel Oryx and Crake, there is a major class divide. The rich and educated live in safeguarded facilities while others live in dilapidated cities referred to as the "pleeblands".^[37]