Patricians and Plebeians

   In Ancient Rome, there were two groups/classes of Roman citizens. One group was called the patricians. The patricians were the people who held most of the power. To be a patrician, you had to be born into a patrician family of wealthy landowners. They only made up a small percentage of the Roman population. The other group of Romans were the plebeians. The plebeians made up most of the population and had few rights. They were farmers, artisans and merchants. Plebeians were not allowed to hold important government positions like the patricians. Plebeians had the right to vote, but did not have many rights. Therefore, they made their own assembly with tribunes, who were people helping to protect plebeian rights from the laws of the patricians. The patricians in Ancient Rome could be compared to the aristocrats in Ancient Greece, while the plebeians in Ancient Rome could be compared to the common people in Ancient Greece. This is because aristocrats were wealthy and had all of the power, whereas most of the population were the common people who could vote, but not play a big role in government.