History glossary
plebeians
Roman citizens outside the hereditary patrician group.
- Category
- Roman history
- Region
- Mediterranean
- Date range
- 753 BCE–476 CE
What it means
Plebeians included people of very different wealth. Their struggle for rights helped reshape republican government.
Stories using this term
The Roman Republic
From the expulsion of Rome’s kings to the rise of Augustus, the Roman Republic built a powerful mixed constitution, expanded across the Mediterranean, and ultimately collapsed into civil war and one-man rule.
Ancient Rome
From a settlement on the Tiber to a Mediterranean empire, follow Rome through kings, republic, conquest, civil war, everyday life and the transformation of the Roman world.
