political/ECONOMY
social hierarchy
I belong to the second class in the social hierarchy of Rome which is the plebeians. Compared to the upper class which consisted of patricians, we were not allowed to run for office like they could and we would not be able to marry between classes. Unlike the freemen and slaves which make up the lower classes, we had more rights and were allowed to own shops and small farms. Our daily life consisted of working on farms or running businesses while the patricians worked in the council, and the freemen and slaves worked hard and taxing jobs.
economy
The Roman economy was primarily based agriculture and trade. Since my class was the farmers and shop owners we did most of the economical production. We farmed crops such as barley and wheat along with other products such as olives. After we harvested our crops we would use them to make other products to sell at the market along with our other crops. Although we were allowed to keep our money from our sales we still had to pay taxes that were implemented in our government.
government
Rome’s government was a republic, meaning we had assemblies elect people to represent us in our government. Consuls, whom we elected, usually were in charge of the government and sought for advice and help on making decisions from the senate. The senate was composed of 300 patricians who were allowed to veto the choices of assemblies. Below the senate we have two assemblies, The Assemblies of Centuries and the Assemblies of Tribes. The Assemblies of Centuries were run by magistrates who would help execute laws while the Assemblies of Tribes was run by plebeians like me. Our government was the start of checks and balances. Our law was often called “The Twelve Tablets” which protected the civil rights of each class.
my role in government
Plebeians in the Assemblies of Tribes were called tribunes, and we were allowed to veto choices made by the magistrates in order to keep them in check. Other than being able to veto what the magistrates said, we had little say in the government since we were lower class and we could not run for office. Unlike the freemen and slaves we were able to vote while they could not.