 Beginning around the year 350 BC , the senators and the Plebeian Tribunes began to grow closer . The Senate began giving Tribunes more power , and , unsurprisingly , the Tribunes began to feel indebted to the senate . As the Tribunes and the senators grew closer , Plebeian senators began to routinely secure the office of Tribune for members of their own families . Also around the year 350 BC , the Plebeian Council ( popular assembly ) enacted a significant law ( the " Ovinian Law " ) which transferred , from the Consuls to the Censors , the power to appoint new senators . This law also required the Censors to appoint any newly elected magistrate to the Senate , which probably resulted in a significant increase in the number of Plebeian senators . This , along with the closeness between the Plebeian Tribunes and the Senate , helped to facilitate the creation of a new Plebeian aristocracy . This new Plebeian aristocracy soon merged with the old Patrician aristocracy , creating a combined " Patricio @-@ Plebeian " aristocracy . The old aristocracy existed through the force of law , because only Patricians had been allowed to stand for high office . Now , however , the new aristocracy existed due to the organization of society , and as such , this order could only be overthrown through a revolution . 
