<P> Originally , all public offices were open only to patricians , and the classes could not intermarry . Plebeians and Patricians were always at odds due to the fact that Plebeians wanted to increase their power . A series of social struggles ( see Conflict of the Orders ) saw the plebs secede from the city on three occasions , the last in 297 BC , until their demands were met . They won the right to stand for office , the abolition of the intermarriage law , and the creation of office of tribune of the plebs . This office , founded in 494 BC as a result of a plebeian secession , was the main legal bulwark against the powers of the patrician class , and only plebeians were eligible . The tribunes originally had the power to protect any plebeian from a patrician magistrate . Later revolts forced the Senate to grant the tribunes additional powers , such as the right to veto legislation . A tribune 's person was sacrosanct , and he was obliged to keep an open house at all times while in office . Some patricians , notably Clodius Pulcher in the late 60s BC , petitioned to be assigned plebeian status , in order to accumulate the political influence among the people that the office of tribune afforded . The conflict between the classes came to a climax in 287 BC when patricians and plebeians were declared equal under the law . </P>
<P> Originally , all public offices were open only to patricians , and the classes could not intermarry . Plebeians and Patricians were always at odds due to the fact that Plebeians wanted to increase their power . A series of social struggles ( see Conflict of the Orders ) saw the plebs secede from the city on three occasions , the last in 297 BC , until their demands were met . They won the right to stand for office , the abolition of the intermarriage law , and the creation of office of tribune of the plebs . This office , founded in 494 BC as a result of a plebeian secession , was the main legal bulwark against the powers of the patrician class , and only plebeians were eligible . The tribunes originally had the power to protect any plebeian from a patrician magistrate . Later revolts forced the Senate to grant the tribunes additional powers , such as the right to veto legislation . A tribune 's person was sacrosanct , and he was obliged to keep an open house at all times while in office . Some patricians , notably Clodius Pulcher in the late 60s BC , petitioned to be assigned plebeian status , in order to accumulate the political influence among the people that the office of tribune afforded . The conflict between the classes came to a climax in 287 BC when patricians and plebeians were declared equal under the law . </P>
the social class that struggled with plebeians for control of the roman empire
the social class that struggled with plebeians for control of the roman empire
Patricians
Patricians