HIST-UA 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Twelve Tables, Roman Senate, Palatine Hill
Document Summary
Republic a republic is a political unit that is not ruled by a monarch and in which citizens with the right to vote choose their leaders. Rome became a republic in 509 b. c. e. , after overthrowing the last king. Patrician the patrician class consisted of a small group of families who dominated the city and claimed that their ancestors had been patres, or fathers, who founded rome. They believed that their ancestry allowed them to make laws for rome and its people. Plebeian plebeians were the common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up a majority of the population in rome. Although they were free citizens with the right to vote, they held far less power than the patricians and had almost none of the important political offices. Legion a legion was a massive military unit made up of 4,000 to 6,000 infantry, or heavily armed foot soldiers.
