What was the conflict of ordersnand what did the plebeians do in protest?

Answer 1

The Conflict of the Orders was between patricians (the aristocracy) and plebeians (the commoners, both rich and poor). It had two strands. It started with a rebellion of the poor plebeians whose grievances were economic, primarily indebtedness, the interest rates of loans and insufficient land for the peasants. The rich plebeians became the leaders of the movement and also had another agenda: power-sharing with the patricians. The patricians monopolised the seats of the senate and the consulship.

Over time the rich plebeians obtained access to the consulship and other offices of state which had been created in the meantime. Through this they also gained access to the senate as former senior officers of state automatically gained a seat in the senate. They also gained access to some of the priesthoods. Thus the rich plebeians were co-opted into a patrician-plebeians oligarchy. They also were given equite (cavalryman) status. The equites were the second highest layer of society. At this point the rich plebeians turned their back on the poor, whose problems were never addressed properly.

There were many agitations at the forum during this conflict. This was destabilising enough. However, main bargaining chip of the plebeians was the threat to boycott the levy. This was very serious during the early stages of the conflict because Rome as often under attack by neighbouring peoples. Another method was to disrupt the electoral process. Two plebeian tribunes (leaders of the plebeian movement) managed to block the election of the consuls for five years (375 BC to 371 BC) to put pressure to allow the plebeians to gain access to the office of the consuls (the two annually elected heads of the Republic and the army). The plebeians also seceded four or five times. They left the city en masse, went to nearby hills and threatened to found a new city if their demands were met.

Answer 2

The conflict of the order was a 200-year conflict between the patricians (the aristocracy) and the plebeians (the commoners). The conflict had two strands. The grievances of the poor plebeians were economic. The conflict started with the rebellion (the fisrt plebeian secession) against the abuse of defaulting debtors by (rich) creditors who imprisoned them, tortured them and sometimes sold them as slaves. Later this issue was addressed, but the problem of indebtedness remained a grievance. Shortage of land for poor peasants was another issue. The rich plebeians who led the plebeian movement also wanted to obtain power sharing with the patricians who monopolised the seats of the senate and the executive offices of state.

The most common means of protest was to boycott the military levy. The soldiers were plebeians. This was a powerful tool because in that period Rome was often attacked by neighbouring peoples. On three or four occasions, the plebeians seceded. They left in city en masse and refused to return until their grievances were addressed. This was called secessio plebis.