What were some of the problems Romes common people faced and how did they respond to them?

Answer 1

Most of Rome's common people faced poverty and harsh working conditions. Most were farmers who tilled the land.

In the early days, the tool used by the rich landowners to tie the labour of poor peasants to their estates was debt bondage/slavery. The latter worked for the former because he was locked into continually having to make repayments. Abuse of defaulting debtors by creditors who imprisoned them tortured them and sometimes sold them as slaves was a major grievance of the poor. When Rome expanded into Italy, the supply of slaves increased and slavery replaced debt bondage as the main source of labour.

Another problem in early Rome was the fact that poor peasants had plots of land which were too small to make a decent living because the rich landowners appropriated most of the land. This problem was relieved by the expansion of Rome into Italy as settlements where peasants were given plots of land were created around Italy. The problems reemerged as peasants lost their land due to war during Hannibal's invasion of Italy. They migrated to Rome and swelled the mass of urban unemployed.

The poor plebeians (commoners) created the plebeian movement which fought for reforms through direct action. Their main demands were protection for debt defaulters, reduction of loan interest rates and land redistribution. Rich plebeians were the leaders of the movement and used this to demand power sharing with the patrician aristocracy and were successful. Once they obtained this, they turned their backs on the poor.

Answer 2

Most of Rome's common people faced poverty and harsh working conditions. Most were farmers who tilled the land.

In the early days, the tool used by the rich landowners to tie the labour of poor peasants to their estates was debt bondage/slavery. The latter worked for the former because he was locked into continually having to make repayments. Abuse of defaulting debtors by creditors who imprisoned them tortured them and sometimes sold them as slaves was a major grievance of the poor. When Rome expanded into Italy, the supply of slaves increased and slavery replaced debt bondage as the main source of labour.

Another problem in early Rome was the fact that poor peasants had plots of land which were too small to make a decent living because the rich landowners appropriated most of the land. This problem was relieved by the expansion of Rome into Italy as settlements where peasants were given plots of land were created around Italy. The problems reemerged as peasants lost their land due to war during Hannibal's invasion of Italy. They migrated to Rome and swelled the mass of urban unemployed.

The poor plebeians (commoners) created the plebeian movement which fought for reforms through direct action. Their main demands were protection for debt defaulters, reduction of loan interest rates and land redistribution. Rich plebeians were the leaders of the movement and used this to demand power sharing with the patrician aristocracy and were successful. Once they obtained this, they turned their backs on the poor.