[German version]

I. Meaning of the word

The word plebs initially simply meant 'multitude' (from the root ple; cf. plenus, 'full' and Greek πλῆθος/plȇthos, 'multitude'). As a collective term for all Roman citizens, excluding the Patricians ( patricii ), it can be conceived (disparagingly) only by the latter and in both its meaning and its historical development can be understood only as a correlate of the concept of patriciate. When this had been transformed by the elev…