[German version]

Modern term for the confrontation between the patricians ( patricii ) and plebeians ( plebs ) at Rome, which began in 494 BC with the foundation of the people's tribunate and ended in 287 BC with the recognition of the decisions of the plebs ( plebiscitum ) as generally binding laws ( lex, leges ) (but s. [1], who puts the end only as late as 217/6). Only the relatively homogenous patriciate should here be understood as an 'order'. The plebs was highly fragmented both socially and economically, and moreover the plebeian clientes of the patricians were not able to co-oper…