More Rome

Picking back up with the notes-government. The Romans had three governments rolled into one. The Roman common people were called plebeians. They elected officials called consuls. The amount of time each official served was one year. Elected officials always had to be aristocrats. The aristocrats of Rome were known as patricians. The word patricians originates from the Latin word 'pater' meaning father. The consuls duties' consisted of dealing justice, making laws, and commanding the army. One consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual.) Then, a challenge emerged from the regular people. In the fifth century B.C. patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebeians. Since the plebeians were 98% of the population they decided to stop serving in the army since they were the ones who had to in order to give the aristocrats some trouble. This then led to the plebeians being allowed to hold a position of office. 

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