Research on the Early Roman Plebeian Problem - Beijing Normal University Doctoral Library 15

Author: Hu Yujuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-07-01
Features: This book focuses on the plebs (commoners) during the Roman Kingdom period (8th-6th centuries BC) and the early Republic (5th-3rd centuries BC). It emphasizes the study of the origins, social status, movements, and development and evolution of the plebs. The main contents are as follows:
Chapter 1: Historical Materials and Historiography of Roman Plebeian Studies. It summarizes the sources of historical materials, discusses the reliability of literary sources, introduces the origins of the Roman plebeian issue, domestic and international research status, existing problems, new achievements, and the important role of this issue in Roman history research.
Chapter 2: The Origins of Roman Plebs. It distinguishes between plebs and populus, examining the causes, conditions, and timing of the emergence of the plebs. It argues that the plebs were a special historical phenomenon arising during the transition from a clan society to a class society, primarily due to plundering wars. The plebs originated during the reigns of King Tullus and King Ancus, and formed during the Etruscan dynasty.
Chapter 3: The Plebs in the Kingdom Period. Based on the actual political, economic, legal, religious, and social conditions of the plebs in Roman society during the Kingdom period, it examines their social status. It concludes that the plebs were subordinated non-citizen free people of the city-state and proposes that a trend toward plebeian citizenship emerged in the late Kingdom period.
Chapter 4: Class Conflict and Plebeian Movements in the Republic. It examines the social background when plebeian movements emerged. It points out that the second plebeian secession was characterized by spontaneity, and that the class conflict during the Roman Republic was essentially a movement by the plebs to gain citizenship. War and slavery, to some extent, helped resolve social contradictions and conflicts.
Chapter 5: The Evolution of Plebeian Social Status. It examines the process by which the plebs transformed from non-citizen free people to citizens during the Kingdom period and the early Republic, as well as issues such as the division within the plebs, the emergence of equestrians and new plebeians.