Were the Plebeians better or worse off after the expulsion of the kings in the new Republic?

The lesson begins with a reminder of why the Plebeians had been unhappy under Tarquinius Superbus and should have had a lot to look forward to under the new Republican regime.

There is then a handout included within the .ppt file (as a slide to be printed out) defining the Plebeians and describing their daily lives, occupations and concerns. There are some literacy and comprehension based questions that go with this that students are to answer (along with a challenge question to stretch the more able).

Students are then presented, in turn, with the 6 concerns of the Plebeian class under the new Republican regime and reasons for this dissatisfaction. Students then fill in a table (included) with details of the concern and why each one caused such resentment towards the patrician class.

There is then discussion surrounding just how politically aware the plebeian class would have been in the 5th c. BC with trade links with Athens providing us with the scant evidence for this.

There is then finally an SMSC plenary looking at questions surrounding what people can do when they are oppressed and how ‘people’ can change/ have changed their societies for the better. Students are then encouraged to link this to the Roman Plebeians in a discussion.

This lesson acts as a ‘scene-setter’ for the ‘Conflict of the Orders’ and the resulting publishing of the Twelve Tables and other reforms the plebeians managed to secure from the patricians.