CAS CL 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Gaius Gracchus, Plebs, Roman Senate
16 Nov 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
By legend, patricians were appointed by romulus himself. Chose families to be patres to the king, their descendants are patricians. If you had claudius in your name, everyone would know that you come from a patrician family. Scholars have been able to trace the activities at least 50 still active families. By the 4th century, only 14 families seem to have living descendants. Octavian and caesar tried to make new patricians to replenish the class. Only patricians could hold high class of priesthood. Prestige; people would fake patrician status for the prestige. Responsible for defending the interests of plebeians. Could veto things decided by senate if it interfered with the interest of the plebs. Could bring a matter before the senate. Could enact their own kind of law (plebiscite) Capital offense to interfere in the performance of their duties. Had to stay in the city of rome. if anyone harmed them then it was a capital offense.
