Debut of civil society 494 BC is a very significant year in human civilization. And no, I will not speak of the Persian dispersal of the Greek fleet at Leda or of the victory of the Spartan king at Sepia. This time we will talk about the primacy of civil society, about the unity of ordinary people who radically, but without violence, declared their rights. Today we will remember the first separation. At the beginning of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. the. The young Roman Republic waged constant wars with neighboring tribes, and the bulk of the Roman army, as you understand, were plebeians - peasants and craftsmen. The wars, as I mentioned above, were endless, and during endless military campaigns, the plebeians could not cultivate their lands. Their farms went bankrupt, and to survive, the commoners took loans from rich patricians. That is, wars were started and made money by the upper echelons of society, and the common people paid for it, often not only with coins, but also with their lives. Failure to repay the debt usually ended with plebeians returning from another war being put in the stocks, tortured and sometimes sold into slavery. Moreover, the plebeians themselves had no right to hold public office and had no influence on the harsh laws adopted by the patricians in the senate. This cup of iniquity took a long time to fill, and the last straw came when a disheveled old man, covered with enemy sword scars and eyelash marks, ran out into the Roman Forum. He turned out to be a respected centurion, whose house was burned by enemies, and the patricians took the remains of his property for debt and made him a slave. Here the forum was already seething with rage, and at the most inopportune moment - enemy soldiers of the Italian tribes - the Haci and the Volscians - approached the walls of Rome. The consuls, out of habit, announced military conscription, but this time the plebeians responded by refusing to take up arms.

Debut of civil society 494 BC is a very significant year in human civilization. And no, I will not speak of the Persian dispersal of the Greek fleet at Leda or of the victory of the Spartan king at Sepia. This time we will talk about the primacy of civil society, about the unity of ordinary people who radically, but without violence, declared their rights. Today we will remember the first separation. At the beginning of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. the. The young Roman Republic waged constant wars with neighboring tribes, and the bulk of the Roman army, as you understand, were plebeians - peasants and craftsmen. The wars, as I mentioned above, were endless, and during endless military campaigns, the plebeians could not cultivate their lands. Their farms went bankrupt, and to survive, the commoners took loans from rich patricians. That is, wars were started and made money by the upper echelons of society, and the common people paid for it, often not only with coins, but also with their lives. Failure to repay the debt usually ended with plebeians returning from another war being put in the stocks, tortured and sometimes sold into slavery. Moreover, the plebeians themselves had no right to hold public office and had no influence on the harsh laws adopted by the patricians in the senate. This cup of iniquity took a long time to fill, and the last straw came when a disheveled old man, covered with enemy sword scars and eyelash marks, ran out into the Roman Forum. He turned out to be a respected centurion, whose house was burned by enemies, and the patricians took the remains of his property for debt and made him a slave. Here the forum was already seething with rage, and at the most inopportune moment - enemy soldiers of the Italian tribes - the Haci and the Volscians - approached the walls of Rome. The consuls, out of habit, announced military conscription, but this time the plebeians responded by refusing to take up arms.