Plebeians Abandoned Rome's Corrupt Elites

In ancient Rome, plebeians used the Secessio Plebis when patrician rule became too corrupt or unjust to ordinary citizens. During the first secession in 494 BCE, debt and political exclusion pushed the commoners to leave Rome together and camp on the Sacred Mountain, cutting off much of the city's labor and military strength. The patricians negotiated because Rome could not function without them, and the crisis led to the creation of the tribune of the plebs to defend plebeian interests.

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