its entirety.

Attempt has been made to explain these names of kings as symbols of a
race or class. The early history of Rome has been reconstructed in a
variety of ways, but the greater the labor applied to it, the less the
agreement among students with regard to it.

=The Roman People.=--About the fifth century before Christ there were
in Rome two classes of people, the patricians and the plebeians. The
patricians were the descendants of the old families who had lived from
remote antiquity on the little territory in the vicinity of the city;
they alone had the right to appear in the assembly of the people, to
assist in religious ceremonies, and to hold office. Their ancestors
had founded the Roman state, or as they called it, the Roman city
(Civitas), and these had bequeathed it to them. And so they were the
true people of Rome.

=The Plebs.=--The plebeians were descended from the foreigners[117]
established in the city, and especially from the conquered peoples of
the neighboring cities; for Rome had gradually subjected all the Latin
cities and had forcibly annexed their inhabitants. Subjects and yet
aliens, they obeyed the government of Rome, but they could have no
part in it. They did not possess the Roman religion and could not
participate in its ceremonies. They had not even the right of
intermarrying with the patrician families. They were called the plebs
(the multitude) and were not considered a part of the Roman people. In
the old prayers we still find this formula: "For the welfare of the
people and the plebs of Rome."

=Strife between Patricians and Plebeians.=--The people and the plebs
were like two distinct peoples, one of masters, the other of subjects.
And yet the plebeians were much like the patricians. Soldiers, like
them, they served in the army at their own cost and suffered death in
the service of the Roman people; peasants like them, they lived on
their domains. Many of the plebeians were rich and of ancient family.
The only difference was that they were descended from a great family
of some conquered Latin city, while the patricians were the scions of
an old family in the conquering city.

=Tribunes of the Plebs.=--One day, says the legend, the plebeians,
finding themselves mistreated, withdrew under arms to a mountain,
determined to break with the Roman people. The patricians in
consternation sent to them Menenius Agrippa who told them the fable of
the members and the stomach. The plebs con