n.
(Latin, plebs ) Member of the general citizenry, as opposed to the patrician class, in the ancient Roman republic .
Plebeians were originally excluded from the Senate and from all public offices except military tribune , and they were forbidden to marry patricians. Seeking to acquire equal rights, they carried on a campaign called Conflict of the Orders, developing a separate political organization and seceding in protest from the state at least five times. The campaign ceased when a plebeian dictator (appointed 287 BC) made measures passed in the plebeian assembly binding on the whole community.