• May 5
• fifth century BCE-patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs("people")
• plebs were 98% of the pop
• how did the patricians dominate?
• plebs were threatened with debt slavery 
• plebs had to legal rights
• "no legal rights"
• plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials

• Rome had no actual laws just urbane customs
• patricians could interpret these to their own advantage
• laws  were written out (the law of the twelve tables)
• these laws(on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)