Poor Plebs 

• Plebs are kept happy (not to revolt)
• the poet Juvenal said the people anxiously hoped for two things ;bread and circuses
• bread(free grub from the state) and entertainment( Circus Maximus,Colosseum)partly to keep them alive partly to keep them quiet 
• A change in Rule
• Tiberius Grachus recognized the advantages  of courting the plebeians (even though he was unsuccessful)
• military generals worked that angle lead an army that conquers a land , then give then a share in the spoils 
• soldiers' loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic