The first conflicts between the patricians and the plebeians were when the King Servius divided the population by wealth into 5 classes.
Power in the country passed into the hands of domestic aristocratic families. The rift between the patricians and most of the people continued.
The plebs were a class of citizens with lesser rights, mostly of peasant origin.
As crafts and commerce developed, so did craftsmen and specialized workers. The consequence was the formation of guilds. As guilds grew, awareness of identity emerged among workers, and peasants.
With their fight the plebeians achieved the introduction of the service of the regimental tribune, and gradually access to almost all state services was opened to them.
At the end of this process (287 BC), the plebeians became equal: they were full-fledged citizens, and the conclusions of the National Assembly had the force of law for the whole people. Distinguished plebeian lineages joined the old patrician nobility.
