Plebs

In auncient Roum, the plebs wis the general body o free Roman ceetizens who wur nae patricians, as determined bi the census. Shopkeepers, crafts fowk, an skilled or unskilled wirkers micht be plebeian (/plᵻˈbiːən/; Laitin: plebeius). Frae the 4t century BC or earlier, some o the maist prominent an wealthy Roman faimilies, as identified bi their gens name (nomen), wur o plebeian status. Leeterary references tae the plebs, however, uisually mean the ordinary ceetizens o Roum as a collective, as distinguished frae the elite—a sense retained bi "plebeian" in Inglis. In the very earliest days o Roum, plebeians wur ony tribe wioot advisers tae the King. In time, the wird - which is relatit tae the Greek wird for crowd, plethos - came tae mean the common fowk.