The commoners formed the working class of Rome and were a group of merchants, artisans and free workers. Although they played a big role within the society and economy of Rome, they live in great political and social disadvantages in relation to the patricians.
First, the plebeians did not have any government representation, since patricians were only allowed to be present during political meetings. In this way, the patricians established policies that were advantageous for them, but that exploited and punished the commoners in an intense and unpleasant way. In addition, this lack of representativeness meant that the commoners had no political rights whatsoever and prevented them from being related to large properties.
As a result of this, the plebeians started a series of revolts in Rome, which demanded the reform of the city's political institutions. These revolts began in 494 BC and ended in 287 BC, where commoners succeeded in establishing laws that guaranteed the rights of the common people and reformed the taxation that should be paid by them, in addition to promoting political reform in the governmental system of Rome however, the political balance between patricians and commoners remained uneven for some years.