The
Conflict of the Orders, also referred to as the
Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the
Plebeians (commoners) and
Patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient
Roman Republic lasting from 494 BC to 287 BC, in which the Plebeians sought political equality with the Patricians. It played a major role in the development of the
Constitution of the Roman Republic. Shortly after the founding of the Republic, this conflict led to a secession from Rome by Plebeians to the Sacred Mount at a time of war. The result of this first secession was the creation of the office of
Plebeian Tribune, and with it the first acquisition of real power by the Plebeians.