Free people, women, children, enslaved people and foreigners in Athens and Rome

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Rome's groups and its first written laws (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, the Twelve Tables (about 450 BCE): Rome's first written laws, put on display in the Forum so that citizens could see them. Commoners called plebeians had pushed for written laws because officials from the old powerful families, the patricians, applied unwritten customs as they chose. The original tablets do not survive; later writers quote them. Card B, a chart for Rome in the Republic (about 500 to 30 BCE). Patricians: members of old powerful families; at first only they held the top offices. Plebeians: most citizens; over about 200 years (494 to 287 BCE) they won the right to hold office and laws that applied to all citizens. Women who were citizens: could not vote or hold office; could own property, often with a male guardian. Freed people: people who had been enslaved and were set free; could become citizens but usually could not hold office. Enslaved people: owned by others, with no legal rights. The head of a family had legal power over the household. Card C, Livy, a Roman historian writing about 27 BCE, over four centuries after the Twelve Tables: he says plebeians demanded written laws so that people would live under the same rules.

2. 1.

   Livy wrote over four centuries after the Twelve Tables. How should a historian treat card C, Ari asks?

   • As a later account of why the laws were written, drawn from other evidence
   • As the final word, since a Roman historian knew Rome's history better than anyone
   • As worthless, because Livy lived too late to know anything about the laws
   • As a record made when the Twelve Tables were written, so it needs no checking
3. 2.

   Why did written laws matter to plebeians, using cards A and C, Bo asks?

   • Patrician officials could not bend unwritten customs, since people could see the laws
   • Patricians could write new laws in secret, since plebeians could not read them
   • The Republic ended, because laws that applied to citizens left no role for officials
   • Plebeians gained the top offices at once when the tables were displayed
4. 3.

   A student says, "The Twelve Tables gave equal rights to all people in Rome." How does card B answer, Esme asks?

   • Strong: card B says plebeians won laws that applied to citizens, so residents had equal rights
   • Weak: Rome had no written laws until Livy wrote them down about 27 BCE
   • Strong: card A says citizens could see the laws, so residents had the same rights
   • Weak: women, freed people and enslaved people had fewer rights, as the chart shows
5. 4.

   Using card B, how did patricians differ from plebeians in the early Republic, Jun asks?

   • Both held the top offices at first, but just plebeians owned property
   • Patricians were freed people who could become citizens but rarely held office
   • Plebeians held the top offices at first; patricians later won that right
   • Patricians held the top offices at first; plebeians later won that right
6. 5.

   How might a patrician official and a plebeian have viewed written laws, Luz asks?

   • Both would oppose written laws, since the tablets were displayed in the Forum
   • Both would welcome written laws equally, since both had the same interests
   • The patrician might gain a way to check officials; the plebeian might lose room to bend customs
   • The patrician might lose room to bend customs; the plebeian might gain a way to check officials
7. 6.

   What changed for plebeians over the 200 years described in card B, Milo asks?

   • They became patricians and took over the old families' land
   • They lost the right to hold office but gained the right to vote
   • They were freed from the head of a family's legal power over the household
   • They won the right to hold office and laws that applied to all citizens
8. 7.

   Using card B, how did a freed person differ from an enslaved person, Noah asks?

   • A freed person could hold the top offices; an enslaved person could hold the lower ones
   • A freed person had no legal rights; an enslaved person could become a citizen
   • A freed person was owned by another and could not become a citizen; an enslaved person was free
   • A freed person could become a citizen, usually without office; an enslaved person had no legal rights
9. 8.

   Cards A and C both explain why Rome wrote its laws down. What do they agree on, Pia asks?

   • The laws were written after the Republic ended, to record what had changed
   • Patricians wanted written laws so plebeians would obey the old customs
   • Plebeians wanted written laws so officials had to follow the same rules
   • Plebeians wanted unwritten laws so officials could stay free to decide
10. 9.

    Why would Rome display the Twelve Tables in the Forum, as card A describes, Ren asks?

    • So freed people could use them to leave Rome and become citizens elsewhere
    • So that patricians could keep the laws secret from the plebeians
    • So citizens could see the laws and check what officials did
    • So historians could study Rome's laws in later centuries
11. 10.

    A student says, "Because the head of a family had legal power, women had no property." How does card B answer, Zee asks?

    • Strong: if the head of a family held legal power, no one else in the house held property
    • Weak: card B says women could vote but could not own property
    • Strong: card B says women could not vote, which means they could not own anything
    • Weak: card B says women who were citizens could own property, often with a guardian