Plebeian Absences

The origin of the idea of defending freedom is connected with what we would now consider civil disobedience and nonviolent withdrawal. In the founding stories of the Roman Republic, heroic men and women, such as Brutus and Lucretia, model self-sacrifice, restraint, and moderation even as they resist the exploitation of the patricians. In the early Republic, the poorest citizens of Rome (the plebs) follow this model. Refusing to participate in wars that threatened Rome’s survival and even seceding from the Republic by withdrawing en masse from the city, the plebs steadily expanded and defended their role in governance. Only in the waning days of the Republic was the idea of defending freedom with violence introduced, as indicated by the orations of Cicero. The Romans sometimes framed their imperial ambitions in terms of defense, but Rome never fought a war to defend its freedom.

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