Excerpt from Livy's History of Rome

The Roman historian Titus Livius (c.59 BCE—17 CE) wrote one of the major surviving histories of the Roman Republic. Titled Ab Urbe Condita, "From the Founding of the City," it covered the period from the traditional foundation of the city of Rome in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus. Only thirty-five of the work's original 142 books survive. This excerpt details a period in the fifth century BCE when political conflict between the patricians, the aristocrats who dominated Rome's oligarchic government, and the plebs or "people" who made up most of Rome's armies were coming to an often-violent head.

Link to the source: Excerpt from Livy's History of Rome