Secession of the Plebs - Having Returned Home in 494 BC after Fighting to Defend Their Country, The Plebians of Rome Found the Aristocracy Had Taken Their Land and Sold Many of Them into Debt Slavery. They Deserted the City and Marched to a Sacred Hill outside of Rome, Where, They Set up a People's Council and Elected Tribunes to Represent Them. These Actions Curbed the Arbitrary Power of the Aristocracy and Began the Long Struggle for Equality in Rome. - Celebrate Peoples' History