The Conflict of the Orders began less than 20 years after the Republic was founded. Under the existing system, the poorer plebeians made up the bulk of the Roman army. During their military service, the farms on which their livelihood depended were left abandoned. Unable to earn a sufficient income, many turned to the patricians for aid, which left them open to abuse and even enslavement. As the patricians controlled Roman politics, the plebeians found no help from within the existing political system. Their solution was to go on strike. In 494 BC Rome was at war with three Italic tribes (the Aequi, Sabine and Volsci),Abbott, 28 but the plebeian soldiers, advised by Lucius Sicinius Vellutus, refused to march against the enemy and instead seceded to the Sacred Mount outside Rome. A settlement was negotiated and the patricians agreed that the plebs be given the right to meet in their own assembly, the Plebeian Council (Concilium Plebis), and to elect their own officials to protect their rights, the plebeian tribune (tribunus plebis).
