Nobiles

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Nobiles, ("nobles") belonged to the small groups of families from both patrician and plebeian origins who had a consul in the family. For instance, Cicero's (himself being a novus homo) election as consul meant his family became nobilis. Nobiles controlled Rome's wealth and government.

Created after the Lex Hortensia (287 BC), the nobiles were a new social class consisting of both patrician and plebeian families, in which the family consisted of governmental officers.

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