oOO THE KEVOLUTIONS. BOOK IV It was a great siep to separate the client from the patron in the most solemn moments of life, at the mo- ment of combat, and at the moment of voting. The authority of the patron was greatly diminished, and what remained to him was more hotly contested daily. As soon as the client had tasted of independence, he wished for the complete enjoyment of it. He aspired to separate fiom the gens and to join the plebs, where he might be free. How many occasions presented themselves ! Under the kings, he was sure of being aided by them, for they asked nothing better than to enfeeble the gentes. Under the republic, he found the ])rotection of the plebs themselves, and of the tribunes. Many clients were thus freed, and tiie gens could not recover them. In 472 B. C, the number of clients was still considerable, since the plebs complained that by their votes in the comitia centuriata^ they caused the balance to incline in favor of the patricians.' About the same time, the plebs having refused to enroll, the patricians were able to form an army with their clients.* It appears, however, that these clients were no longer numerous enough alone to cultivate the lands of the patricians, and that the latter were obliged to borrow the labor of the j^lebs. It is probable that the crea- tion of the tribuneship, by protecting the escaped cli- ents against their former patrons, and by rendering the condition of the plebs more enviable and more secure, hastened this gradual movement towards enfranchise- ment. In the year 372 there were do longer any clients, and Manlius could say to the plebs, "As many clients as you have been about a single patron, so many Livy, II. 56. « Dionysius, VII. 19; X. 27.
- Inculti per secession em plcbis agri. Livy, II. 34.
