The Patricians was the official name of the ruling class in the Roman Republic, so that would be the best answer choice. The Plebians was the name they gave to the citizen-commoners in the Republic, so that would not be a good choice. Aristocracy was not a term that was in wide use during the Roman Republic and did not refer to a specific facet of their social structure, so that would not be a good choice. Lastly, Bourgeois and the First Estate were terms that were coined centuries after the fall of Rome, so neither of those would be good choices.

Consul was at the top of the cursus honorum - the hierarchical ranking of Republic offices - so that would be the best answer. Senator was a high-ranking office in the Republic but it was not the highest, so that would not be the best answer. Dictator was not an office that was part of the normal hierarchy of the Roman Republic, so that would not be a good choice. Patriarch was not among the official offices a politician could seek, so that would not be a good choice. Finally, President was not an office that existed during the Roman Republic, so that would not be a good choice.

Plebians was in fact the term used to denote the citizen-commoners in the Roman Republic, so that would be the best choice. The Patricians were the ruling class from which the Senate was drawn, so that would not be a good answer. The Third Estate was the term given to commoners in France before the Revolution, so that would not be a good choice. Lastly, the Fourth Estate was a moniker given to the press in the late 18th century, so that would not be a good answer either.

In the early years of the Roman Republic, the government was controlled by patricians (the aristocratic class). The plebeians (the common people) had little power and little protection under the law. Over time, however, this situation changed and the plebeians won, or were granted, more and more political rights.

The Law of Twelve Tables was the first codified legal code in the history of the Roman Republic. It was enacted in 450 BCE. The Twelve Tables were designed to protect the rights of all citizens of Rome and to try and minimize conflict between the patricians and the plebeians.

Patricians were the aristocratic families of the Roman Republic. In the early years of the Roman Republic they controlled almost all of the political power in the city of Rome. But, gradually over time, they lost significant amounts of power to the plebeians (the non-aristocratic class in Rome).

The system of government that emerged under the Roman Republic relied on numerous magistrates to carry out administrative duties. Two notable types of these magistrates are quaestors and aediles. Quaestors were responsible for managing the treasury and for overseeing finances.

As the Roman Republic grew in size and power, more and more magistrates were needed to administer Roman dominion. An aedile was a magistrate tasked with the responsibility of maintaining and constructing roads, keeping the city organized, and ensuring a reliable supply of grain for the city.

A consul was the highest elected official in the Roman Republic. Generally speaking two consuls were elected at the same time, to serve concurrently for a term of one year. Consuls had extensive administrative, legislative, and executive powers.

The Roman Republic occasionally appointed dictators to a position of near-absolute authority in times of crisis or open warfare. These dictators were generally appointed for six months, so as to ensure the continuation of the Republic and to prevent dictators from consolidating their power.