any person of the rank of the common people. It is chiefly used in speaking of the ancient Romans, who were divided into senators, patricians, and plebeians. The distinction was made by Romulus the founder of the city; who confined all dignities, civil, military, and sacerdotal, to the rank of patricians. But to prevent the seditions which such a distinction might produce through the pride of the higher order and the envy of the lower, he endeavoured to engage them to one another by reciprocal ties and obligations. Every plebeian was allowed to choose, out of the body of the patricians, a protector, who should be obliged to assist him with his interest and substance, and to defend him from oppression. These protectors were called patrons; the protected, clients. It was the duty of the patron to draw up the contracts of the clients, to extricate them out of their difficulties and perplexities, and to guard their ignorance against the artfulness of the crafty. On the other hand, if the patron was poor, his clients were obliged to contribute to the portions of his daughters, the payment of his debts, and the ransom of him and his children if they happened to be taken in war. The client and patron could neither accuse nor bear witness against each other; and if either of them was convicted of having violated this law, the crime was equal to that of treason, and any one might with impunity slay the offender as a victim devoted to Pluto and the infernal gods. For more than 600 years we find no dissensions or jealousies between the patrons and their clients; not even in the times of the republic, when the people frequently mutinied against the great and powerful.