Proletarii

From Wikinfo

The proletarii (from the Latin proles) were landless men who went with the Roman army (of the early Roman state) as workers. The name proletarii litterally means 'child-producers'. ^[1] Since they had no land, no wealth, the only thing that they produced was children.

The Roman army was at first conceived as a citizen militia and therefore all that were called upon had to provide for their own weapons and defensive paraphenalia such as sheild, helmet and a pair of greaves. The militia and calvary were composed by landed men who could afford their military hardware. Since all abled bodied men were required in the field during a time of war, even the landless were impressed into service but the only thing they could do was to be the workers that supported the army in the field. They probably built the bridges to ford rivers, cut trees and built the paths through forests, built the seige engines, and other various construction projects required.

Modern transformation of the term proletarii

This term, proletarii was expanded by Karl Marx into the term proletariat signifying the whole working class. It became a very political-laden term in the 19th and 20th centuries. The proletariat is the central feature in communist and socialist ideology. Karl Marx in his writings wanted the proletariat to rule.

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