Editing Patrician (ancient Rome) (section)

=== Fading of distinction ===
A series of laws diminished the distinction between the two classes, including ''[[Lex Canuleia]]'' (445 BC; which allowed the marriage—''ius connubii''—between patricians and [[Plebeian|plebeians]]), ''[[Lex Licinia Sextia|Leges Liciniae Sextiae]]'' (367 BC; which made restrictions on possession of public lands—''ager publicus''—and also made sure that one of the consuls was plebeian), ''[[Lex Ogulnia]]'' (300 BC; plebeians received access to priest posts), and ''[[Lex Hortensia]]'' (287 BC; verdicts of plebeian assemblies—''plebiscita''—now bind all people). Gradually, by the late Republic, most distinctions between patricians and plebeians had faded away.<ref>Tellegen-Couperus, O. E. (1993). ''A short history of Roman law''. Psychology Press.</ref>

By [[Julius Caesar]]'s time so few of the patriciate were left that a special law was made, the ''Lex Cassia'', for the enrollment of new patricians. This was followed by [[Augustus]] under the ''Lex Saenia'', and continued by later emperors such as [[Claudius]].<ref name=":3" /> The last patrician families of the Republic went extinct in the Imperial period, and the latest known members of the "original" patrician houses are [[Servius Cornelius Dolabella Metilianus Pompeius Marcellus]] or possibly the [[Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus|Cornelii Scipiones Salvidieni Orfiti]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Mason |date=1957 |title=Composition of the Senate, A.D. 68-235 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/298569 |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |volume=47 |issue=1/2 |pages=74–81 |doi=10.2307/298569 |jstor=298569 |s2cid=162954014 |issn=0075-4358}}</ref>