The term novus homo (literally, "new man" in Latin), referred in ancient Roman times to a person who was the first of his family to serve in the Roman Senate, or, less generally, the first to be elected as consul. According to tradition, both Senate membership and the consulship were restricted to patricians. When plebeians gained the right to this office all the newly elected plebeians were naturally novi homines. As time went by novi homines became more and more rare as certain plebeian families became just as entrenched in the Senate as their patrician colleagues. By the time of the First Punic War it was already a sensation that new men were elected in two consecutive years (Gaius Fundanius Fundulus in 243 BC and Gaius Lutatius Catulus in 242 BC). Jump to: navigation, search Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Jump to: navigation, search Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... For modern diplomatic consuls, see Consulate general. ... The Conflict of the Orders was a political struggle between the plebeians (plebs) and patricians (patricii) of the ancient Roman Republic, in which the plebeians sought political equality and achieved it in 287 BC, after two centuries of strife. ... Patricians were originally the elite caste in ancient Rome. ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... Jump to: navigation, search The First Punic War was fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic from 264 to 241 BC. It was the first of three major wars between the two powers for supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC - 240s BC - 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC Years: 248 BC 247 BC 246 BC 245 BC 244 BC - 243 BC - 242 BC 241 BC... Temple to Juturna, built by Catulus to celebrate his victory at . ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC - 240s BC - 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC Years: 247 BC 246 BC 245 BC 244 BC 243 BC - 242 BC - 241 BC 240 BC...

In the Late Republic the distinction between the classes became less important. The consuls came from a new elite, the noblemen. "Noblemen" were an artificial aristocracy the Senate's plebeians invented to reduce the distinctian between patricians and plebeians. The nobles were a group of families, patrician or plebeian, that had produced a consul. For modern diplomatic consuls, see Consulate general. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ...