In 486 B. C. Spurius Cassius (afterward tried for treason and put to
death by the Patricians) carried the first of the famous Agrarian Laws,
for limiting the amount of public land held by the Patricians,
compelling them to pay tithe or rent for the land they held, and
dividing surplus lands among the Plebeians. The law was not enforced,
through the violence and injustice of the Patricians. The Plebeians
exercised some check from time to time, by the refusal to serve as
soldiers.