A change was demanded.

This was obtained by the TERENTILIAN ROGATION, a proposal made in 461 by Gaius Terentilius Harsa, a Tribune, to the effect that the laws thereafter be written.

The patrician families, led by one Kaeso Quinctius, made bitter opposition.

Kaeso himself, son of the famous Cincinnatus, was impeached by the Tribune and fled from the city.
Finally it was arranged that the Comitia Centuriata should select from the people at large ten men, called the DECEMVIRATE, to hold office for one year, to direct the government and supersede all other magistrates, and especially to draw up a code of laws to be submitted to the people for approval.

A commission of three patricians was sent to Athens to examine the laws of that city, which was now (454) at the height of its prosperity.