Populares ("favoring the people", singular popularis) were aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. They're regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who're identified with the conservative interests of a senatorial elite. The populares themselves, however, were also of senatorial rank and might be patricians or noble plebeians. The populares addressed the problems of the urban plebs, p… (More on Populares)