The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, served as tribunes in Rome at the end of the second century BC. They attempted to carry out a large-scale agrarian reform aimed at redistributing a significant part of the land holdings of the aristocratic class among the poor urban residents and army veterans. After achieving some success in implementing these transformations, both brothers were killed by political opponents. The reforms of the Gracchi brothers became an important episode in the history of Ancient Rome.
Origin
Tiberius and Gaius belonged by birth to the plebeian offshoot of the old and noble Sempronian family. Their father was Tiberius Gracchus the Elder, who served as a people's tribune, praetor, consul and censor. Mother Cornelia came from a patrician family. She was the daughter of the famous commander Scipio Africanus, whom the Romans considered a hero for his exploits in the war against the Carthaginians. Of the 12 children born in a family, only three survived - Tiberius, Gaius and their sister Sempronia.
Early years
Father died when the brothers were still verysmall. The responsibility for their education fell on the shoulders of the mother. She made sure that the best Greek teachers taught her sons oratory and politics. The brothers received excellent military training. None of their peers could compare with them in the possession of weapons and horseback riding. The elder brother, Tiberius, was elected augur at the age of 16 (the official state priest who performed traditional ceremonies to predict the future). During the third and last military campaign against the Carthaginians, he received universal recognition as the most outstanding young officer in the Roman army. Due to their lineage, Tiberius and Gaius formed a close relationship with the ruling elite at a young age.
Reasons for change
The essence and significance of the reform of the Gracchi brothers was to overcome the economic decline and its negative impact on the military power of Rome. A large amount of public land owned by the state was divided between large owners and speculators, who expanded their territories, crowding out small farmers. In agriculture, free peasants were gradually replaced by slaves. The small landowners, who lost their plots, were forced to lead an idle life in Rome, receiving alms from the state. The lack of work in the city did not allow them to find a new source of income. Landless peasants could not join the army because they did not meet the requirements of the property qualification. The state did not have enough free plots for distributionretired legionnaires as a reward for military service.
The reforms of the Gracchi brothers were aimed at solving these problems. They provided for the seizure of surplus land from we althy aristocrats in order to transfer it to army veterans and peasants ousted from their plots.
The beginning of the reign of Tiberius
The elder Gracchus was elected to the post of tribune of the people in 133 BC. He immediately came up with a proposal to carry out large-scale agrarian reforms. Arguing his position, Tiberius referred to an ancient law that limited the amount of land that could be owned by one person. The position of the people's tribune made it possible to start implementing the reforms of the Gracchi brothers without the consent of the senators. Tiberius created a special commission to oversee the redistribution of agricultural land. Guy became one of its members.
The emergence of the opposition
The land reform of the Gracchi brothers caused panic even among liberal-minded senators, who feared the prospect of confiscation of their property. They made an attempt to organize an opposition and enlist the support of other tribunes in the struggle against the introduction of a new law. Tiberius decided to address the people directly. The words of the eldest of the Gracchi brothers about democracy and reforms made a deep impression. He declared that the tribunes, who oppose the will of the Roman citizens in order to protect the interests of a we althy minority, are not trustworthy.
The opposition senators have only onemeans of struggle - the threat to deal with Tiberius after he resigns. They prevented him from being elected for a second term. The senators gathered their supporters, who came to the Forum and beat to death not only Tiberius himself, but also about 300 of his associates. This was the first open internal political bloodshed in ancient Rome in four centuries. The reforms of the Gracchi brothers did not stop after the death of Tiberius. The commission he created continued to redistribute the land, but this process was slow due to resistance from the senators.
Election of Guy
Ten years later, the post of people's tribune was taken by the younger brother of Tiberius. Guy had a practical mind, so the senators considered him more dangerous. The new tribune received the support of small farmers and the urban poor, reviving the land reforms of the Gracchi brothers. Gaius's political activities can be briefly described as an attempt to find the maximum number of allies.
He sought to gain the support of the so-called class of equites (horsemen). Representatives of this privileged part of Roman society were a kind of financial aristocracy and were the main rivals of the senators in the struggle for power. The equites were engaged in trade, and also took at the mercy of the state the collection of taxes in the provinces. Relying on the equestrian class, Guy resisted the influence of the senators.
During his tenure as tribune, the basic essence of the reform of the Gracchi brothers did not change. In addition to land redistribution,Guy carried out a number of other transformations. He set low fixed prices for bread for the urban population and extended some of the rights of Roman citizens to members of the Latin tribes. With the support of a broad coalition of supporters and sympathizers, Guy successfully brought most of his projects to life within two years.
Defeat
For the poor, the privileges that gave Roman citizenship were very important. The younger Gracchus made a dramatic mistake by insisting on expanding the rights of the Latin tribes. Because of this, he lost the sympathy of a significant part of the people. This situation was taken advantage of by one of Guy's opponents, the consul Lucius Opimius. The political struggle again turned into bloodshed. A full-scale battle took place on the Aventine Hill, in which hundreds of people died. Caught in a hopeless situation, Guy committed suicide. Three thousand of his supporters were subsequently executed. The victory of the senators and consul Opimius destroyed the reforms of the Gracchi brothers. Briefly, the fate of innovations can be described as follows: they were all canceled, with the exception of the law on the low fixed cost of bread for the poor.
Reason for failure
Some historians believe that because of their Greek education, Tiberius and Gaius significantly overestimated the influence of the people. Even under the leadership of a bold tribune, the Romans did not have half the power that Athenian citizens could boast of in the eraflourishing democracy. The course of the reforms of the Gracchi brothers and their results clearly demonstrated this. Another problem was that Roman laws were aimed at curbing the excessive concentration of power in the hands of one person.
Tiberius and Gaius fell victim to their own idealism. They did not realize the real depth of corruption, greed and selfishness, which in those days were characteristic of all layers of Roman society. The answer to the question of why the reforms of the Gracchi brothers could not prevent a political crisis in the republic is quite simple. Their good intentions collided with the interests of the ruling elite, who were excellent at manipulating the people.
Special mention should be made of the changes the brothers made to the legal system. They passed a law according to which senators accused of abuse of power should be judged not by representatives of their own class, but by equites. This reform upset the balance of power that existed in the republic and finally destabilized the internal political situation.
Results
The style of government of the Gracchi can safely be called populist. Carrying out their transformations, they sought to please the most numerous sections of Roman society. Tiberius and Guy not only eased the situation of the poorest townspeople and landless peasants, but also democratized the judicial system, forbidding the death pen alty without the decision of the people's assembly. Limiting the power of senators, the Gracchi relied on ancient traditions that prescribed the authoritieslisten to the opinion of the Romans.
The activities of Tiberius and Gaius led to the emergence of new forces in the political arena. However, small farmers, poor city dwellers, retired legionnaires, and newly empowered equites fought only for their own interests. The end of the rule of the Gracchi was brought to an end with the help of violence and bloodshed. This set a precedent that was repeated many times in subsequent Roman history.
