The Gracchi Brothers: The Fall Of The Roman Republic

It is obvious that greed and corruption were the leading causes of the fall of the Roman Republic. Julius Caesar’s victorious actions against Pompey allowed him to become a dictator, one of which was considered a threat by the Senate to the possibility of becoming a tyrant. This fear eventually led to a simple and effective solution, assassinating Caesar. How did such a powerful government become a playground for cupidity and murderous solutions? In my opinion, the events involving the Gracchi Brothers were the most significant circumstances that greatly contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic. In 133 B.C., the eldest brother Tiberius, wanted to pass a bill, lex agraria, that would hand over the extra land illegally held by the wealthy over to the poor

A violence that resulted in the death of Tiberius and 300 of his followers (Bell, 2020). Ironically, this “solution” from the Senate to prevent what they called tyranny is the origin of many similar occurrences. Some of these being the murder of his younger brother Gaius for wanting to continue his brother’s legacy, Marius’ conflict with Sulla which resulted in putting enemies to death, and the famous Julius Caesar assassination which resulted in the creation of the first Roman emperor. If it weren’t for the aggressive tactics the Senate considered necessary to maintain their wealth, this first Roman emperor, Augustus, wouldn’t have laid to rest the 500 year Roman Republic. The damage caused by the murder of the Gracchi brothers could have been greatly reduced with reforms that could have been mutually convenient to both the high class and low class citizens. Maybe Rome could have used a type of compensation mechanism that provided incentives to wealthy landowners who agreed to give their excess of land for redistribution. These compensations could include things like tax