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The Gracchi Brothers: The Roman Political System

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The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, had intentions of making Rome the best it could be, which contradicted the visions of the Senators. The two brothers grew up during a tough time in the Roman Empire, but they took it upon themselves to make a difference. “The Empire went through tremendous growth, through both acquisition of land, slaves, and various citizen classes.” This drastic growth ultimately led to a fall in the Roman political system. Tiberius, the older brother, founded the idea of the agrarian laws, which was later continued by his younger brother, Gaius, after his death. As a result of the agrarian laws, the two brothers were able to take control of the Empire, causing the Senate to fear their intentions and their potential. The Gracchi Brothers used their power and authority to take advantage of the vulnerable Roman government. They often let their selfish nature take control of the power they had, impacting Rome negatively. Gaius made it his goal to get back at the Senate for the death of his brother by replacing them with the Equites. The Gracchi brothers are the first tribunes to take advantage of their power. …show more content…

The two brothers recognized their opportunity to expose the weaknesses of the Roman Republic and the Senate. This resulted in the Senate’s unfriendly reaction to the Gracchi, which influenced the brothers to make changes to Roman politics. The brothers attempted to change Roman politics, as a result of the reaction the Senate gave them. The affect of these changes was proven after the death of the Gracchi brothers. Lastly, the Gracchus brothers changed Roman history positively at times and negatively at times, resulting in short and long-term damage to Rome. Tiberius and Gaius strived to better Rome as a whole, which separated themselves from the rest of the

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This corroborates with Williams when he comments that “On [Gaius’] return to Rome, he campaigned for the tribuneship and emerged in 123BC as tribune to take on Tiberius’ mantle” (1996). Hence, he wished to continue his brother’s reforms to help the lower classes, like his brother did. After the death of Tiberius, the senate resorted to unethical ways to keep their position and

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Simon Baker's Ancient Rome, Tiberius Gracchus realized that the Senate was not in the best interest of the people and therefore tried to address one of Rome's biggest problems by become tribune and give the people back there land. He appealed to the common people by promising that he would get back what was rightful there's. This lead to him being voted in as tribune, and from there the problems of Rome, attempted solutions, and obstacles he faced only spiraled him down faster. Tiberius was well loved by the people, but not so much by the Senate. Simon Baker's Ancient Rome says it best by saying "As Tiberius left the Senate House in disgrace, he received a very different reception from the Roman people" (86).

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Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, better known as the ‘Gracchi Brothers’ were a pair of tribunes descending from the plebs from the 2nd century BCE who sought to introduce land reforms and other legislations that aligned with their populist views/ideas. It can be said that the career of the two brothers was marked by murder, riots and outright manipulation of the power they were granted which completely altered the state of Roman politics- aiding in the breakdown of the Roman Republic. The legislation they sought to pass essentially redistributed major aristocratic land ownership among the commoners such as the urban poor and veterans. After achieving little success during the early stages of the reforms, both were assassinated by enemy parties.

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The novus homo was the new man in politics at the time and was a new concept for Rome which heavily relied on nobility and for power to be passed on through generations. (Astin, 2008), draws on this through the discussion of how social and political power was directed to a considerable degree of family continuity among those who held high office and was recognised to have a hereditary aspect. The fact that new men, such as Cicero, were coming through and making their way into politics would pose a threat to these families who relied solely on their reputation and political power. However, new men would be working exceptionally hard in this supposed competition seeing as they had no money in comparison to these wealthy families and would have to make much greater sacrifices seeing as they also wouldn’t have support from the Senate as there was no reputation to establish them. Cicero was one of the most successful new men and he wrote (Q. Cicero, On Canvassing for the Consulship), to help explain to other new men how to win over both the nobles and the senate.

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Milo and Clodius T.J. Broderick Publius Clodius Pulcher and Titus Annius Milo were political agitators infamous for disrupting and causing violence in Roman politics in 50’s BCE. Both of these men were known for their hooligan acts and worked on behalf of their respective factions using violence to get what they want in Roman government. Milo worked on behalf of the the Senatorial Faction and was to be a strong supporter of Pompey. Clodius was a political goon who did the dirty work for Julius Caesar. These two men by themselves stirred up a lot of turmoil in Roman Government which led to its instability and lack of power.

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Furthermore, when the author describes how Tiberius handled his plans, he states, “interempto senatu”, making Tiberius appear to have negative intentions for the senate. In his “doing away with” the senate, Tiberius is depicted to be discarding a traditional Roman value. In this way, the author chooses specific words to make Tiberius appear to be someone who cared about power for himself, but had no regards for the republic- and was thusly

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Juliane Smith Professor Mira Green HSTAM 302 8 July 2023 The Legacy of the Gracchi Brothers The expansion of the Roman Republic had several impacts that would lead up to the agrarian reforms of the Gracchi Brothers, Tiberius, and Gaius Gracchus, which introduced, among benefits for the general population, violence as a means of political resolution. Their deaths at the hands of the Roman Republic would expose the issues in the political system while leaving a legacy of unique social reform. Driven by mos maiorum, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus transformed the political system with agrarian reforms that ultimately led to the use of violence as a means of political revolution in the Roman Republic.

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The plebeians grew in a lack of harmony as they waited for a tribune to be elected into the senate to serve as the plebeians voice (Movie). Not only did Tiberius Gracchus help between the disagreements between the rich, poor, and the Roman government; Gracchus also earned himself a well respected name in the eyes of

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Livia as history most often knows her as the wife of Augustus for over fifty years from 38 BC her husband’s death in 14 AD it a very long time in view of life expectancy in ancient Rome. They remained married despite the fact that she had no children. Livia’s position as first lady of the imperial household, her own family connections, her confident personality and her private wealth allowed her to exercise power during his lifetime and afterward. All the Julio-Claudian emperors were her direct descendants: Tiberius was her son; Gaius (Caligula) , her great-grandson; Claudius , her grandson; Nero , her great-great-grandson. Livia did not have an impressive pedigree.

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The third most responsible man for the decline of the Roman Republic was Tiberius Gracchus, who set the precedent for removing political opponents and also exploited weaknesses in the Roman Republic. Gracchus allied himself with Plebeian concerns, though he himself was a Patrician (born to an elite Roman family). Gracchus saw that Patricians were taking land from the Plebeians and refusing to grow grain, leading to hunger issues for the Plebeians. Gracchus decided to capitalize on the opportunity to garner Plebeian support, and he proposed a maximum limit to individual land ownership, with excess land being bought back and given to Plebeians. Gracchus was elected as Tribune of the Plebeians, and when the Senate, composed of Patricians, refused to pass his proposition, he instead brought it to the Plebeian assembly, and when a fellow Tribune opposed it, he got the assembly to remove that Tribune to pass the proposal.

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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.

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In order to gain the full power that Augustus thought he deserved it was a struggle. He had to face some difficult events that lead to him becoming an emperor and being a great leader to the people. When Julius Ceaser was assassinated all of his power and inheritance was left to Augustus. However, Mark Antony, who had been friends with Ceaser, didn’t think it was right to let him have the power. The two fought for a while, in an attempt to fix the problem Augustus joined sides with the Senate.

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