Gracchi

The Gracchi brothers were a pair of tribunes in 2nd century BC who attempted to pass land reform legislation in Ancient Rome that would redistribute the major patrician landholdings among the plebeians.

Background

Problems in the army in the second century BC were rife. There were recruitment problems, with wars being fought in the east and in Spain, as well as mutinies. Some reforms were introduced by 150 BC as concessions to demands for improvement. Then the tribunes decided to use their power to act on behalf of the people, even if the tribunes were being used by some nobles. Popular legislation passed was intended to limit upper-class control of patronage.In 133 BC, two brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, became agents of reform. They were both well connected with the ruling elite and descendants of Scipio Africanus. The political issue was land reform. The small peasant farmer was being pushed off the land by rich landowners. In addition, a related problem concerned the demand for troops overseas. There weren’t enough and potential recruits viewed such service as an excuse for the wealthy to get rich in an imperial venture.

These two problems, expulsion and recruitment, were addressed by a program of land reform. Public lands were to be granted to farmers who, with their descendants, would be subject to legionary service. The difficulty was that public lands had already been divvied out to landholders or occupiers of various types, causing protests.

The Vote

When Tiberius Gracchus’s proposal came to a vote, masses of rural people, seeing opportunity for economic advancement, entered Rome to support the proposal. In addition, as head of this movement, Tiberius found himself necessarily replacing an opposing tribune already in office. The proposal passed and the situation returned to almost normal, except that Tiberius was going to need re-election to stay in office.

When the day of election arrived Tiberius’s supporters were lacking and, worse, his opponents caused a fight in the assembly and killed Tiberius Gracchus.

Ten years later, Tiberius’s brother, Gaius, took the same office as his brother, as a tribune for the plebeians. Gaius however, appealed to a different set of supporters, the publicans. They were in charge of tax-collecting in Asia and of contracting for construction projects.The equestrian class would get to control a court that tried senators for misconduct in provincial administration. In effect, the equestrians replaced senators already serving at the court. Thus, Gaius became an opponent of senatorial influence. Fixing prices on grain for the urban population and granting improvements in citizenship for Latins and others outside the city were other reforms made.

Aftermath

With this broad coalition of supporters, Gaius was able to hold office for two years, with much of the prepared legislation passed. Eventually, because of the Roman constitution and its tribunician veto, the coalition weakened. Finally Gaius, like his brother, was killed in conflict with his opponents.

The problem for Gaius’s aims was that the Roman constitution, specifically the Tribal Assembly, would not allow for governing on a permanent basis. That factor, along with the ineffectiveness of the senate to exercise control, led to the restoration of the old system. Meanwhile, the new forces of urban factions, rural voters, and equestrian class members meant that the problem of effective governance awaited resolution.