The Gracchi: The Revolution Begins

1
The GracchiThe Revolution Begins
2
The Family Tree
3
Powerful Connections

• Gracchi were one of Romes leading families
• Father was twice Consul and Censor
• Mother (Cornelia) was daughter of Scipio
  Africanus
• Sister was wife of Scipio Aemilianus
• Tiberius had fought with distinction in Third
  Punic War

4
Cornelia and Her Sons
5
These are my jewels.
6
The Gracchi
The wild beasts that roam over Italy have
their dens and holes to lurk in, but the men who
fight and die for our country enjoy the common
air and light and nothing else. It is their lot
to wander with their wives and children,
houseless and homeless, over the face of the
earth. And When our generals appeal to their
soldiers to Defend their ancestors tombs and
their temples Against the enemy, their words are
a lie and a mockery, for not a man in their
audience possesses a family altar not one out of
all those Romans an ancestral tomb. The truth is
that they fight and die to protect the wealth and
luxury of others. They are called the masters of
the world, but they do not possess a clod of
earth which is truly their own.
7
Tiberius Gracchus

• Concern Rise of Latifundia
• Disappearance of farmer-soldier
• Danger of relying on large slave populations
• Issue Unwillingness of Senate to act
• Could not be moved by individual activism
• Unlikely to vote against own interests
• Decision Employ Tribunate to challenge Senate
  directly

8
The Land Commission
9
Tiberius Bill

• Introduced before concilium plebis
• Key provisions
• 500 iugera limit to individual holdings of ager
  publicus
• Reimbursement to present tenants/rent-free
  ownership of land left under their control
• Extra allotments for children, effectively
  doubling limit
• Supporters
• Appius Claudius Pulcher
• P. Licinius Crassus
• P. Mucius Scaevola

10
Senate Response

• Senate co-opts M. Octavius/Tribune veto
• Tiberius ousts Octavius/establishes land
  commission (himself, Gaius, Ap. Claudius Pulcher)
• Senate blocks financing
• Tiberius appropriates Attalus of Pergamums
  bequest
• Tiberius seeks 2nd tribunate/ups ante
• New measures include reduction in term of
  military service, right of appeal, and admission
  to juries
• Senate assassinates Tiberius and 300 followers
  during run-up to election

11
Tiberius Gracchus
12
Legacy of Tiberius

• Land Commission continues to operate
• M. Licinius Crassus take Tiberiuss position
• Scipio Aemilianus limits authority/blocks
  re-election of Tribunes
• Issues of allies (socii) come to fore
• Law passed in 126 forbidding non-Romans to settle
  in Rome
• Attempts to extend franchise/provide protections
  against Roman magistrates voted down
• Fregellae revolts and is crushed

13
Gaius Gracchus
14
Gaius Comes to Fore

• Elected Tribune in 123 and 122
• Expands brothers plan in methodical manner
• Comprehensive revitalization program included
  road improvements and establishment of colonies
• Aim apparently to reinvigorate local economies,
  support economic growth, offer a future to
  members of the urban plebs
• Issue Winning support
• Plebs Grain subsidy
• Equites Legal reforms (quaestor de rebus
  repetundis assignment of provinces before
  elections
• Italian allies Extension of franchise

15
Gaius Gracchus Flees
16
Gaius Downfall

• Tries to win support of allies with extension of
  franchise.
• Irritates nobles and plebs alike
• Senate uses M. Livius Drusus to outbid Gaius in
  wooing popular support
• With Gaius out of picture, Senate sets about
  annulling proposals, including colony at Carthage
• Riot breaks out, Gaius and 3,000 of supporters
  killed

17
The Legacy of the Gracchi
People on all sides of political equation now
recognize how easily Roman constitution can be
manipulatedand are ready to do so.