Tiberius Gracchus

(168-133 BC)
THE GRACCHI FAMILY

Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Gaius would become famous, for their
struggle for the lower classes of Rome. They themselves though came from
Rome's very rich. Their father was a consul and military commander and their
mother, Cornelia, was the daughter of Scipio Africanus, the general that
defeated Hannibal. - At the death of her husband she even turned down a
marriage to any man out of loyalty to her dead husband- even a proposal by the
king of Egypt.

TIBERIUS RISE TO FAME

Tiberius Gracchus made himself famous in the army (as an officer in the Third
Punic he is said to have been the first man over the wall at Carthage), after which
he won a military victory in Greece and was elected quaestor (treasurer) as a
reward. He was sent to Spain with a consul and his legion. In the fight the consul
was trapped and was sure to lose the whole army. Tiberius made a peace treaty
that saved 20,000 Roman soldiers and thousands more among the auxiliary units
and camp followers. The plebeian foot soldiers were very thankful, however, the
senate disliked what they called a dishonorable treaty which saved lives, but
admitted defeat. He was shamed in Rome and he lost favor with the Senate.
So at his uncle’s suggestion he decided to run for a tribune (magistrate for the
plebeians) and gain power by using the mob.

When Gracchus won the election to the tribune in 133 BC he probably had no
intention of starting a revolution. His goal was largely to help the poor farmers.
The landless Roman farm workers had it hard enough; it was now further
endangered by the rise of slave labor, and by the latifundias (rich estates) of
Italy. It could be suggested that those very estates had been acquired against
the law. Patrician families gained vast stretches of new lands in the recent wars,
because men were killed or wounded in the wars and unable to work their lands.
According to Roman law, land gained in such a manner was to be shared equally
among the masses, and not simply distributed to the Patricians.

TIBERIUS NEW LAND LAW

Tiberius' ideas of land reform would win him few friends in the senate. Tiberius
brought forward a bill to the assembly of the Plebs for a creation of land mostly
out of the large area of public land which the republic had acquired after the
Second Punic War. Those currently living on the land would be restricted to what
had for some time been the legal limit of ownership (500 acres plus 250 acres for
each of up to two sons; maximum 1000 acres).
This was a significant law. It restored more land owners thus more soldiers.
After all, Rome needed soldiers. Leading praetors (judges) of the day confirmed
that his law was indeed legal.

Tiberius' bill was unsurprisingly supported by the popular assembly. But the other
Tribune of the people, Octavius, used his powers to veto the law.

Tiberius now replied by applying his own veto as Tribune to every sort of action
by government, in effect bringing the rule of Rome to a standstill. At the next
assembly he reintroduced his bill. Once again there was no doubt of its success
in the assembly, but once again Octavius vetoed it.

Tiberius proposed that Octavius should be kicked out of office. This was not
within the Roman constitution, but the assembly voted for it nonetheless.
Tiberius' law was then voted on once again and became law.

Three commissioners were appointed to administer the law; Tiberius himself, his
younger brother Gaius Gracchus and Claudius Pulcher, 'leader' of the senate -
and Tiberius' father-in-law. The commission began work at once and some
75'000 smallholdings may have been created and handed to farmers.
As the commission began to run out of money Tiberius simply proposed to the
popular assemblies to simply use the available funds from Senate. They passed
it because they were afraid of the mob.

THE MISTAKE OF TIBERIUS

Tiberius thinking that if he gave up the office of Tribune the senate would put him
on trial for his illegal actions decided to illegally run for the tribune again. The
senate failed in an attempt to stop him from running for tribune again even
though it was against the law. However a small group of enraged senators, led
by his hostile cousin Scipio Nasica, charged into an election rally of Tiberius’
broke it up and, alas, clubbed him to death. The mob went crazy and started to
riot. The legions had to be brought in to calm the mob and the senate vetoed all
the laws of Tiberius.

Gaius Gracchus ran for office not to long after the death of his brother and
replaced the same laws as his brother. After being in office for one year, he
decided to run illegally for a second term and won. However not long after the
election he was killed in a staged riot by the senate. Both brothers and their land
reforms started the unrest of the plebeians which would end the Roman
Republic.