An outline, era by era

The Gracchi; land reform and political violence (133 – 121 BCE)

Classical Antiquity · ~500 BCE – ~500 CE

The Gracchi were two brothers, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, who served as tribunes of the plebs in the Roman Republic. Tiberius held the office in 133 BCE and Gaius in 123 and 122 BCE. Both tried to deal with the loss of small farms in Italy by redistributing public land and by passing other reforms that helped poorer citizens.

Their proposals met fierce resistance from many senators, who held much of the public land. Tiberius was beaten to death by a mob of senators and their supporters in 133 BCE. In 121 BCE Gaius died in the violence that followed the Senate's first emergency decree against him. These killings are often seen as a turning point, because political disputes in Rome began to be settled by force. The Republic lasted another ninety years or so, but the Gracchi years began a long run of conflict that led to the civil wars of the first century BCE.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Land, soldiers and the Agrarian Law of Tiberius Gracchus

    Event

    What happened

    By the 130s BCE much of the public land (ager publicus) won in Italian wars is occupied by wealthy Romans, who work it with enslaved labour. Many small farmers, who also serve as legionary soldiers, are struggling to keep their holdings. In 133 BCE Tiberius Gracchus, as tribune, proposes that nobody hold more than a set amount of public land and that the rest be divided among poor citizens. When another tribune, Octavius, vetoes the bill, Tiberius has the assembly vote him out of office and the law is passed.

    The rest is history

    A land commission of three men, including Tiberius, was set up to carry out the law. Removing a fellow tribune from office was widely seen as breaking custom, and it gave his enemies a charge against him. When King Attalus III of Pergamum died and left his kingdom to Rome, Tiberius proposed using its wealth to fund the new settlers, which angered the Senate further. The commission continued working after his death, and boundary stones set up by it survive in Italy. Historians still debate how serious the rural crisis was, but the law itself is well documented.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Tiberius Gracchus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Parallel Lives.Detailed account of the land bill and the removal of Octavius.
    2. PrimaryAppian. Civil Wars, Book 1. Greek history of Rome, 2nd century CE.Opens with the land problem and the career of Tiberius.
    3. BookStockton, David. The Gracchi. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979.
    4. BookBeard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. London: Profile Books, 2015.

  2. The death of Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BCE

    Event

    What happened

    When Tiberius seeks re-election as tribune for 132 BCE, which is unusual, his opponents claim he is aiming at tyranny. During the election gathering on the Capitoline hill, a group of senators led by the pontifex maximus Scipio Nasica and their followers attack with clubs and pieces of broken benches. Tiberius and several hundred of his supporters are killed, and their bodies are thrown into the Tiber.

    The rest is history

    This was the first bloodshed in a Roman political dispute in generations, and it was carried out with the Senate's approval. The Senate set up a special inquiry that punished some of Tiberius's followers, but Nasica was sent out of Rome on a mission to Asia, where he died. The land commission was allowed to go on for a time. Ancient writers such as Appian later saw 133 BCE as the start of the Republic's civil strife, a view modern historians still often accept.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Tiberius Gracchus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Parallel Lives.
    2. PrimaryAppian. Civil Wars, Book 1. Greek history of Rome, 2nd century CE.
    3. BookLintott, Andrew. Violence in Republican Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

  3. Gaius Gracchus and the first emergency decree

    Event

    What happened

    Gaius Gracchus is elected tribune for 123 BCE and re-elected for 122 BCE. He passes a wide programme, including cheap grain for citizens in Rome, new colonies, road building, and a law giving juries to the equestrian class. In 121 BCE he loses his office, and the consul Opimius persuades the Senate to pass its first emergency decree, the senatus consultum ultimum. In the fighting on the Aventine hill, Gaius dies and several thousand of his supporters are put to death.

    The rest is history

    The emergency decree gave later magistrates a tool for dealing with unrest by force, and it was used again in 100 and 63 BCE. The equestrian juries and the grain law were lasting changes in Roman politics. Opimius was tried for killing citizens without trial and was acquitted. Historians still debate how far the brothers sought to help the poor and how far they sought personal power, but their deaths showed that reform could now bring violent death, which shaped the age of Marius and Sulla.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Gaius Gracchus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Parallel Lives.
    2. BookStockton, David. The Gracchi. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979.
    3. BookLintott, Andrew. Violence in Republican Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

  4. Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, and her jewels

    Folk tale

    The legend

    A visiting woman shows off her fine jewellery to Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus, and asks to see Cornelia's own. Cornelia waits until her sons come home from school and says, "These are my jewels." The story is told to praise her as the model of a Roman mother.

    The rest is history

    The story comes from Valerius Maximus, writing in the early first century CE, long after Cornelia lived. Cornelia herself was real. She was a daughter of Scipio Africanus and the mother of Tiberius and Gaius, and she saw to their education with Greek tutors. Cicero praised her letters and the style of her speech, and later Romans honoured her with a statue. The jewels anecdote is a moral tale and cannot be checked, but it shows how Romans remembered her as a model of virtue.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryValerius Maximus. Memorable Deeds and Sayings, Book 4. Latin collection of anecdotes, c. 30 CE.
    2. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Tiberius Gracchus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Parallel Lives.Describes Cornelia's role in raising her sons.
    3. BookDixon, Suzanne. The Roman Mother. London: Croom Helm, 1988.

  5. Gaius's last stand and the price on his head

    Folk tale

    The legend

    As the soldiers of Opimius close in, Gaius flees across the Tiber to a sacred grove. It is told that Opimius had promised the weight of a head in gold to whoever brought him Gaius's. The man who finds him is said to have poured lead into the skull to make it heavier before claiming the reward.

    The rest is history

    Plutarch and other ancient writers report the story, and it may be a hostile or exaggerated tale. Gaius did die in 121 BCE at a grove across the Tiber, probably by his own hand with the help of a slave. His head was reportedly taken to Opimius, though the amount of gold was likely not as stated. The tale shows how bitter the quarrel had become. What is certain is that Opimius built a temple of Concord on the Forum, which people mocked by scratching on it that a work of madness had made a temple of Concord.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Gaius Gracchus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Parallel Lives.
    2. BookStockton, David. The Gracchi. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979.

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