THE GRACCHI

The Background: The acquisition of an empire had imposed a severe and continuous strain on the Roman state (SPQR - senatus populusque Romanus = the Roman senate and people; note that the state consists of two elements at this time).
1. Populus
  1. Manpower: The result was a steadily decreasing supply of soldiers at a time when the demand for such was increasing.
  2. Assemblies: Assemblies no longer representative.
2. Senate: To rule the provinces, exceptions had to be made to the constitutional constraints of annuality and collegiality. It was becoming increasingly difficult to control the actions of magistrates.
3. Note, however that the Romans were well aware of the problems. There had, in fact, been various attempts at reform; some, like the establishment of permanent quaestiones ("grand juries") for investigative purposes) had been moderately successful; others, like the reform attempt of Laelius, had been effectively checked by elite.
Related Difficulties
1. Change in the pattern of land-holding.
2. Increasingly closed elite and its domination of the Roman State. The elite had, indeed, been highly successful at administering the state and acquiring an empire, but there were problems:
  1. the elite was unwilling to admit "new men" to the inner circle of power..
  2. Increasingly, too, the elite dominates the political process and takes a narrow and factional (that is, it is concerned not with real problems, but simply with the preservation of its power and privileges) approach to the state and to the empire.
Tib. Gracchus
1. Tib. is concerned with a military problem, not with social justice.
2. Lex Agraria ("Law on Agriculture") of 133. Initially supported by many important members of elite.
  1. Ager publicus (public land) had come to the Roman State through a variety of means and over many years. The censors had leased this land for a modest rent..
  2. Tib. proposed that the possessores (the lease holders) be given clear title to 300 acres plus and additional 200 for each son. All the rest was to be returned to the Roman state.
  3. The state, in turn, would divide the land into small parcels and settle the "landless" city dwellers on the various plots. These men would then become liable for military service.
3. Why opposition?
  1. Great uncertainty and insecurity had been created by the proposal.
  2. There were also possessores who were not of Roman citizenship. They resented the fact that they were now considered liable under Roman law and had no recourse. They appealed to their senatorial patrons to protest their holdings.
  3. Tib. Gracchus' methods were of doubtful constitutionality.
    1. He had neglected to obtain prior approval of senate for his law.
    2. When vetoed by another tribune, he had had that tribune removed from office by vote of the people.
    3. He had appointed himself to the commission established by his law to carry out the land re-distribution.
    4. When the senate denied him funds to carry out the assignment of plots, he secured a law by which the Roman people accepted the inheritance of the kingdom of Pergamon and applied the revenues of that kingdom to his scheme.
    5. Attempts to be re-elected tribune for 132.
  4. Factional politics: should the measure go through, the Gracchi would gain an enormous clientele and threaten the elite's control of the state.
4. It is clear in the sources that many Romans, including perhaps some of his own supporters and clients, firmly believed that Gracchus was aiming at regnum (=kingship, a nasty word in the Roman political vocabulary).
5. Though all the motives may not be clear to us, one thing is certain and that is that at the moment when Gracchus was running for re-election, his "clientele" was not to be found.
6. Significance
  1. End of domestic peace until 27 B. C.; beginning of violence.
  2. Opened a clear division in state; this took several forms: senate versus people, propertied versus non-propertied,
  3. Represents first use of empire for benefit of the "people"; for some politicians, the proceeds of empire perceived as the means to support the means to support reform, for others it was little more than a source to exploit for personal gain.
7. A final word: it is apparent that the senate's opposition to Tib. Gracchus was more to his methods than to his proposals.
Gaius Gracchus: 123-2, 122-1
1. Gaius was, understandably, anti-senate, but perceived that he must have more allies if he were to succeed in his reform program
2. The vehicle he chose was "omnibus" ("for all") legislation
  1. To avenge his brother
    1. Any magistrate deposed by people could not be re-elected clearly revolutionary and withdrawn at mother's request.
    2. Declared illegal all courts with power of capital punishment that had not been authorized by people; made retroactive.
  2. For the urban poor
    1. Colonies with commercial advantages overseas.
    2. Lex Frumentaria ("food law") the state to sell to urban poor at below market prices grain taken as tribute from provinces.
  3. For equestrians: an emerging "third" order (between senate and people) whose wealth was considerable, yet who had no formal political position in state.
    1. Provincial taxes now to be auctioned at Rome and to be paid in advance.
    2. The control of the extortion court whereby the equites were given power over the governors of the provinces but were subject to no constraints.
  4. For the allies, citizenship
3. The Opposition
  1. There was much legitimate anxiety about the colonization scheme.
  2. Voters at Rome were particularly anxious about the franchise bill which would have doubled the citizen body
  3. As Gracchus' popularity begins to wane, he forms a bodyguard (reflecting no doubt on the experience of his brother) and barely secures re-election to the tribunate (unprecedented). Both actions cost him dearly for the generally accepted characteristic of tyrants in the ancient world was that they formed such bodyguards.
  4. Violence ensued and the senate issued the "ultimate decree," authorizing the magistrates to see to it that the state came to no harm. Gracchus and three thousand of his follows were executed without trial.
4. Consequences
  1. None of these schemes had resolved the military problem.
  2. The Italians were embittered.
  3. The equestrian order was given formal status in the state, but enjoyed privilege without responsibility.
  4. The provinces were increasingly exploited for individual and collective gain:
    1. Colonies begin to be planted overseas.
    2. Governors and equestrian tax collectors collaborate to enrich themselves and to improve their respective political positions.
  5. Increasing use of violence as a tool to resolve political disputes.